When people think of taking a tour in Arizona, few these days probably consider the Mexican border an attractive destination.
That's why Tucsonan Tom "TJ" Morgan left Paris this week with an award from the global Gray Line tours network. His local Gray Line company won the "most creative tour" award from the international group for the local company's educational trip called "Border Crisis: Fact and Fiction."
The tour, which Gray Line began offering early last year, takes travelers on a three- to four-hour trip from Tucson to the Nogales area, where they hear from ranchers, federal law enforcement officials, humanitarian workers, border businesspeople and others. They also get a lunch catered north of the line by the famous La Roca restaurant in Nogales, Sonora. The trip doesn't cross the border into Mexico.
Morgan, a Nogales, Ariz., native who's comfortable on both sides of the line, learned his tour had been nominated for the award and put together a presentation for Gray Line's annual worldwide convention. The company's tour proved so novel that national news outlets such as CNN reported on it last year, and Morgan used snippets of their coverage in the presentation Monday night, he said.
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Gray Line runs one or two of the tours per month, depending on demand, and they've ranged in size from eight to 55 passengers, said tour guide Bob Feinman. The price is $75 to $89 per person, depending on group discounts and other factors.
The most common passenger reaction to the trip has been one of moderation and increasing nuance in their views about the border, Feinman said.
"We don't try to convince people to be Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives. We just want the border to speak to them so they can make their minds up."
On StarNet: Find extensive coverage of immigration issues at azstarnet.com/border
The tour
For more information on Gray Line's tour, "Border Crisis: Fact and Fiction," call 622-8811.
Brewer on border violence
Gov. Jan Brewer continued to make news this week discussing violence in Mexico and possible spillover into Arizona. In a New York Times Magazine interview published online Friday, she said violence is spilling over into Arizona but cited as an example a fatal shootout that took place last month in Mexico. Read more on StarNet at Tim Steller's Señor Reporter blog, azstarnet.com/senorreporter
Contact reporter Tim Steller at 807-8427 or tsteller@azstarnet.com
