Florida Keys — Travel hostess Paola Gutierrez and the film crew from Univision Network’s morning show “Despierta America” descended upon the Florida Keys recently and the fruits of their labor are now airing.

Currently accessible on the network’s Web site is the segment filmed at Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park. Viewers take a journey through the massive site, situated 70 miles west of Key West, surrounded by blue-green waters filled with snorkelers. To view the segment, click here:

Other Keys segments airing on Despierta in the next few weeks include swimming with dolphins at the Dolphin Research Center in Marathon, an interview with project director Joe Weatherby on the sinking of the Vandenberg artificial reef in Key West and a kayaking excursion with naturalist/guide/photographer Bill Keogh of Big Pine Kayak Adventures in the Lower Keys.

New resort openings and cruise ship introductions unfailingly result in unexpected reactions from participating travel writers and broadcasters.

One of my most memorable emanated from the pre-Castro era inaugural of Havana’s Capri Hotel and Casino from the buttoned-down mind of Horace Sutton, arguably the most widely syndicated travel writer of the time.

Sutton’s lead: “Today I joined in the opening of Havana’s newest luxury resort-casino—the Capri. It was a race. A race to determine who would be plastered first: the hotel or the guests.”

While the remainder of his column was largely complimentary, it did accurately comment on a scenario hardly unique in new resort or cruise ship inaugurals with painters and other workmen completing finishing touches with guests as their audience.

Most seasoned travel journalists take such events in stride but, on occasion it takes considerable hand-holding by the property’s media representative to urge them not to let the negatives dominate the subsequent coverage.

Hotel managers try to educate themselves as much as they can about their property’s products and services. They seem to know everything from how many people they can accommodate to what the newest amenity at their hotel is.The test comes when escorting media through the property.

I had the opportunity to lead a luxury press trip through the Florida Keys. We had a couple of site visits, which the journalists seemed to enjoy. At the first resort we were greeted by Thomas, the guest services manager. He began to walk us through his property telling us all about the history and the architecture. As he walked us into the rooms, he informed the journalists of all the amenities, rates, special offers, activities, services and facts about the place.

As the group was walking back through the lush gardens, one of the journalists asked, “What kind of tree is that?” Poor Thomas knew every other answer except that one. The only one he had not studied! He quickly said, “Let me make a call and let you know.” He reached for his cell phone, pretending to call someone who would know and seemed to ignore the question, which didn’t matter because the group had moved on to more interesting things.

At the next property it was Tiffany’s turn to answer the media’s questions. While in one room she described everything from the kind of kitchen counters and appliances to the latest addition of a flat plasma TV. One of the journalists, who was standing next to the dinning table looking at a work of art on the wall, asked “What is the name of the artist who painted that?”

Tiffany was perplexed! She had been asked the only thing that had nothing to do with the resort’s latest and greatest amenities.

No matter how much you study or read, you will always have a journalist who asks a completely random question to which you do not know the answer. The true test is in how you handle it.