Call it a cruise or a hotel, a resort or a condo the question remains, how do I find the best vacation spot for me and my family? Well, if you read my blogs called ” Some comments from a travel agent” you will realize that looking for the perfect spot, the best vacation spot could be very time consuming if we dont have the time or it is not something that we want to invest our time into
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How to find the best vacation spots
Today begins a Whirlwind end to 2009. 2009 has been an awesome year for me thanks to the Cruise Industry and Social Media. My network is a 100x stronger than this same time last year thanks to having the opportunity to connect with so many cool smart people on Twitter. With as good as 2009 has been so far, it’s going to end even stronger. Today I am headed to Miami for the first of 4 trips to one of my favorite cities. This week we are meeting face to face with 6 cruise lines. As an added bonus, we’ll be at the Jets vs. Miami Monday Football game tonight. I have the Social Fresh Social Media Cruise on 11.12.09. On 11.22.09, I will be cruising on the Inaugural sailing of the architectural wonder, Oasis of the Seas . On 12.12.09, I am teaching Travel Agents how to utilize new media to build their business on the Celebrity Century 5nt. Caribbean Cruise If you are a blogger, social media thought leader, technology innovator, community manager, etc.
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2009 Recap
It’s the day before my cruise and I am getting excited about it. I will be cruising on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas. We are leaving out of the Port of Bayonne NJ tomorrow, heading for Bermuda. The first day will be an ‘At Sea’ day, so that will be time to explore the ship. And visit the spa, of course! (I always visit the spa on my cruises). We will dock at Kings Wharf in Bermuda for 2 days and then back to Bayonne with another ‘At Sea’ day, arriving back on Thursday. This will be my first cruise on Royal Caribbean and I am looking forward to cruising with them. I have many friends who rave about Royal Caribbean and I want to see for myself first hand just how good it is! This is a laid back cruise for me, only visiting one port. I’m used to going to 3 or more ports on a cruise with only 1 day in any port. I think that it will be fun to go out and explore Bermuda, come back for dinner and entertainment after dinner and then back out to explore more of Bermuda the next day. As I’ve been telling people that I’m going to Bermuda, they always have a suggestion for what to do while I’m there, so I think that I will have enough suggestions to fill up those 2 days! Well, gotta go and pack! I will be back tomorrow to let you know how the first day goes, with getting up to Bayonne, on the ship, situated in the cabin and then out to explore the ship. Hopefully you will come back to visit my blog! See you then!
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The day before…
With the flurry of online travel booking and Do-It-Yourself travel sites, many people have lost sight of the fact that a trip can easily be booked through a travel agency – and that there are benefits which can only be found through one of these agencies. It is important to think about the various deals that you can find only through a travel agency before you begin to plan your trip. Before you start to try to do it yourself, and before you spend too much money with online travel sites or Do-It-Yourself travel sites, think about using a travel agent
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Exclusive Travel Agency Vacations
It’s Monday and I am sitting at the headquarters of Cruise Holidays of Mission Viejo empire working on a top secret luxury cruise program to launch in the near future. I was struck by a Destroy Twitter re-tweet from @EliteTravelGal . The original tweet was from @bgleeson about a blog entry regarding social media for luxury travel agenices ( click here for post .) The post really appealed to me since my background is in Social Science Statistics and the entire blog entry summarizes market statistics for luxury travel. Although I will not offer my opionion on the validy of the reseach method, sample size, or other variables, I will offer my opinion about the conclusions. The reseach concludes that social media use is increasing and that those that are using social media sites are responding to opportunities to get connected. Relationship building needs to be personal and consistent. I concur.
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Response to Social Media and Luxury Travel
Apa faktor menentukan dalam memilih agen atau agen travel bali dan biro travel bali murah , selain kesan awal tentang kantor, cara mereka menanggapi kebutuhan anda, pastikan bahwa agen yang anda pilih punya jaringan kuat dengan industri pariwisata pada umumnya seperti dengan asosiasi agen perjalanan, maskapai penerbangan, jaringan hotel, kereta api, kapal pesiar, tur operator, atau perusahan rental mobil. Agen travel bali dan biro travel bali murah yang berjaringan luas mencerminkan agen tersebut kredibel.
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Tips Memilih Biro Travel Wisata
Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Azamara Cruises announced the joint launch of ChoiceAir, a convenient new way for guests to purchase air transportation to and from their cruise. With ChoiceAir, guests will enjoy greater peace of mind; be able to select their preferred airline and a specific itinerary; and shop for the best prices among published fares and exclusive ChoiceAir specials.Unlike traditional programs, guests will know their airline itinerary as soon as they are ready to choose it, and – as with traditional air programs – there is a support team available to support guests before, during, and after they travel. ChoiceAir will be available to guests from the US and Canada beginning August 3, 2009
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Cruiselines launch new "ChoiceAir" option for Cruise Passengers
Tales of a Travel Agent: A woman called and asked, “Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know who’s luggage belongs to who?” I said, “No, why do you ask?” She replied, “Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said FAT, and I’m overweight, is there any connection?” After putting her on hold for a minute while I “looked into it” (I was actually laughing) I came back and explained the city code for Fresno is FAT, and that the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage. A client called in inquiring about a package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost info, she asked, “Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii?” A man called, furious about a Florida package we did
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"The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist."
InsureMyTrip Sales Data: The online travel insurance aggregator InsureMyTrip.com announced results of its sales data analysis of consumer travelers showing a more cautious, cost-conscious market for 2009 vacations. InsureMyTrip found the following results in examining its 1 st Quarter 2009 sales data versus the same 1 st Quarter of 2008. Extended vacations of two to four weeks saw the largest decline at nearly 15%
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Travelers Booking Shorter, Affordable Trips on Shorter Notice
How Does Travel Insurance Handle US travel for a Ski Trip And in Particular the Medical Coverage? A: There are two parts to this answer. First, the policy itself would function no differently then if the client was traveling internationally. The coverage is secondary, which means we are still going to cover whatever portion is not covered through their primary insurance provider. There is a greater possibility that their personal insurance will cover most, if not all, of the medical expense domestically compared to internationally. Secondly, with specific respect to ski trips there are exclusions in the policy for certain types of extreme and off trail skiing. These exclusions are detailed in the Description of Coverage. If your client plans to do one of these types of activities they can purchase the Sports Coverage option for $25 per person and the exclusions will be waived. The Sports Coverage option also covers pre paid, non-refundable ski passes, ski or equipment rentals, or greens fees. In addition this option will reimburse for equipment rentals if the client’s own equipment is delayed or misdirected by the Common Carrier
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The Question of the Month: From Tim H.
Trip Interruption: The U.S. State Department on June 19 th published an alert to travelers about possible medical quarantine procedures now being imposed by the Chinese government on some arriving airline passengers to prevent the spread of flu virus. Among those, for example, unexpectedly quarantined in a Beijing hotel for three days in mid-June were New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and his wife, both of whom missed a scheduled meeting
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Air Passengers Can Protect Against Unforeseen Quarantines
Life is busy and at times hectic, full of “to-do” lists, grocery lists, work, chores, etc. But what about the things that don’t make it on to the daily “to-do” list, the things you actually WANT to do? You may be familiar with the term “bucket list,” a list that contains one’s dreams and desires, whether it is vacationing in Hawaii, skiing the Alps, visiting the Great Wall of China, or whatever you else you can dream up! Your bucket list should not remain on the back burner, there is no time like the present to jot it down, and start pursuing your aspirations. And with travel destination rates at a low, there is absolutely no better time to embark on the trip of your dreams. The friendly and helpful agents at The Travel Connection are here to assist you in fulfilling your dreams and checking those items off of your very own bucket list. Visit our website, www.travelconnectionri.com.
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Your Very Own Bucket List
Just when you thought you had a firm handle on all the things to check on before booking a client into a hotel comes this news: “From the chic boutiques of London and Los Angeles to hot new hotels in more exotic locales like India and China, exposed bathrooms are a growing trend,” reports the New York Times , “whether in the form of transparent glass walls and shower stalls or bathtubs set in the middle of the bedroom like free-standing sculptures.” That last reference is to London’s Sanctum Hotel, where bathtubs sit in the middle of the room on a bed of “backlit black pebbles.” The experience is supposed to be “glamorous and otherworldly.” Hmmm. Then why does the dictionary define “sanctum” as “a private room where one is not to be disturbed” (or, presumably, spied upon)
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(Bath)rooms With A View
I said it before, I’ll say it again: “There’s no recession in the cruise industry.” Here’s more proof : Booking volume during the current wave season has surpassed the same period last year by nearly six percent, according Princess Cruises, who credits both lower prices and travel agents who have utilized the line’s sales support tools to generate business in the current economic climate. … “Travel agents gave us a record-breaking reservations day in January, and this further result shows that they continued to sell Princess cruises at an extraordinary rate throughout the first two months of the year,” said Jan Swartz, Princess’ executive vice president of sales, marketing and customer service.
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No Recession in the Cruise Industry (cont’d)
The US announced yesterday that they’re ready to enforce new Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) rules for citizenship and identity documents at America’s land and sea borders starting June 1. On that date, travelers must begin showing WHTI-compliant documents such as passports, passport cards (above), trusted traveler cards, and enhanced driver’s licenses (British Columbia, New York, Vermont, and Washington state, at this time) to enter the United States. More info from your friends at the Department of Homeland Security .
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Your Clients Face Tougher Reentry Requirements
THE REAL “SKINNY” ABOUT THE CARD MILLS ASTA defines a card mill in part as, “Those businesses that sell deceptive identification cards, sometimes accompanied by a package of worthless training materials that falsely identify the purchaser as a travel agent. These cards are represented as enabling the holder to obtain discounts, upgrades and/or commissions reserved by travel suppliers for professional travel agents who actively promote the supplier's services
If you want to operate a successful home based travel agency , there are some areas that you need to pay particular attention to. For example, being organized and staying focused. Following are three specific areas to keep in mind – and why they’re important to your travel agency business success. 3 Keys to Operating a Successful Home Based Travel Agency Be a Team Player: As in, hire the right team
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Want to Operate a Successful Home Based Travel Agency?
The IRS has raised its standard mileage rate to 58.5 cents per mile, an 8 cent boost. This means that you can now deduct 58.5 cents on your income tax return for every mile you drive when conducting business for your travel agency. Remember that every time you drive to see a client, go to an OSSN meeting, travel to another city to attend a supplier seminar, drive to the port to take a fam cruise, go to the post office to mail business-related documents, or run any of dozens of other business-related errands, you have the right to write it off against the income generated by your business
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IRS Raises Mileage Allowance
Ross, while currently search engines might get you close to where you want to go, to use the librarian-as-travel agent comparison, it’s as if an online travel site were to drop you off 100 miles from your intended destination a week before you wanted to get there. That is *close*, but not *close enough* for most people. My point was that we still have (a little) time left before the accuracy of search engines, and the data available to them, improves to where they really can get *close enough* for most of our patrons
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By: Roger Hiles
The fact of the matter is that it’s impossible for me include our precious resources for anything useful, while including Google, Yahoo and Amazon was a piece of cake. The best I can hope to give our users from our collection are links to lists of databases or subject guides; without considerable work on my part and the librarians all I can hope to get them is a generic link to all of our databases or a list of subject guides…. At this point it’s important for us to empower the user; not with arcane searching techniques in hard to find resources, but by leveraging our systems so they can be integrated easily into wherever the user is looking and by exposing our content and services in ways that fit into the user’s sphere of control and comfort
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By: Eric Lease Morgan