Pet Travel

Posted by on May 20, 2012 No comments

Professional pet travel for worried owners

Need a pet taxi to transport your precious pet from one location to another? Want them to travel in complete comfort, be relaxed during the journey and have plenty of breaks during their travels? Consider professional pet transport provided by pet travel experts who collect and deliver animals from anxious owners.

The pet travel service ensures that pets are well cared for during all stages of their journey. Whether you need a dog delivering to Dagenham or cat picking up from Preston, reliable pet travel services have the caring solution to your transportation problems. Book the services of an animal taxi and let your pet travel in style from point A to point B.

Trusted pet transport

Packing your suitcase for a well-earned break? How will you feel when its time to take your dog to the kennels? If its anything like last time theyll be plenty of tears and you could be tempted to cancel the trip. Why put yourself through this agony when the pet travel team can help? Ask the pet travel specialists to collect your pet and theyll take them to the kennels on your behalf in a kind and caring manner.

Whenever you need a reliable pet taxi service the pet travel firm provides the steadfast answer. Ring the pet transport experts when you require pet travel for trips to kennels, catteries or the vets. They provide a well equipped vehicle thats designed for comfortable pet travel to make the journey as stress free as possible.

Its a moving experience

Planning to move in the near future? A house move can be stressful enough for humans never mind about your family pets. How can you make the move less traumatic for your animals? Ask for help from the pet travel experts.

Arrange for the pet travel professionals to collect your pets on the day of the move in their modern pet taxi. Your pets will be treated with the utmost of respect as they enjoy pet travel to their new home. No matter what distance is involved the pet travel specialists will cater for your unique requirements.

Move with confidence knowing that your pets are being well looked after by the pet travel team who provides the best pet transportation services.

Travel Asia

Posted by on May 19, 2012 No comments

Traveling Asia is something that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. When you travel to Asia, there are so many things to see and do; make sure that you plan your trip in advance. However, remember to leave some free time in you itinerary, because when you travel Asia, you want to make sure that you have the flexibility for an occasional adventure.


As the largest continent on earth, Asia offers travelers a huge variety of places to visit, things to do and, cultures to see. For first time visitors who travel Asia, we recommend the following:


Island Nations-

Indonesia:

One of the most diverse destinations for travelers to Asia, the Indonesian archipelago can provide enough exciting destinations for a complete trip. Whether you are seeking relaxation, natural beauty, cultural diversity or all of the above, Indonesia will show you an exciting and wonderful Asian travel destination.


Philippines:

Comprised of over 7000 islands, the Philippines has become on of Asia’s forgotten travel destinations.

Due to a recent history that includes martial law and economic corruption, the Philippines has lost much of its previous tourist activity to its more stable neighbors. Those who do visit will enjoy beautiful spots like the Boracay beaches and Lake Sebu.


Japan:

For decades, the island nation of Japan has been a favorite destination for travelers to Asia. From amazing Zen temples to kitschy reproductions of western monuments like the Eiffel Tower, Japan has something for every traveler who visits. The hardest thing is fitting it all in.


Southeast Asia

Thailand:

The Kingdom of Thailand is the most popular tourist destination in Southeast Asia drawing more visitors than its neighbors. With both mountainous regions and a beautiful coastline dotted with amazing islands Thailand is one a must see for those who travel to Asia. The city of Bangkok, the largest in Thailand is one of the most popular in all of Asia, as well.


Vietnam:

A quickly emerging destination among travelers to Asia, Vietnam is reshaping its image among world travel destinations. From the beaches along the coast, to its soaring inland mountains, Vietnam offers travelers to Asia with a sublime experience.


Mainland Asia-

China:

Too vast for words alone, China is rapidly emerging as the top destination for travelers to Asia. As China continues to modernize both economically and socially, it is becoming easier for those who travel to Asia to visit one of the largest and most populous countries in the world. If you travel to China, follow a loose itinerary and try to see as much as you can.


Korea:

South Korea is one of the most westernized of all Asian nations. Travelers to Korea can enjoy the modernity of the capital city, Seoul; or they can try visiting beautiful natural wonders like Songnisan National Park.


India:

Another of Asia’s largest and most heavily populated countries, India is a complex and diverse nation unlike any other you will experience when you travel throughout Asia. Visitors to India will be enchanted by its unpredictability and surprising cultural dramas that exist among its inhabitants.

Budget Traveling

Posted by on May 18, 2012 No comments

There are many things to keep in mind when traveling, whether you are a budget traveler or not. You obviously want to preserve what you have money to travel and not lose it or it was stolen. You also want to keep yourself and traveling companions safe from harm. Here are some tips to follow to make your trip safe and enjoyable in a foreign country.

1. Have a valid passport and visas necessary to travel. Make two copies of your passport. Store in a separate part of your travel luggage and the other with whom to leave the house.

2. Be aware of any travel warnings for the country you are. Learn about security and safety, to your destination.

3. Safe travel insurance!

4. Make sure that you have been vaccinated against any infectious disease figures prominently in the area you are traveling with.

5. To make sure that we can contact you in case of an emergency, make a copy of your itinerary and leave it with someone at home.

6.

Travel light and not Pack the values that you do not want to lose. Leave your jewelry at home, but take the extra points if you can not live without them.

7. Remember, you are a foreigner, when you are traveling. You are a guest in their country, and therefore should comply with its laws, and to some extent, their customs. For example, if you’re a woman traveling in an Islamic state, be careful of your clothes.

8. Try not to bring too much attention to themselves while traveling. Do not go out like a tourist with a camera, showy and expensive clothing. Try a combination of scenery.

9. Travel in a group, where possible, and in known areas. There will be times you want to get from the tourist routes, so make sure you always have a traveling companion with you.

10. Only the transport of small amounts of cash from you. Your credit cards and travelers checks to pay for many things.

11. Beware of pickpockets! Wear the money belt and keep your purse / wallet in the front part of the body. Report any loss or theft immediately to local authorities.

12. Do not leave your luggage unattended. Along with it, or items that were stolen from it taken, you could also become an unsuspecting drug courier.

13. If you travel with your partner, pack half your clothes in their luggage, and vice versa. Thus, if one of you loses your luggage, you still have clothes.

14. Lock your luggage, and all labels.

15. Lock your room. Keep money and valuables with you, will not be left unattended in your room.

16. When using public transport to be aware of possible theft. If you are traveling at night, secure your luggage and sleep in the upper part, if possible. It is not uncommon for tourists to be drugged, and in trains and buses do not accept gifts of food or drink from strangers in public transport.

Discount Travel

Posted by on May 15, 2012 No comments

Discount or budget travel involves a good deal of groundwork, planning and collating relevant information. Some of the best ways to get that great air deal are searching the Internet and visiting airline agencies. Airline companies that have just entered the industry offer a great deal of promotional fares. However, it is advisable to check different promotional offers and find the cheapest, instead of settling for the first that you chance upon.

Frequent flier miles, student fares and senior citizen discounts are other options. Discount travelers should keep a flexible travel schedule. If the promo of an airline states that they only give discounts on a certain day of the week, departure dates should coincide with the same. Monday is usually the busiest day of the week in the airline industry; Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays are the days that have fewer reservations, so tickets are sold cheap on these days.

Some airlines offer travel packages such as car rental or hotel room discounts along with the air ticket.

Another option is approaching consolidators or discount travel agents who buy blocks of tickets and sell them at reduced prices.

Budget travel guides can prove pretty useful in planning your trip. The Internet is a great resource for online budget travel guides. Some of the old, trusted methods of discount travel are heading out in the off-season, advance booking, visiting ticket consolidators (discount travel agents) and finding combination deals. The online travel guides offer these and more tips.

The popular online budget travel guides are lonelyplanet.com, iexplore.com, frommers.com, hobotraveler.com, sleepinginairports.net, bargaintravel.com and budgettravel.com. 10best.com offers the best travel guides for select destinations, and recommendations and deals on hotels and vacation packages. Budgettravelonline.com is another great site for finding the best deals for your budget vacation. They offer free email newsletters, and you can also subscribe to their magazine, Budget Travel, for a price. You can also find information on discount deals and tips in budget travel magazines.

Discount Air Travel provides detailed information on Discount Travel, Discount Air Travel, Discount Travel Agents, Discount European Travel and more. Discount Air Travel is affiliated with Discount Hotel Rates.

Active Travel

Posted by on May 14, 2012 No comments

There seems to be a whole vocabulary for those who sell travel. Active travel, adventure travel, leisure travel, eco-tourism. Do you really need to know what it all means? Not really. In the grand scheme of things you define your own travel style, and it may change from day to day.

You may go to an island and choose to sit on the beach one day, and go scuba diving the next. You may spend a day in the spa that resort has down in a palm grove and go bike riding the next. You’re active one day and quiet as a slug the next.

But if you are signing up for a tour, you should find out what that particular tour operator means when they say active travel. In general, an active tour will focus more on travel and transportation that requires physical activity… walking or cycling as opposed to riding along in a van or bus.

Most tours that fall into this category have a lot of outdoor activities.

OK, you say, but you can do a lot of walking if you’re sightseeing in a big city.

You’re right, even museum tours or garden tours can give you a workout, but active travel sort of indicates that you will be outdoors and biking or hiking or rafting or even horseback riding.

Some companies spell it out for you pretty well… they’ll tell you the activity level that will be required for the whole tour…

Will there be a lot of hiking or walking? For how many hours or how many miles or kilometers. Will there be lots of stairs or hills to climb? They may even have a “scoring” system all the way from easy to difficult… of course, you need to know what their definition of easy is!

A trekking company, for instance, might say Level One, or Easy is 3-5 hours of walking up to six miles a day with low altitude…. While Level Four or Strenuous is 5-8 hours of hiking in mountainous terrain at higher elevations.

Will you be staying in hotels? Or mountain huts where you share a bunkhouse arrangement with other travelers? Or will you be camping…. sleeping in tents? Your tour operator should give you an idea of the type of accommodations you can expect from rugged or spartan to luxury. You could be going on an African safari in the middle of the Kalahari, but if you stayed in a tent at Jack’s Camp, you would definitely find yourself reveling in the luxury category… and still be active in your travels.

You may even find that you relieve more “workaday” anxieties and frustrations with active vacations than you would just sitting on the beach, eating and drinking the night away. Activity is good for you, and sometimes it leaves you just a little tired and more relaxed at the end of the day.

Brochures may use the terms active or adventure travel interchangeably. We think of adventure travel as a little more of a reach…. something that is more apt to get you a little out of your comfort zone. Active travel doesn’t necessarily do that…. but it may make you break a sweat.

And what’s wrong with that?

Travel Agency

Posted by on May 11, 2012 No comments

Origins

The British company Cox & Kings is sometimes said to be the oldest travel agency in the world, but this rests upon the services that the original bank, established in 1758, supplied to its wealthy clients. The modern travel agency first appeared in the second half of the 19th century. Thomas Cook, in addition to developing the package tour, established a chain of agencies in the last quarter of the 19th century, in association with the Midland Railway. They not only sold their own tours to the public, but in addition, represented other tour companies. Other British pioneer travel agencies were Dean and Dawson, the Polytechnic Touring Association and the Co-operative Wholesale Society. The oldest travel agency in North America is Brownell Travel; on July 4, 1887, Walter T. Brownell led ten travelers on a European tour, setting sail from New York on the SS Devonia.

Travel agencies became more commonplace with the development of commercial aviation, starting in the 1920s.

Originally, travel agencies largely catered to middle and upper class customers, but the post-war boom in mass-market package holidays resulted in travel agencies on the main streets of most British towns, catering to a working class clientle, looking for a convenient way to book overseas beach holidays.

Operations

As the name implies, a travel agency’s main function is to act as an agent, that is to say, selling travel products and services on behalf of a supplier. Consequently, unlike other retail businesses, they do not keep a stock in hand. A package holiday or a ticket is not purchased from a supplier unless a customer requests that purchase. The holiday or ticket is supplied to them at a discount. The profit is therefore the difference between the advertised price which the customer pays and the discounted price at which it is supplied to the agent. This is known as the commission. A British travel agent would consider a 10-12% commission as a good arrangement. In Australia, all individuals or companies that sell tickets are required to be licensed as a travel agent.

In some countries, airlines have stopped giving commission to travel agencies. Therefore, travel agencies are now forced to charge a percentage premium or a standard flat fee, per sale. However, some companies still give them a set percentage for selling their product. Major tour companies can afford to do this, because if they were to sell a thousand trips at a cheaper rate, they still come out better than if they sell a hundred trips at a higher rate. This process benefits both parties.

Other commercial operations are undertaken, especially by the larger chains. These can include the sale of in-house insurance, travel guide books and timetables, car rentals, and the services of an on-site Bureau de change, dealing in the most popular holiday currencies.

The majority of travel agents have felt the need to protect themselves and their clients against the possibilities of commercial failure, either their own or a supplier’s. They will advertise the fact that they are surety bonded, meaning in the case of a failure, the customers are guaranteed either an equivalent holiday to that which they have lost or if they prefer, a refund. Many British and American agencies and tour operators are bonded with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), for those who issue air tickets, Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (ATOL) for those who order tickets in, the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) or the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), for those who sell package holidays on behalf of a tour company.

A travel agent is supposed to offer impartial travel advice to the customer. However, this function almost disappeared with the mass-market package holiday and some agency chains seemed to develop a ‘holiday supermarket’ concept, in which customers choose their holiday from brochures on racks and then book it from a counter. Again, a variety of social and economic changes have now contrived to bring this aspect to the fore once more, particularly with the advent of multiple, no-frills, low-cost airlines.

Commissions

Most travel agencies operate on a commission-basis, meaning that the compensation from the airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, sightseeing tours and tour operators, etc., is expected in form of a commission from their bookings. Most often, the commission consists of a set percentage of the sale.

In the United States, most airlines pay no commission at all to travel agencies. In this case, an agency usually adds a service fee to the net price.

Types of agencies

There are three different types of agencies in the UK: Multiples, Miniples and Independent Agencies. The former comprises a number of national chains, often owned by international conglomerates, like Thomson Holidays, now a subsidiary of TUI AG, the German multinational. It is now quite common for the large mass-market tour companies to purchase a controlling interest in a chain of travel agencies, in order to control the distribution of their product. (This is an example of vertical integration.) The smaller chains are often based in particular regions or districts.

In the United States, there are four different types of agencies: Mega, Regional, Consortium and Independent Agencies. American Express and the American Automobile Association (AAA) are examples of mega travel agencies.

Independent Agencies usually cater to a special or niche market, such as the needs of residents in an upmarket commuter town or suburb or a particular group interested in a similar activity, such as sporting events, like football, golf or tennis.

There are two approaches of travel agencies. One is the traditional, multi-destination, out-bound travel agency, based in the originating location of the traveler and the other is the destination focused, in-bound travel agency, that is based in the destination and delivers an expertise on that location. At present, the former is usually a larger operator like Thomas Cook, while the latter is often a smaller, independent operator.

Consolidators

Airline consolidators and other types of travel consolidators and wholesalers are high volume sales companies that specialize in selling to niche markets. They may or may not offer various types of services, at a single point of access. These can be hotel reservations, flights or car-rentals, for example. Sometimes the services are combined into vacation packages, that include transfers to the location and lodging. These companies do not usually sell directly to the public, but act as wholesalers to retail travel agencies. Commonly, the sole purpose of consolidators is to sell to ethnic niches in the travel industry. Usually, no consolidator offers everything, they may only have contracted rates to specific destinations. Today, there are no domestic consolidators, with some exceptions for business class contracts.

Criticism and controversy

“Racking”

This section does not cite any references or sources.

Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)

Travel agencies have been accused of employing a number of restrictive practices, the chief of which is known as ‘racking’. This is the practice of displaying only the brochures of those travel companies whose holidays they wish to sell, the ones that pay them the most commission. Of course, the average customer tends to think that these are the only holidays on offer and is unaware of the possible alternatives.

Conversely, by limiting the number of companies that a travel agency represents, this can bring a better and more profitable, working relationship between the agency and its suppliers. Travel agencies can then obtain special benefits for their customers, from a supplier, by concentrating their bookings with that supplier. Some examples of these special benefits would be room upgrades or the waiver of change and cancellation fees.

(“Racking” is a British expression, not used in the United States.)

The Internet threat

This section may need to be updated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information, and remove this template when finished. Please see the talk page for more information. (March 2009)

With general public access to the Internet, many airlines and other travel companies began to sell directly to passengers. As a consequence, airlines no longer needed to pay the commissions to travel agents on each ticket sold. Since 1997, travel agencies have gradually been disintermediated, by the reduction in costs caused by removing layers from the package holiday distribution network. However, travel agents remain dominant in some areas such as cruise vacations where they represent 77% of bookings and 73% of packaged travel.

In response, travel agencies have developed an internet presence of their own by creating travel websites, with detailed information and online booking capabilities. Several major online travel agencies include: Expedia, Voyages-sncf.com, Travelocity, Orbitz, CheapTickets, Priceline, CheapOair and Hotwire.com. Travel agencies also use the services of the major computer reservations systems companies, also known as Global Distribution Systems (GDS), including: SABRE, Amadeus CRS, Galileo CRS and Worldspan, which is a subsidiary of Travelport, allowing them to book and sell airline tickets, hotels, car rentals and other travel related services. Some online travel websites allow visitors to compare hotel and flight rates with multiple companies for free. They often allow visitors to sort the travel packages by amenities, price, and proximity to a city or landmark.

Travel agents have applied dynamic packaging tools to provide fully bonded (full financial protection) travel at prices equal to or lower than a member of the public can book online. As such, the agencies’ financial assets are protected in addition to professional travel agency advice.

All travel sites that sell hotels online work together with GDS, suppliers and hotels directly to search for room inventory. Once the travel site sells a hotel, the site will try to get a confirmation for this hotel. Once confirmed or not, the customer is contacted with the result. This means that booking a hotel on a travel website will not necessarily result in an instant answer. Only some hotels on a travel website can be confirmed instantly (which is normally marked as such on each site). As different travel websites work with different suppliers together, each site has different hotels that it can confirm instantly. Some examples of such online travel websites that sell hotel rooms are Expedia, Orbitz and WorldHotel-Link.

The comparison sites, such as Kayak.com, TripAdvisor and SideStep search the resellers site all at once to save time searching. None of these sites actually sell hotel rooms.

Often tour operators have hotel contracts, allotments and free sell agreements which allow for the immediate confirmation of hotel rooms for vacation bookings.

Mainline service providers are those that actually produce the direct service, like various hotels chains or airlines that have a website for online bookings. Portals will serve a consolidator of various airlines and hotels on the internet. They work on a commission from these hotels and airlines. Often, they provide cheaper rates than the mainline service providers as these sites get bulk deals from the service providers. A meta search engine on the other hand, simply culls data from the internet on real time rates for various search queries and diverts traffic to the mainline service providers for an online booking. These websites usually do not have their own booking engine.

Careers

With the many people switching to self-service internet websites, the number of available jobs as travel agents is decreasing. Most jobs that become available are from older travel agents retiring. Counteracting the decrease in jobs due to internet services is the increase in the number of people travelling. Since 1995, many travel agents have exited the industry, and relatively few young people have entered the field due to less competitive salaries. However, others have abandoned the ‘brick and mortar’ agency for a home-based business to reduce overheads and those who remain have managed to survive by promoting other travel products such as cruise lines and train excursions or by promoting their ability to aggressively research and assemble complex travel packages on a moment’s notice, essentially acting as a very advanced concierge.

Cargo

A small number of companies work with cargo airlines and cargo ships.

See also

Hospitality industry

International Association of Travel Agents Network

Receptive Services Association of America

Travel technology

Notes

^ “Travel Agents”. Victoria (Australia): Business Licensing Authority. 2009. http://www.bla.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/Business+Licensing+Authority/Home/Travel+Agents/. Retrieved 1 July 2009. 

^ “Travel & Tourism”. International Air Transport Association. 2009. http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/travel-tourism/. Retrieved 1 July 2009. 

^ “First Choice-TUI merger cleared”. BBC News. 2007-06-04. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6720995.stm. 

^ Andal-Ancion, Angela; Cartwright, Phillip A.; Yip, George S. (June 2003). “The Digital Transformation of Traditional Businesses”. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan Management Review. pp. Vol. 44, No. 4, pp. 3441. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/smr/issue/2003/summer/9/. 

^ Edmunds, Marian (2002-03-12). “A wake-up call for the industry”. Financial Times. http://specials.ft.com/ftit/march2002/FT3Z9WRBNYC.html. Retrieved 1 July 2009. 

^ “Media Kit”. Travel Agent (magazine). http://www.travelagentcentral.com/digital-media-kit/magazine-media-information. Retrieved 2008-12-28. “based on PhoCus Wright Travel Agency Distribution Landscape Study” 

^ Rebecca Tobi (2002-10-28). “Wanted: young agents! Are young people shying away from careers in travel? Agents and travel school operators say yes. Look around your agencyee any young faces?”. Travel Weekly Vol 61, no. 43. p. 148149. 

References

Bottomley Renshaw, Mike (1997). The Travel Agent (2nd ed.). Sunderland: Business Education Publishers Ltd. ISBN 1-901888-00-2. OCLC 228287734. 

External links

Find more about Travel agencies on Wikipedia’s sister projects:

Definitions from Wiktionary

Textbooks from Wikibooks

Source texts from Wikisource

Images and media from Commons

News stories from Wikinews

Learning resources from Wikiversity

v d e

Commercial air travel

Airlines

List of all airlines  List of passenger airlines  List of regional airlines  List of charter airlines

  List of “firms” with multiple IATA coded “certificated air carrier holdings”

Industry associations

IATA  ICAO  ISTAT

Airline alliances

Oneworld  Star Alliance  SkyTeam

Ticketing

Airline Reservations System  Airline ticket  Airline timetable  Boarding pass  Codeshare agreement  Continent pass  Electronic ticket  Flight cancellation  Frequent flyer program  Government contract flight  Open-jaw ticket  Red-eye flight  Round-the-world ticket  Standby  Travel agency  Travel search engine  Warsaw Convention

Airport

Airline hub  Airport  Airport lounge  Domestic airport  International airport  Regional airport

Luggage

Bag tag  Baggage allowance  Baggage carousel  Baggage claim  Baggage handler  Checked baggage  Lost luggage

Check-in

Airstair  Airport check-in  Airport security  Boarding  Gate

Seating

Aircraft seat map  Airline seat  First class  Business class  Premium Economy class  Economy class  Travel class

In flight

Aircraft lavatory  Airline meal  Airsickness bag  In-flight entertainment  Buy on board  Inflight smoking

Aircrew

Deadheading  Captain  First officer  Flight attendant  Flight engineer  Pilot  Purser  Second Officer  Third Officer

Immigration

Arrival Card  Departure Card  Passport

Safety

Air traffic control  Aircraft safety card  Airline security  Airport authority  Airport police  Civil aviation authority  Flight data recorder  Pre-flight safety demonstration  Overwing exits

v d e

Tourism

Types

Accessible tourism  Adventure travel  Agritourism  Archaeological tourism  Birth tourism  Bookstore tourism  Christian tourism  Culinary tourism  Cultural tourism  Dark tourism  Dental tourism  Disaster tourism  Drug tourism  Ecotourism  Extreme tourism  Female sex tourism  Garden tourism  Geotourism  Ghetto tourism  Halal tourism  Heritage tourism  LGBT tourism  Lists of named passenger trains  Literary tourism  Medical tourism  Music tourism  Nautical tourism  Pop-culture tourism  Poverty tourism  Religious tourism  Rural tourism  Sacred travel  Safaris  Sex tourism  Space tourism  Sports tourism  Sustainable tourism  Township tourism  Vacation  Volunteer travel  Water tourism  Wildlife tourism  Wine tourism  List of adjectival tourisms

Hospitality

Hospitality industry  Hospitality management studies  Hospitality services  General Manager  Bed and breakfast  Destination hotel  Destination spa  Front Desk  Hostel  Hotel  Restaurant  Hotel manager  Motel  Resort

Miscellaneous

Campus tour  Gift shop  Grand Tour  Package holiday  Passport  Perpetual traveler  Resort town  Roadside attraction  Seaside resort  Ski resort  Souvenir  Staycation  Sunday drive  Tour guide  Tour operator  Tourism geography  Tourism region  Tourism Radio  Tourism technology  Tourist attraction  Tourist destination  Tourist trap  Transport  Travel agency  Travel journal  Travel literature  Travel website

Industry organizations

and rankings

Caribbean Tourism Organization  Convention and visitor bureau  Destination marketing organization  European Travel Commission  South-East Asian Tourism Organisation  Tourism in present-day nations and states  Tourist information  Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report  Visitor center  World Tourism Day  World Tourism Organization  World Tourism rankings  World Travel and Tourism Council

Categories: Travel agencies | Airline ticketsHidden categories: Articles needing additional references from June 2007 | All articles needing additional references | Articles needing additional references from March 2009 | Wikipedia articles in need of updating

Eco Travel

Posted by on May 10, 2012 No comments

Eco travel is a sustainable travel which is based on the idea of experiencing the balance of nature rather than upsetting it. Our earth is incredibly beautiful place full of rich ecosystems. But over the time the greenery is disappearing and plants and animals are going extinct gradually. That is why our tourism industry practices responsible tourism and foster awareness among the travelers. Eco travel aim at traveling with out disrupting or harming local culture or climate or damaging the ecology of that region. Preserving the natural luxuries, forest life and saving the environment around us is what the eco tourism all about.

Eco travel is a new concept of traveling, typically defined as travel to destinations where flora, fauna, natural heritage are main attractions. It also includes to enhance the cultural integrity of the people and also supports the program the minimizes the adverse effect of the traditional tourism on the natural environment.

Preservation of cultural, biological and historical resources along with sustainable development are some of the related field of Eco travel. Many well known personalities from different fields have been engaged themselves in formulating and developing ecotourism policies.

In today’s tourism industry eco-tourism is a fast growing industry. Not only in India but it has been getting importance from global market also. While going for an adventurous travel tour like camping, trekking, birding etc we should keep in mind not to create any mishap or disturbance in the life cycle of nature.

Each and every part of India is a collection of eco regions full of natural sightseeing locations. Even the majestic Himalaya alone offer many world famous eco sites, which offer activities like trekking, wildlife viewing, camping, fishing, orchid viewing, glacier viewing, birding, mountain-biking, nature walk and etc.

Travel Wallets

Posted by on May 9, 2012 No comments

Why you need a travel wallet.

In truth it is not an absolutely essential travel item, but it is a very good tool to help you keep organised at the most hectic moments during your travels. It will you you  keep all the important travel documents, including your passport and airline tickets in one place, ready to access when you need them.  Your fellow passengers will love you, as you won’t be scrambling for the right piece of paper when you get to the front of the airline check-in line, or hotel check-in line, or whatever line you’ll inevitably have to be waiting in!

Travel wallets come in various styles, and searching the internet, you’ll find people referring to money belts and neck pouches as travel wallets. Those however, are not travel wallets. A travel wallet is a wallet, usually about the size an old school airline ticket (i.e.

not an e-ticket), or larger.

The purpose of a travel wallet is for storing your passport, your travel tickets, travel itinerary and any other travel document you have. A good travel wallet will also have a provision for a pen, which actually is an essential travel item!

Choosing a travel wallet will depend on your budget, your style, whether you need to store passports for other family members and also your travel style. If you are looking for a great gift for a someone who is an avid traveller or who needs to travel a lot for work, look for a good quality leather one that will last many years.

Intrepid Travellers

Posted by on May 7, 2012 No comments

If you are an intrepid traveller then it will be the unreachable that draws you to new destinations and things to visit when you are travelling. Most people just plan their next holiday, but the diehard traveller will be looking to better their last trip and really make something remarkable.

Why not think about these?

Using all the pages in your passport: what a pride point to achieve! It might seem like a pain to a normal person to apply for new pages, but it’s such a badge of honour to have all the stamps of the countries that you have visited on display.

Climbing to the highest point of the countries you have visited: its amazing to see a country from its highest peak, so why not get to the top and be in the rare few that have seen the terrain from that angle.

Seeing one hundred countries: if you want membership in the traveller’s century club then collect passage into one hundred countries and be one of the elite few allowed to attend.

Acquiring rare passport stamps: there are some countries that are rare and unusual, and the acquisition of one if these stamps is like gold dust.

Take Lichtenstein for example. How many people do you know with that stamp?

Seeing the world in eighty days: might sound easy, but the real trick is to do it without using aeroplanes. You might have to board a boat, or get on a bus with the locals, but it means that you will get out there and live like the locals.

Visiting all seven of the continents: this would be much easier if Antarctica was easier to get to, but it means taking on Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Antarctica and Australasia in the quest to be well travelled.

Getting your kicks on route 66: renting a car and driving the iconic route 66 is a Mecca for travellers, so get it done and get one of the most amazing trips for travellers.

If you are looking to take a trip this summer then book Travel Insurance Direct

Travel Insurance

Posted by on May 5, 2012 Comments Off

While planning a trip abroad or somewhere outside your city the important things to carry along are your passport tickets etc., apart from this you should also have a travel insurance which is a must now-a-days. It is something many people might over look, but it is essential when traveling. But don’t go for the cheapest insurance you can find.

Make sure you find a policy that will cater to all your needs and take care of you incase anything happens to you or your family. Look around at different policies and see what is out there many Online Travel agencies are available for your assistance. You can also visit agencies like “travelchacha” who provide complete Tour packages including your Travel Insurance and that too the one which is most adequate and handy for you in accordance to your trip.

You should be very well aware of what all does your policy beholds and what is not included.

Read what the policy covers. One should ask as many questions that you want o their respective Online Travel agents, make all your doubts clear prior signing any deal. Make sure that your insurer knows and cover adventure activities, like water rafting Mountain climbing or things of the similar nature.

Make sure you can participate in those types of activities before getting the insurance because sometimes they aren’t covered in some polices. Clear your doubts with these Online Travel Agencies and On Net Trip agencies if you can claim for your luggage if it is left unattended, you should know all the little details, ask to any limit and satisfy yourself completely.

Thus, in order to secure yourself from certain unforeseen situations get an adequate travel insurance and become tension free.

Because you never know what will happen when and in what situation. So, one should be prepared in advance, and if you get one for yourself you will benefited in the long run.

Page 1 of 512345