Kalabhabanshow

With the travel season is just around the corner, everyone is making plans to escape from their hectic work life and packing their travel bags for their long-awaited vacations. Although going for vacation is the best escape plan ever, many of us are anticipating the travel journey with a quiver of dread because the thought of carrying all the overweight baggage, queuing the endless security lines and squeezing into the small airplane seats are just not the most exciting part of traveling.

Those kinds of experiences make it hard for us not to envy how the rich travel these days. Their getaways such as taking private jet planes to Caribbean Island villas are way above the travel standard of normal tourists.

Recently, on my last night in Thailand, I met up with some friends who had just spent their vacation staying in a five-star hotel on the outskirts of the city. To my amazement, my friends who are luxury travelers quizzed me about my comical but vivid excursions, which had left me both tiring and excited by the end of every single trip.

After the meet up, I began to realize that my friends suffered their own form of travel envy. The sense of control provided by their huge spending power had deadened their travel experience. The experiences with private hosts and staying in 5 star hotels did not create the memories that they could treasure and remember forever.

As the rich is shifting towards the experience-oriented traveling, they are more willing to fork out large amounts of money to acquire the travel experience they are hoping for. As an example, by the early of next year, wealthy travelers will be able to take a commercial space flight on Virgin Galactic, including a whole five minutes of weightlessness for US$200,000. With so many rich people showing interest in the space flight since its announcement, we are certain that the rich is going to great lengths to set themselves apart from others, as traveling is getting more and more common for most people.

Another proof of the shift is that wealthy travelers these days even plan for charity driven excursions to remote villages in countries like Madagascar and take a light aircraft to such villages just to shake hands with the Amazonian shamans.

As a result of the shift from luxury travel to peak life experience travel, travel planners will be creating their travel packages with the ultimate aim of creating a memorable experience for all the travelers. In the near future, I can assure that the most highly sought after vacations by the rich and the middle class will definitely be 5 star vacations that are charity driven or vacations that are able to offer the travelers with peak life experiences.

Are you interested to have a peak life experience travel or taking a 5 star vacations that provide peak life experiences? Or save money on great vacations? Visit my site how-to-travel-cheap.com [http://how-to-travel-cheap.com] to learn more about how to have a 4 to 5 star peak life experience vacation with the price of 2 to 3 star vacation.

For the love of travel

Those of us who love travel seem to make surfing the net for new travel websites a hobby to be indulged in between trips.

This armchair hobby can be very satisfying when we find ourselves unable to travel to some faraway place, due to a lack of funds or time.

Travel lovers often accumulate a list showing a few of the best travel websites which are most comprehensive and inspiring to their imagination.

Sometimes, it’s good to venture out and discover new travel places to enrich our repertoire. Here are some tips on finding those elusive sites who specialize in the travel industry – just for fun.

Plan your next trip

If you have a particular destination you know you’re going to visit sooner or later, but not in the foreseeable future, don’t just sit and dream.

Go surfing aggressively for sites to provide you with detailed cultural information, historical attractions and leads to those out of the way gems you might not ordinarily have the time to research.

Perhaps you’ve always wanted to visit Myrtle Beach for a golf vacation, but that idea has been on the back burner for years. Here’s your chance. If you’re not going anywhere soon, why not prepare yourself for that trip now?

By the time you’re ready to buy your airline ticket, you’ll be well informed and able to enjoy this relaxing beach excursion to the max.

It may well be that your list of favorite tourism websites has not a whisper of info on the particular area you have in mind. Go looking for those that do.

Research area cuisine

What do you know about food in the Low Country of South Carolina? Maybe enough to know you like it. Wouldn’t it be fun to arrive at your destination and be able to make intelligent choices from a restaurant menu?

Cuisine can be complex, enough so as to engage you in many happy hours of research.

Historical significance

How about the history of Myrtle Beach? Investigate travel sites which delve into this subject. Few travelers know much of the history of their own country. The knowledge you gain, and knowing where to go can (almost) turn you into a local instead of just another ditsy tourist.

Don’t just follow the standard tour guide

The travel site pages are many times full of links and helpful articles which offer out of the ordinary information. As any seasoned traveler knows, there’s so much more to know than the famous sites offered by paid tours.

You want to zero in on places and sights that are well known to the local population, but omitted from the standard travel guides. You’ll find that travel sites with a focus on the culture rather than simply accommodations and the most famous sights give you the most complete perspective.

What type traveler are you?

The last point in tailoring your travel website list concerns your style of travel. If you’re the adventurous sort, who likes to travel on the spur of the moment, try submitting a search engine keyword like ‘adventure + your-destination’ to find some of the more off-the-beaten-trail sites. If you’re into planned vacations, try ‘all inclusive + your-destination’.

Where do you want to go?

Take some action. Open up the laptop and let your fingers do the walking through a new and exciting travel destination.

Just follow your heart’s desire. It will lead you to where you want to go.

Bob Pardue is a travel stock photographer located in the Southeastern USA. His images have been published in travel brochures, magazines, textbooks and other publications worldwide. See Bob’s photos at http://www.bobparduephoto.com

If you’re travelling on a limited budget whether it is to Dubai or another travel destination the planning you do before leaving home is just as important as what you do once you get to your travel destination. Make sure you have considered carefully which travel & leisure destination to pick. Gather as many travel destination tips as you can from travel & tourism sites online. For example in 2013 Toronto, Turkey and Ko Phi Phi in Thailand are all good choices for those on a tight travel budget. Make sure you have done your research and looked into all the travel & tourism options available.

Travel & Tourism Transport On A Limited Budget
If you’re planning on flying to your travel destination then look out for special deals online and remember that booking at the last minute or booking too early is always more expensive. The best time to book is about three weeks before you fly. If you’re going to be using rail travels look into tickets which give you multiple journeys or discount tickets like the Eurorail Pass if your travel & leisure destination is in Europe. If you’ll be using buses to get around, each city has its own multi-ride bus ticket. In the USA you can use one of the long distance bus companies like Megabus and Greyhound, both of which offer very low cost tickets. Car rental is usually not a good budget option if you’re staying in one city. If you’re planning to spend your vacation exploring the rural areas, driving around a whole country or visiting places outside the cities (like the desert attractions outside of Dubai city center) then a rental car may be a practical option.

Where To Stay On A Limited Travel & Leisure Budget
Although the obvious destination tips for travel & tourism low cost accommodation is to stay in hostels there are other options. You can share a room in a nice hotel with a friend to split costs; look out for hotel deals on travel & leisure sites; stay in a Zimmer/bed & breakfast or stay further out of the city center where accommodation prices are a lot cheaper. There are hotel deals like “third night free” which can work out to be cheaper than 3 nights in a cheaper hotel. You’ll find a good quality inn or guesthouse will be more pleasant than a 2 star hotel. As a general travel destination tip, hotel accommodation around the city train station is usually cheaper than staying in the city center. Even in travel destinations like Dubai you can find reasonable accommodation if you look in the right places. On what to do in Dubai check out Internet travel forums for tips from other travellers or people in the travel & tourism industry.

Travel & Leisure Attractions On A Limited Budget
You’ll find that most museums and some other travel & tourism attractions have “free days”, for example in the evening one day a week or on the last Sunday of each month. Plan your trip around these free days. Make sure you’re eligible for any discounts (according to your age for example). Buy multi-attraction tickets which get you discounts for several travel & leisure attractions. Even in the most expensive travel destinations there are multi-attraction tickets for thrifty travellers.

Comments, additions or questions are welcome please.

Adewale Adelani

A Travel & Tourism enthusiast with a passion for Social Media.
http://www.travelwithdahla.com

Whether you are researching a trip on your own or not, here are tips for finding a travel agent to help you plan a trip that is right for you and who can help you with all the confusing information found online. You may be travelling on business, on a family vacation, on a religious commitment, or to host a special event like a marriage, anniversary or a family reunion on a cruise ship or an all-inclusive! Don’t forget fundraisers on a cruise ship.

Location is Key

Travel agents are consultants who are around to help people like you accomplish various travel plans. To locate a reliable travel consultant for your trip, try exploring one of these options:

1. Visit the local Chamber of Commerce or visit their website to review the accredited list of travel professionals.

2. Search through the Yellow Pages to shortlist local travel agents and their contact information.

3. Talk to neighbors or friends to accumulate some recommendations, but these are not always reliable.

After short-listing a few travel agents in your area through your initial research and local contacts, take a note pad and jot down the start and end dates of your travelling schedule, the departure and arrival locations and the intermediate destinations, transportation preferences if any, available budget, and special requirements like wheelchair accessible entry and exit points. Also determine what type of activities you would like to do on your trip. All this information will help the travel agent help you chose the best product to make your trip memorable and a success. Do some research on your own, but let the travel agent help you decide whether the information you find is really the best for you. There is so much information out there.

Have a Vacation without Stress

When you finally meet your travel agent, you can use your list of requirements along with the checklist provided below to avoid disappointments:

1. Keep your conversation with your travel agent focused on your list items but keep an open mind to listen to suggestions of the travel agent to enhance your trip.

2. When you are discussing your travelling plans, available options, and expense details, avoid falling into the trap of buying services you do not need.

3. When making travel plans, always ensure you have a “Plan B” to address mishaps such as seats without reservations, missing connections, lost baggage, absence of travelling date on tickets, and more terrible possibilities.

4. You should also discuss in detail the travel agent’s resources to handle last-minute changes like trip cancellations, date modifications, or itinerary changes.

5. Discuss with the travel agent products like travel insurance to help protect your travel costs along with medical protection. Travel insurance covers more than just those items listed in numbers 3 and 4 above. Travel insurance also covers you medically should the need arise. Some insurance plans do not cover you when you travel outside of the United States. Make sure you check with your insurance company to see if you are covered.

6. If possible, use a credit or debit card to pay for all the expenses, to ensure that all your expenses are accurately tracked, monitored, and auditable in case of a future dispute.

If you are fortunate enough to locate a reliable travel agent, then you can easily expect timely and courteous services while planning, preparing, and executing your travel plans on a suitable budget and schedule.

Contact Elaine Sklom at Cruiser’s Travel LLC for your travel needs. Elaine can be reached by phone at 941-979-9798 or email at elaine@cruiserstravel.net, Please check out our website at http://cruiserstravel.net and please visit and like our Facebook page at http://www.Facebook.com/cruiserstravel.

Let us show you the world, one trip at a time with Cruiser’s Travel, LLC.

Enter the Internet

It seems that as the internet has taken over the world in many areas of business, it makes complete sense to totally dominate and over take the market of the traditional travel agent. Is this happening, has it happened and what of the future for travel agents and the consumer alike?

Many industry professionals are asking these questions as they all attempt to predict the future in this ever-expanding and fast-moving world of Digital and Social Media.

Will the likes of Trip Advisor and Facebook replace travel professionals as the prices get to a level that cannot sustain a commercial business in tourism?

Well I certainly hope not. If this happens there will be no winners; the consumer may think they are saving a quick buck in the short-term but the reality is that their holiday experience will be most certainly reduced.

This is a complex problem, and is merely the tip of an enormous iceberg.

What did we used to do?

In days gone past, pre the wealth of instant knowledge available on just about anything on the internet, the traveler had to go to a traditional travel professional (a travel agent). This professional would quiz their client on what they wanted out of their holiday experience, the budgetary restraints and the personal expectations of their client.

Of course the client had to pay a premium to the agent for this advice, or did they! Well no, they didn’t; the wholesalers would pay the travel agent the commission and everyone would be better off. It was a complete win/win situation. The consumer prevails, the business operator prevails and of course capitalism continues to thrive.

Well hasn’t all of that changed; for some crazy reason (and maybe myself included) we all think we are experts and don’t need advice from anyone. Better still, as we are all experts, we believe that it is imperative that we tell everyone how important we are and how much we know.

Enter Trip Advisor and the like

Again, due to some amazing misconception we believe that we are all travel experts, we all know a good steak from a bad steak, a good restaurant from a bad restaurant, a good hotel from a bad hotel, and so it goes on. Well let me tell you! We are wrong! We don’t! OK, maybe some of us do, yes that’s right, industry professionals with years and years of on the job training, researching and first hand experiencing the industry.

Let me use Mr Matt Preston as an example, if you don’t know who he is then I suggest you crawl out from under your rock. Anyway, Matt is re-nowned as one of the world’s leading food critics; what he doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing. What’s my point? I hear you say. Well, Matt is paid a ridiculous amount of money for an experienced, objective and overall well qualified viewpoint. Now do you see my point? So those of you who spend hours typing into Trip Advisor and the like sharing the world of your limited wisdom maybe should stop and think, “do I really know what I am talking about”, “am I qualified to give my opinion” and does the world “really care about my opinion”.

Anyway, my rant is over. I hope my point got across. In short the internet is destroying customer experience as we are all dumbing down, saving a quick buck while happily destroying an industry.

Well don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom, in fact it’s quite the opposite. More on that later.

Enter the Stock Market

Let me explain a similar situation that started in the early 90’s. Stockbrokers had this same fear; would eTrade destroy their business; well it certainly looked like it. But no, it didn’t, in fact it increased the need for brokers. Well how can this be you ask. Simple, the internet made the stock market more accessible.

In 1987 only 8% of the Australian population invested in shares, I challenge you to find more than a small handful of people these days that don’t own shares.

So why did this happen? Well the internet made the market more accessible, more people bought shares, and of course more people lost money. So what did they do, give up investing in the market? No, they sought advice, hence more stockbrokers were needed.

I imagine most of you see my point now.

So what Next?

The internet has infiltrated the travel industry in ways that we would never have thought of, what started with Wotif.com providing a portal for last-minute inventory soak up has expanded to dozens of last-minute sites; all major wholesalers operate their own last-minute sites, there are third-party booking agencies popping up everywhere, internet marketers and affiliates are jumping on the bandwagon too, and it seems everyone who is a bit IT savvy are on this burgeoning travel boom.

“So what’s the problem” I hear you say. We can get cheap flights (online) we can get cheap accommodation (online) we can get cheap tours (online) and we can even get coupons for meals (online). Spreets sends out discounts that make your hair curl daily.

So what’s the problem! Well simple, no one is making any money. Accommodation providers aren’t making money so their standard of product is dropping, after all who is going to maintain the product with no money coming in, the tour operators have to cut corners to pay wages, the customer misses out on the quality of product they deserve, the restaurants struggle to pay landlords and wages so obviously the standard of their product reduces (I won’t even start on farmers and other primary producers) and of course the airlines. Well of course if they are cutting costs (as petrol is going through the roof) they too must reduce product, scary isn’t it.

OK, well it’s not all bad, remember our friends in the Stockbroking industry?

What will happen now? Well the industry has just about self imploded and is no doubt at the bottom of the ocean; so to speak, what will re-float it? That’s easy; tourists!

Re-enter the Travel Professional

I hear nearly daily horror stories of flights gone wrong, incorrect travel dates, “I couldn’t get the room I wanted”, “I couldn’t get onto the tour” etc. So the traditional Industry professionals, “mum and dad” travel agents, are coming back in force.

Like my good friends at Platinum Travel Corporation in Surrey Hills Melbourne, they have a loyal database of clients that they SERVICE, yes service. This is something foreign to most of you, but the new age of internet did that, don’t worry it’s not your fault.

So the agent; well the agents business is already turning the corner, it’s like turning a battleship, but it is improving. The traditional travel agents are improving their client bases, getting more and more clients daily. Why, because the internet has made travel easy; we are no longer scared to be away from home or jump on a plane for 3 hours or more, we are happy to travel. This has happened because somewhere along the line recently we all got a “great deal”.

So we all want to travel more! But we are also time poor and most of us do realize that spending hours on Trip Advisor listening to unqualified (and more often than not, fake) opinions is not the best use of our time, nor is it the most fun.

What’s the answer

So, the answer is easy. Call an independent travel agent and get their advice, ideas and suggestions. Independent agents don’t have to deal with any particular product they can choose whomever they like. They will give you honest and accurate information. If they don’t know it firsthand they will ask someone who does; someone who knows the unbiased facts. Will this all cost more? Well of course, did you think quality and service is for free. After all we are a capitalist society and needs the wheels of commerce to turn for us all to survive.

How much more? Well actually not much, and in many instances you will be very surprised at how cheap it may just be. They will know the best deals and offers going on at any particular time. They will know the weather as well as economic or political unrest in certain regions.

Don’t forget the travel agent has a strong motivation for you to have an amazing holiday experience; your custom! They want to deal with you again and again, but more than that, they want you to tell all of your friends and colleagues how much help the travel agent was, how easy your trip was and how much fun you had.

So to summarize, has the travel agent died? Well not yet. The internet has certainly dealt them a monumental blow, but a blow that can be recovered from all the same. The travel industry has expanded, the internet has opened doors that none of us have seen through before. So as the market place has grown so too has the consumer wanting a holiday.

So get onto your travel agent now and organize your next holiday. You won’t regret it, it won’t cost a great deal more and it will be completely stress free.

For a list of licensed travel agents in Australia be sure to look at the AFTA website www.afta.com.au

Guy Besley has had a wealth of experience in the Australian tourism industry; from his initial investment in a holiday unit in Port Douglas 15 years ago, through to owning 10 management rights complexes and now his business is a 3rd party booking agency.

Guy has covered all areas of tourism, from wholesale to retail, unit owner, management rights owner and of course tourist. Have a look at his website for more information about his services http://www.LatitudeTravelServices.com.au