Trip advisor listed this very high, and we thought it would be a great way to get some local insight on Salem. It wasn't. It was very touristy, and not very informative. The tour started with the guide expecting everyone to participate in a pagan ritual. My wife and I are pretty accepting of all beliefs, but we are Christian, and we draw the line at worshipping a pagan god. We just wanted a interesting tour of Salem.
Past that disconcerting beginning, the guide did show us around the downtown area with some good historical comments of the area, but two things concerned me that are worth passing on to others:
1. A third of the tour was "visiting" the tour company's two retail stores. I don't mind self promotion, I was a business owner for several decades, but I don't want to pay for a tour that is a glorified commercial.
2. The guide painted the witch practice as extremely positive, with no downsides. It felt like a verbal brochure for "the craft". I appreciate that they want to promote witchcraft and they believe in its positive attributes, but again, I don't want to PAY for a witchcraft commercial. We all know that witchcraft has had good sides and less than good sides. The guide was disingenuous about this.
I would like for tour operators to be honest up front about who you are... Are you propaganda for the draft or a historical tour....then let the public decide if they want to be a part of it
Odpowiedź od gospodarza
Oct 2014
Dear reviewer,
We're sorry that you were not ready for this sort of tour, but we must take issue with the accusation of being deceptive. Our tagline, seen everywhere our logo appears, is "Salem's Only magical tour." If you read the description at the top of this page, any of our flyers, or even read our many positive reviews, you will see that we state that our tour "explores real Witchcraft as practiced by authentic Witches in Salem and throughout the world. Join authentic Salem Witches as you're blessed in a magic circle, visit enchanted sites, and even partake in a ritual at one of America's oldest graveyards." That pretty much sums up who we are. We're a tour that does real Witchcraft, real rituals, will have you participate in real magic. We understand that this is not for everyone, but we have never, ever presented ourselves as anything other than what we are. As for the shops we visit, we aren't actually there to shop during the tour but rather to visit a Witches' healing altar at one site and an altar to honor the dead at the other. These are important destinations within the shops that visitors come to year round who often don't make a purchase and we're ok with that. We do what we do for the magic. The Salem Witch Walk seeks to educate Salem's visitors about Witches by taking people on a journey through its practices. While we know it won't be in everyone's comfort zone, we would never dream of misrepresenting who we are or what we do. While we are grateful to be rated so well on TripAdvisor, we recommend in the future that you look beyond the ratings and read the actual reviews and descriptions so you know what you're getting yourself into.
Blessings,
Christian Day
The Salem Witch Walk