Jul/090
Summer Tourism: School is Back In Session for Travel Agencies
Hold
Summer Tourism: School is Back In Session for Travel Agencies
Hold on to your hammock: school is out, and Americans will be taking more than 325 million vacations in June, July and August. About 65 million of them were researched or booked on-line.
If that is not enough to suggest on-line opportunity for travel agencies, consider this:
The on-line travel market is estimated at $60 billion and growing fast;
On-line bookings average $750, versus $400 off-line;
In 2006, for the first time, more trips were booked on-line than by any other method;
The next most-common method, phone booking, plunged 16 percent from 2005, and
Travelers who use the Internet to plan and purchase trips almost always visit multiple sites.
Big players are cashing in. On-line travel agents like Orbitz and Expedia continue to thrive, but face competition from two new sources. Travel research sites, or meta sites, like Mobissimo, use customer criteria to search hundreds of sites for the best option. Research-oriented sites include traditional guidebook publishers like Fodors and new on-line-only firms like Realtravel.com.
Is there room for smaller players? Yes. People shop around when planning travel, no matter how big or beautiful a particular Web site may be: if they can find your site, it appears they will come.
Therefore, a crucial step is boosting search-engine visibility. A savvy search-engine-optimization partner enables the travel agencys Web site to attract a share of the enormous traffic by:
Creating and refreshing keyword/key phrase content;
Crafting an effective and ethical linking strategy;
Developing site elements search engines reward;
Cleaning up site elements search engines penalize, and
Discovering further enhancements by analyzing site date.
Of course, once the visitors start coming, the travel agency needs a compelling message to keep them there. Most importantly, its Web site must communicate the companys position in the industry and its unique value, and provide the information its target customers want. The site should be easy to navigate, fast-loading and invite customer communication.
There seems to be little or no slowdown in leisure travel, despite an up-and-down economy and high fuel prices; one can only imagine the growth when conditions improve. But opportunity does not guarantee success in a changing market. The travel industry is quickly reaching the point where the Internet will dominate to the near exclusion of all other selling channels. Companies can take advantage by becoming Web-marketing stars or retire to the hammock.
Aaron Wittersheim is president of Whoast Inc., a suburban Chicago search marketing firm. For more information, visit http://www.whoast.com
Jul/090
Mexico the country with its turbulent history encompasses fantastic legends
Mexico the country with its turbulent history encompasses fantastic legends and lore. Its culture with its Spanish connection has its own indigenous appeal. That appeal has infiltrated into its art, design and architecture.
From museums and opera houses to tranquil beach resorts, travellers in Mexico will definitely not ask for anything more. Over 500 festivals and holidays are celebrated annually throughout Mexico City and nearby towns showcasing deep historical ancestry.
Mexico is one of the most admired tourist spots. The first name that comes in mind is Riviera Maya, Mexico. Due to its lush jungle, landscape, shoreline and history, Riviera Maya has a variety of attractions to entice travellers. Playa del Carmen, a major town in the region and runs along the beach offering tourists prominent hotels, it also provides the shoppers an array of colourful local handicrafts to meet the latest trends in European fashions. Next comes the Yucatn Peninsula, an archeological goldmine, situated on the Gulf of Mexico’s southern shore. It was the center of Mayan civilization throughout their rule.
The beach resorts outside the capital city is one of the places that people who travel to Mexico will surely enjoy. The beach destination is also regarded as the most accepted option for a romantic honeymoon getaway. Acapulco is one of the popular tourist spots where you can enjoy fishing as well as water sports. Acapulco is also noted for its hotels, casinos and beach resorts. Mazatlan is also an admired tourist destination, a place where pre-Lenten carnivals and fishing tournaments take place. One can also find in Mazatlan an observatory and one of the tallest lighthouses in the world. Other beaches that travellers in Mexico should not miss are the Cancun Island, the Puerto Vallarta and the Los Cabos. Mexico is one of the most important museum destinations in the world.
Museums that travellers in Mexico should visit are the National Museum of Anthropology, Museum of National History, Snail Museum, Technology Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. Children will also enjoy the Mexico City Zoo and the Papalote, a children’s interactive museum. Travelling to Mexico will not be complete without visiting the Basilica de Guadalupe, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and the Chapultepec Castle. The monuments abound in the Paseo de la Reforma are Angel of the Independence (the symbol of the country’s national identity), Cuauhtemoc Memorial and the Diana Cazadora (the statue of Diana the Huntress). The Zona Rosa or the Pink Zone is an ideal shopping paradise covering boutique squares, shops and hotels. The Alameda Park is also a shopping district, which borders the Palace of Fine Arts. Travellers can find the Pyramid of the Sun and Moon in Teotihuacan that face each other, providing a great view of the surrounding regions from the top.
Mexico is one of the most popular vacation destinations of North America. Winter is the best time for a tour to Mexico, as majority of Mexico is positioned in the tropics, making weather somewhat reliable and the months of July and August inevitably avoidable, when temperatures may not drop below 90F at night. Great waves, sea caves and the closeness of many interesting locales strengthens the lure of this western peninsula.
Maria Thomas is a owner of the Holidays with best bargain from Online travel agency Bargain Holidays with World Wise Travel, Online travel Agency an independent, online travel agency. We deal with all the major ABTA and ATOL bonded tour operators and all the major airlines
Jul/090
Dont choose your next traveling agency by the cleverness of
Dont choose your next traveling agency by the cleverness of the sales call or the glossiness of the ad. The travel agency is still the easiest and most utilized way to book travel of any kind. Even with the internet and all of the discount travel websites, people and businesses still prefer to make their travel arrangements through a traveling agency. Why? Not only does it save time, it may also save you money, and the traveling agency can walk you through the process to get you the best possible travel package no matter where and when you are traveling.
The ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents) is the organization that provides training and continuing education for agents from any traveling agency that displays their logo. This logo can also be displayed by any traveling agency online or any individual travel agent that has gone through the certification and training. Why is all of this information important? It is important because you have a greater assurance of quality service and product delivery from this type of traveling agency. The agents who work in such an agency often have specialized training in business travel, cruises, Caribbean vacations, ski trips, or some other area of travel expertise.
Have you ever received a letter or a phone call from a traveling agency telling you that you have won a trip to some exotic location in a fabulous resort and all you have to do is to give them your credit card number for a small processing fee? You may have recognized this as a travel scam. But not all scams are this obvious. Sometimes the agency or agent will promise you a beautiful travel package and you will not find out until you get there that your luxury hotel is a better home to roaches than people. You can check out these agents and agencies through the BBB or BBB Online and also through the ASTA. Just exercise extra caution when it sounds like a deal that is too good to be true.
Dont be surprised when you are charged a small fee by your travel agency. This is a necessary adaptation in the industry to make up for the loss of airline commission and other expenses. But the convenience and expertise may just be worth the added cost.
Eriani Doyel writes articles about Leisure and Travel. For more information about a traveling agency visit ubetraveling.com.