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Sunday, September 23, 2007
Planning Trips Around the World
There are cities I've visited and have fond memories of: Istanbul, Rome, Prague, Budapest, Amsterdam, Alkmaar, Hoorn, Munich, Iasi, Cluj and the list could go on and on. There are cities, such as Barcelona, that I am about to see. And others that I hope to see sometime in the future: New York, Dubai, Casablanca, Rio de Janeiro, London, Dublin, Ciudad the Mexico and the list is even longer.
I am the type of wonderer whose perfect year consists of about three getaways across the border and a few more withing the country. So this year has been a pretty good one, overall, started in Istanbul, then continued in Athens and Amsterdam and with plans for Spain. I also like to plan my own trip and I usually run away from agencies because I don't like depending on other people, especially when there's a bunch of them. So I prefer online hotel bookings, Easy to Book being one of the sites I keep an eye on before any such trip.
My last three trips were built around online bookings for a few nights and in most cases everything went smoothly. I choose not to think about my mishaps from Bulgaria that much anymore.
But there is a reason such trips mean so much to me. Traveling to new, unexplored places is what makes me feel happy and free. It gives me the feeling I actually enjoy everything life has to offers. On some great occasions I also get to meet people from my online life and that's a quite big bonus. The reason for online booking kind of comes with the package: it gives me freedom of movement: my choices, my timing, around the clock.
Some of you might know I am a big fan of planning your own trips. Finding your hotel and booking it online, finding your flights and generally being the sole master of your traveling plans. I have also been writing quite a few reviews on such topics: hotel reservations sites, travel destinations, and so on.
What is the result of all this? Well, my friends call to ask me where to look for a hotel. Who has the best rates? Who has the most cities covered? It happened twice, only this week. And let me tell you it feels great. I know enough to help them out and know they are getting the best! And besides, it makes them call more which is a definite plus given how busy we all are!
I have always been a fan of vacations with an exotic touch, taking you to countries far away. What you know of such places is a mix of what you have read and what others have told you, the photos you've seen and local works of art, and all that mix of bits of information still is unable to make it all less than a breathtaking experience. Australia would be such a country.
You could benefit from cheap hotels in Australia with just a few clicks. But not anywhere in Australia! As the heat is easier to take when a cool breeze is all around you, I am speaking about Surfers' Paradise. That is right, Gold Coast hotels are waiting for you.
Run a quick search by number of starts, pick from the recommended hotels or simply enter your arrival and departure dates and see what's available. Most hotels have their prices listed, but some of them offer price information on request only, which is not something I am a big fan of. I do always recommend and support having your site translated when you're dealing with customers from around the world, and Hotel Club does just that.
If you decide to embark on such an adventure, I recommend you stop by the forum. Get travel details and useful tips and make sure nothing takes you by surprise.
The RealTravel Blog is the place all travel blog writers should visit. It has a clear and comprehensive layout and the navigation is quite easy, as it is divided based on destinations, editor’s picks, things to do, photos, deals, forums. It is a resourceful collection of all things travel.
The Editors Choice section, the page that greets you when dropping by, is a frequently updated collection of the very best of travel blog stories, photos and recommendation. If news is what you’re there four, or maybe you are interested in a certain continent, you can use the sidebar list of categories to go directly at the information you need.
When searching for a particular place to see, you can either use the selection map in the Destination section to select the area, or you can check out the list of most blogged countries. I was very glad to see Romania on the list.
What I also appreciated is that they do not limit their travel blog to itineraries, photos, and a wide description of things to see and to do. They feature interesting reviews of people who have already been there and RealTravel Blog is a great place to share information, to ad your input and make your experiences, good or bad, known.
Why would you choose Brisbane, Australia, as your travel destination? Well, have your pick of reasons: beautiful sceneries, exotic animals, the beautiful cheap hotels in Brisbane. Everything is there, waiting for you. Would you like to experience a breath-taking view of the city? Then drive to the top of Mt. Coot-tha Lookout to see the entire Brisbane at your feet. Do you feel like having a glamorous looking cocktail while laying in the sun and listening to the waves? Then go to the beaches of South Bank. While there, should you feel like doing more cultural activities, I recommend the Cultural Centre. Take this opportunity to visit the Queensland Art Museum and the Gallery of Modern Art. As you see, options for all tastes and types of tourists. When you decide to spend you next vacation there, make sure you book your stay at one of the Brisbane Hotels. To make sure your Hotel Accommodation in Brisbane is worthwhile, choose whatever you like by sorting the offers by number of stars, location or price. And if I've convinced you to leave now, don't forget to check the last minute deals. Enjoy your stay!
While vacations are supposed to be a careless adventure for all of us, accidents and medical emergencies have this bad habit of ruining our fun time. That is why travel insurances have been introduces at a certain moment. As we are now part of the European Union, travel policies have much changed for us Romanians.
Before, one used to go to a travel agency, pay for the insurance and go about one's business. Today, if you have the time to the health authority in your city or town, you get this new card allowing you to benefit from health insurance without any additional payments, as long as you travel within the EU territory. Otherwise, you still have to pay for separate travel insurances.
What no one tells you is that if you're like me and have to go to your home town to have this taken care of, you can still pay for a travel insurance on a limited period and travel with no worries.
If you're interested in a specialized travel insurance provider, try CoverMyTravels.com that offers age concern travel insurance. They offer their services regardless of your age and at a relatively low price.
Bucharest - Business Tourists Boost Hotel Chains' Profits
80% to 95% of Bucharest hotels' customers come from the business sector and most tourists coming to Bucharest are foreigners, with estimates in this regard pointing to 75-80% of overall arrivals in 2006.
The conference and banqueting segment, generated by the same business sector, accounts for different shares in Bucharest five-star hotels' turnovers, from 30% to 50%.
Under the circumstances, the most profitable hotels of Romania, besides having the advantage of being the biggest, are also the most luxurious, mainly targeting those who do not pay for accommodation from their own incomes. Luxury hotels, represented by the six five-star hotels (Howard Johnson, Grand Plaza, JW Marriott, Intercontinental, Athenee Palace Hilton, Casa Capsa and Crowne Plaza) have around 1,467 available rooms together of the total 6,400 rooms on the market, reads a report on the Bucharest real estate market put together by CB Richard Ellis Romania (CBRE).
What's next? Other international chains will soon follow. Word is Kempinsky, Hyatt, Four Seasons, Sheraton or Leading Hotels of the World will soon join the party. Suprising? Not really.
The question is: do local hotels stand a chance? Probably, if they invest tons of money to offer the same service levels, if they promote themselves on the international market (online booking services might not be such a bad idea) and if they change their business model and realize returning customers are worth more than one time customers that you manage to trick.
Lisbon, Portugal - The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) last night announced the winners of the 2007 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards at the Gala Dinner for the 7th Global Travel & Tourism Summit. The Awards recognize and promote the best practices in tourism development all over the world. The winners of the four categories are:
The winners were selected by a panel of five judges, chaired by Costas Christ, world expert in sustainable tourism. The judging process included on-site evaluation visits of all award finalists by a team of sustainable tourism experts around the world.
More on WTTC's site. I have to confess, I pray for the day when Romania or parts of it are considered for such awards.
On our first night in Athens, after walking around the hotel for a short while, we eventually found a restaurant. We were all starving, so "pizza, bar, restaurant" was music to our ears. We all ordered pizza. Silvi, my mom and I took two family sized pizzas, to mix the flavor, while bf ordered another one for himself. Little did D know about how long it will actually take to get his pizza as they were kind of understaffed that night.
What to drink, we asked? Well, a local beer, what else! We checked the menu and also asked our waiter, who was a pretty crazy and dizzy fellow, which of the beers was local. And he recommended Mythos. Silviana and I smiled at each other. Yes, we had the same character in mind, another Methos! Yes, my friends, the oldest of the immortals from the Highlander series! Mythos beer was our instant choice. Well, all except my mom, who ordered a Heineken.
How does it taste? Well, it tastes like Romanian cheap beer...But who cared? It had to be local! I for one thought the others where to picky. I personally loved the beer, as it was kind of sweet and not that strong, so I could actually drink an entire bottle.
The pizza was great though! My friend Cris was right when she told me about what great pizza the Greeks made! Yes, I know, not really local food, but when you are starving and you get Mythos for the local touch, does it really matter?
Yes, the photos from Greece are still not uploaded. Well, at least not all of them. But here are some, although they still need some explaining: Day 1 and Day 2. This is the place I have selected to have my statue placed. Silviana did the same so it's still an open issue :P
Yes, folks, in 7 hours, I'll be on my way to Athens. I still have 2 more hours at the office, so there are actually 5 hours left for....
....for my list of what I should have done, but didn't. Here it is! Should I mention I am pretty sure most of it will still remain in the "to do" state and not promoted to "done" after 7 hours?
get my luggage ready calmly (i.e. not in a 10 minutes race)
not forget anything I need back in Bucharest
pick my mom from the station
get some sleep before going
shower, long shower...
burn some audio CDs for the road
find already burned audio CDs
print maps of Bulgaria and Greece, just in case
download larger maps and transfer them to my laptop
make some sandwiches for the road (help will be available here)
make coffee for the road (I have this cool cup from my dad that you can use to heat the drink while driving :P)
buy Red Bull for the road (what?!? It's a 16-hour-drive! All help is needed)
talk to Trisi Sis enough to last for these few days (no chance for that now...:((. Sis, where have you been hiding?)
Prepare important papers such as car papers/driver's license/passport/ID. Do not forget said papers at home...
Pray hard that I make it in under 16 hours :D
Pray hard to actually find the hotel easily
Pray some more..
Wish me luck! I will need it. If I get back safely, I will brag about how cool I've been driving so much with no help from other drivers!
Well, I thought I'd spend the Labor Day prolonged weekend close to home. So, I decided to try Constanta for a few days. Seaside on May 1st, now that's something I always wanted and never did. So, I started looking for hotels. The cheapest room was around 30 EUR per night. Which is quite a lot! And I said no way, let's see other options.
I went to Booking.com (we'd used the same site for our Istanbul trip) and searched for hotels in Athens. Yup, 10 EUR less and it's like..ATHENS! Let's go people! For some reason, they all agreed on going. So, on Friday evening, I'll get in my car and drive for about 1250 km. Then spend three lovely days in Athens.
I know most of my friends are going to Bulgaria to spend Labor Day. Others are going to the mountains. Most hotels on the seashore won't be open. The rest of the hotels, where do they expect guests from? There is this little thing called competition, you should always think of it. Or you know, not going bankrupt anytime soon?
So, passengers: Silviana, D, a friend of Silviana's; driver: yours truly.
Foreigners or Romanians living abroad always say Romanian hotels belonging to international chains have high prices. Higher than in other capitals around Europe. I always wondered why this policy was accepted. Wouldn't foreigners be reluctant to pay more for the same services? Well, first I thought most customers of 4-5 stars hotels are business tourists. So they couldn't care less about prices. Another fact just caught my attention today. This pricing policy is really working:
Out of the 32 hotels operated by the Marriott group within continental Europe, the JW Marriott hotel in Bucharest is among the top five contributors to the group's turnover, says Kurt Strohmayer, general manager of the hotel.
"Contrary to the general opinion, the most profitable hotels are not those in Western Europe. The hotels that contribute the most to the group's business, with the exception of the American market, are those in Russia, followed by those in Eastern Europe", Strohmayer says.
Last year, the five-star hotel posted 38.5 million-euro turnover and 16-million euro profit. On the local market, JW Marriott leads the ranking of most profitable hotels, according to financial information provided by Societatea Companiilor Hoteliere Grand, the company managing the hotel.
If you are planning to visit the Old Continent, you'd better start saving. According to an article published by Hotnews.ro, eight of the world's most expensive capitals are in Europe. The results of a study conducted by The Economist, quoted by money.cnn.com, show Oslo to be the world's most expensive city. The Norway capital is followed by Paris, Copenhagen and London, while Bucharest ranks only the 96th, on the same level with Manama, Bahrain.
What can you do? Either take one capital at a time, or try the hostel workaround, it will save you a lot. Try flying low cost or taking your car, if it's not that fuel hungry. Oh, and try less fancy restaurants and save your money for all the important museums. Or, seek for large group tours, they are bound to get discounts.
The World Economic Forum has launched its first-ever Travel & Tourism report analysing the drivers of competitiveness in travel and tourism of 124 countries around the world. Switzerland’s safety record and high-quality industry staff contributed to its topping the index. Hong Kong was the highest-ranked Asian country and the United Arab Emirates was the most competitive Middle Eastern country with an impressive ranking of 18th place.
As explained by Wall Street, the index took into account 13 categories for each country. For a visual impression of the index, check this map. Place your mouse over the country you are interested in and see the results.
How did Romania do? Well, we are placed somewhere in the third quartile, getting the 76th place with a score of 3.91 out of 7. If you check the country profile, you will see the list of competitive disadvantages is three times longer than that of competitive advantages. What is interesting though, and also makes my day brighter, is the fact that most of these disadvantages can be worked on. Sure, it will take a lot of hard work, but at least we are not hopeless.
So, we should start by changing our rules and legislation, especially in what environmental laws are concerned, then continue by polluting less, changing our attitude towards tourists, then we could try to ensure a safer and healthier environment, to improve our air transport infrastructure, to have our government spend more on travel and tourism. Oh, yeah, and render marketing efficient for this industry.
"More and more people are ‘cash-rich’ and ‘time-poor’ today. They have less time to travel for leisure purposes, but they want to ensure that their trips create a memorable experience – one they can savour for a long time.
While today’s consumers increasingly demand better quality tourism products, it is paradoxical that the majority are still constantly on the look-out for `price deals`. Pricing clearly remains key.
Today`s leisure travelers, who comprise more singles, more female travelers, more grandparents traveling with their grandchildren, and more large family units (several generations), are much less concerned about which destination they visit, which means they tend to be less loyal to destinations than they ever were in the past.
In this age of environmental changes and the increasingly widespread awareness of the need to be more ‘green’, authenticity is also of growing importance to holidaymakers than ever before. They want more interaction with local people and a more emotional and cultural link to the people and communities they visit."
These are the findings of the Pisa Forum organized by IPK International and sponsored ITB Berlin. More details on the forum and the profile here.
These findings come to reaffirm the economic findings regarding leisure tourists: demand is highly elastic where price is concerned. Unlike the business tourists, who have the same taste for high-standard services and never worry about the price.
More singles, more female travelers. This is a natural trend I guess. A form of expressing one's independence from one point of view. Or maybe finally realizing that no one else will fulfill one's dreams. When you want to see certain places, you just need to make plans on your own and others will follow.
Apparently, the number of conservative tourists, those choosing the same location, the same hotel and eating at the same restaurant, is decreasing. With easy access to thousands of different travel destinations, who has time to go to the same place each time they travel? Maybe exposure to media reports about new hot spots is increasing tourists' taste for new discoveries.
I am more of an adventurer tourist. I like making my own schedules, first deciding when and where to go, what to do there, and then choosing where to stay. I am a fan of cheap lodging (budget hotels or hostels) when it comes to making expense plans for longer journeys (more than one week), but never think twice when it comes to paying a lot on visiting museums, palaces, churches and mosques. And I am crazy about little reminders of where I have been. And love to experience local cuisine instead of going to the universal fast foods that I feel safe with.
For short vacations, I am can be tempted by 4-5 stars hotels. Like this year in Istanbul. As much as I love luxury hotels and would kill to one day manage one, I find it quite dispensable when it comes to seeing more and doing significantly more at the same price.
I buy tourist guides. I could research online, which I actually do, but I find guides to be more detailed and as I buy them where I'm at, it's also a good reminder for later.
What kind of tourist are you? What do you like to do/experience when traveling?
This year, the number of tourists worldwide has established a new record, reaching a total of 842 million, 4.5% more than in 2005. The highest increase (8%) was reported on the African continent, the area being one of the most dynamic regions in what travel and tourism are concerned.
The growth exceeded World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) expectations for 2006, which were for a 4.1% increase. UNWTO expects a 4% increase for 2007. Will the estimation be exceeded again?
"Travellers are better informed and have become more adept at weighing their options and now include security factors as just another consideration among others when choosing their destinations." I would be happy with Romanian tourists becoming better informed and choosing wisely in 2007.
Name: Alina Home: Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania About Me: "This is my church. This is where I heal my hurts". It's also where I feel free and my preferred means of expression. See my complete profile
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