I Want to Become a Home Travel Agent

How many people come out and say I want to become a home travel agent? If you have a sense of adventure, love to interact with other people, and have the desire to become a part of the largest and fastest growing industry in the world, then getting involved in the travel industry could be the job of your dreams.

It is one of the hottest trends in home based businesses right now. The travel industry gives you unlimited income potential, and the right to become your own boss. But is a home base business the way to go? Nearly 5 million entrepreneurs believe so. In the U.S. alone they have created an economic impact of over $47 billion dollars.

If you truly want to become a home travel agent, you have the opportunity to start your own travel business very quickly. With the right company you can actually be set up and ready to go in only minutes. You can begin planning dream vacations for your family, your neighbors, and your friends before you know it.

When becoming a certified travel agent, you can advertise, and begin booking travel for people everywhere. Or simply direct them to your personalized travel booking website, which is supplied to you, as part of your sign up agreement with one of the online travel companies.

Your customers are given the opportunity to plan and book their vacation online from the comfort of their home. As a travel agent, you are being compensated, receiving as much as 75% in travel commissions, and higher, for your efforts.

You can generate a great income as a travel agent when booking group vacations. Plan a family reunion at a relaxing resort. Plan a group cruise for the people at your health club or your church congregation. Or simply plan the vacation of your dreams to one of the world's favorite destinations. While you take full advantage of the discount prices and the commission structure as a travel agent.

You also have the opportunity to build your new travel business around your lifestyle. Work it part-time on the weekends or evenings, or work as a travel agent full-time, the choice is yours. Remember, you're the boss; you create the income level you desire.

The industry of travel is growing 23% faster than the global economy. Tourism accounts for over 10% of all consumers spending worldwide. And the average American spends $3,000 on vacations each year. You can easily become a part of this growing $7 trillion dollar worldwide industry. Don't be surprised if you find yourself saying I want to become a home travel agent.

Larry Buhrandt is a Certified Travel Agent with TraVerus Travel. He has a passion to travel and a desire to help others succeed as a Travel Agent.

The Benefits of Travel Guides

Many of us find foreign places enticing. The different surroundings, people, food, and so on can be very intoxicating which is why millions upon millions of us choose to set foot overseas each year. Almost everyone finds travel abroad exciting but, as we all know, it's important to know how to make the best of your limited time in another country. Whether you're on a leisurely trip for fun and adventure, or a business trip with almost no time to see the local sites, planning your trip fully is important if you are to stand a chance of fulfilling your objectives.

Accommodation, food and drink, and sightseeing advice are all made easier by good travel guides. Tips on cheap places to stay, great meals, and the lesser known local beauty spots are all to be found within the pages of a guide book. Such information can be incredibly helpful in trying to plan a trip. A business traveler often has no time for pleasure, and must ensure he can get to exactly where he needs to be within a very limited time-frame in order to carry out his business plans. With the help of a travel guide getting around an unfamiliar place can be made much less confusing, and with advice on where to stay and eat as well as tourist hotspots a guide can be useful for both a business traveler and someone who's just on holiday.

Whilst travel books have long been the staple diet of would-be holiday makers it is now possible to find travel advice online thanks to the internet. Furthermore, it's also possible to download travel guides onto your mobile phone to provide easily accessible information wherever you are. However, many websites offering travel guides are fraudulent and contain little in the way of high quality, well-researched, information. Often sites are designed to attract people in just to generate

advertisement revenue, or even to spread viruses to computers. Therefore it pays to be mindful of the source of information online. Look for the name of the information provider - if the name is unknown to you, or you can't even find a name for the website you are getting information from, then it could well be disreputable. Another cheap trick to be wary of is reviews and information given by supposedly unbiased travelers when in fact the information is published by someone with a vested interest in generating positive news about the place in question.

If you want to be certain of genuinely high quality information then it's easiest to stick with printed material. Travel guides are available from all good book shops and it's easy to find a guide on almost anywhere you care to imagine. These guides are usually well-researched and have good reputations from people who know a lot about travel. DK, Lonely Planet, and Fodor's all publish well respected travel guides on numerous places. Books can be carried anywhere and don't need internet access to be used making them ideal for trouble-free travel planning.


Copyright (c) 2009 Kentaro Konika



Kentaro Konika Looking for a great source of travel guide information? Now look no further as this website provides all information about travel.

Caribbean Vacation Travel

Before you even plan your Caribbean vacation travel, there is an important decision you have to make:

Do you organize your Caribbean vacation travel yourself? Or do you go 'flight inclusive' and hand the legwork over to a more experienced tour operator?

Well, the decision is yours to make, and there are advantages and disadvantages to each option.

First, let's find out what a flight inclusive Caribbean vacation travel means.

A flight inclusive Caribbean vacation travel is a holiday booked direct with a tour operator. One obvious advantage of this option is that it is often simpler. You can even do it by just picking up a brochure and choosing the flight you want.

Another advantage in choosing a flight inclusive Caribbean vacation travel over independent travel is that it is generally cheaper. Caribbean specialist travel organizers are also good (maybe even better than you) at putting together a tailor made "package" that suits your needs. This package, so to speak, contains all the elements of your Caribbean vacation travel from hotels and flights to transfers and a local representative. And most are bargains, offered at special rates with plenty of features only for the price of one. The only trouble with these Caribbean vacation travel packages is that they would have to be made early as they could easily get full.

What's more, with a flight inclusive Caribbean vacation travel, there is more security for you. Most tour operators make an undertaking where they make themselves legally bound to take care of you from the moment of departure until your return home. Some are even bonded for your financial security. And finally, in the event of a natural disaster, failure of an airline or a dispute with one of your holiday providers, you will only have to deal with just one organization, which is based in one country. So everything is being made so much simpler for you.

On the other hand, there are certain reasons why you would want to go on a Caribbean vacation travel on your own. Indeed, an independent Caribbean vacation travel provides you with the freedom to choose your own trip and even change it as you please. And with the Internet in full force, that freedom is given even more leeway.

It is easy for anyone to book their own Caribbean vacation travel. All you really need is a computer and an Internet connection to access any travel booking site. Most importantly, some of the loveliest Caribbean hotels are too small to feature in brochures so you will have to book them independently.

One thing is for sure, you have a far better chance of enjoying every aspect of the islands by going on an independent Caribbean vacation travel.

In addition, you may want to use your Air Miles when you travel. Flight inclusive Caribbean vacation travel packages often do not give credit for air miles so at a time when you can actually make use of your miles, you can't. Whereas, if you travel independently, there is no reason why you can't use your air miles.
Visit:http://www.world-travel-tours-leisures.bestsolutions4all.com

About the author:

Ruel Hinaloc is a freelance writer, and an online and offline publicity
specialist.He is also successful network marketer.
Contact him at: info@bestsolutions4all.com or visit:
http://www.world-travel-tours-leisures.bestsolutions4all.com for more vacation,travel and leisures information.

Starting Your Online Travel Career

I did some research on this and found out that the Online Travel industry is growing fast and the best part is that it is generating numerous jobs and many people around the world are setting up their own online travel companies.

How do they do that? I did that assignment too and I wanted to share the information I learned from those who have succeeded and who have been earning way more than the average income from their previous jobs.

There are sites that are currently providing all the stuff needed to start a new career in this industry and they are termed as Online Travel Consultant or Online Travel Booking Agent. One site I saw provided me some hints on how to do this even in your own home. One company that really got my attention is The Personal Travel Group. Here is what they told me:-

First, you must watch their informative video which explains the business opportunity to you. After this you complete an online registration application on their web site. You will then be invited to one of their information centres for a full explanation. Once accepted and signed up, they will provide you with access to their system, your own web site and a password.

Once they have issued you this, you can access their booking engine through your site. You are then able to search, place a booking on hold for 24hrs or book and pay immediately. Once you start making bookings, you will start receiving commission from your own pre-set margins!! (interesting…….).

I did a search on their site and they are an accommodation supplier and even other services such as to make transfers, car hire, golf and insurance and these products are exclusively available online.

They even have a full team of professional, experienced support agents who are standing by for any queries or questions. Bookings can be made either on line or over the telephone and you can ask your support team any questions or doubts you have. I think this is very important for self-starters.

The most interesting part is how you can earn money from this. They take online bookings in real-time and payments are made through their web site. They even offer different payment methods that will suit your business and that can be stated in the contract given to you by their company.

To cut things short, they handle everything and everything is automated. Your task is to expand your clientele and let all the tasks be handled by them. Take note, once it is set up, the running costs are very low. It is a really great idea. No need for customers to go to a travel agency, everything is online. That is the power of The Personal Travel Group technology today.

But be also aware that there are other companies or sites that offer similar start up packages, but I found that there were some details that were not quite clear, unlike the one I have discussed above, and the commissions seemed to be much less.

The important thing here is that a career as an Online Travel Agent or Consultant is one of the best alternatives to increase your income. This could be the best year to get started in the Travel Industry and it is one of the best options to generate a first or second income. With a small investment and your TIME and EFFORT, you could make a great success of this type of business. The objective here is to share this information so that it will be helpful to my readers.



The author is affiliated with Personal Travel Group®, one of the fastest growing and most exciting opportunities in the home business travel market today. It is serviced by Pro Travel Solutions® through the Personal Travel Group GDS (Global Distribution System) and the company's international call centres. For more information visit their site: http://www.personaltravelgroup.com.

Cadillacs, Edsels and Studebakers still soldier on in Cuba - New coffee-table book celebrates these American classics

OAKLAND, CA August 5, 2004 -- Four decades after the U.S. imposed a trade embargo on Cuba, Hudsons, Edsels and Chevys still chug through the streets of Havana. Now, Interlink Publishing of Northampton, Maine, has published Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles that honors these beauties of a bygone era in their unlikely communist setting.



In this lavishly illustrated coffee-table book, travel writer/photographer Christopher P. Baker pays homage to Cuba's astonishing wealth of antique cars, revealing the time-worn splendor of classic American automobiles spanning eight decades. From Model-T Fords and '40s-era Buick Roadmasters to late '50s Edsel Citations and Chevrolet Impalas with fins sharp enough to draw blood, Cuba Classics evokes the nostalgic and seductive world of Cuba's car culture.



Written in the lively, engaging style that has won the author numerous literary awards, the evocative text proves both absorbing and richly entertaining. Baker draws upon memoirs, museum records, personal interviews, and Cuba's own dusty archives to celebrate the four-wheeled survivors from the heyday of Detroit.



Tracing the evolution of motor madness in decadent pre-revolutionary Cuba, Cuba Classics also surveys the tough realities of caring for vintage cars in the modern age of embargo and shortages. In a dynamic photojournalistic essay that portrays the long love affair between Cubans and the U.S. automobile, the author offers a paean to the extraordinary people who keep their weary cacharros running with resourcefulness, ingenuity, and indefatigable good humor.



Cuba Classics captivates everyone from armchair travelers to classic car connoisseurs with powerful imagery that reflects the beguiling other-worldly charm of Cuba, the Caribbean's most compelling and intriguing isle. Blurry action shots of moving cars... close-up details of hood ornamentation, grillwork, and dashboards... and lavish landscapes that place the beloved cacharros within a setting both sensual and surreal are complemented by extensive captions that, together, illustrate the subject magnificently.



Acclaimed travel photographer Robert Holmes wrote the Foreword. โ€œ Baker has done a remarkable job documenting Cuba's most important cultural icons, visually capturing the elusive sense of place that is the goal of every travel photographer and yet which very few ever achieve. A better book on Cuba would be hard to find,โ€ writes Holmes, twice recipient of the 'Travel Photographer of the Year.'



The book has received critical advance acclaim. Martin Cruz, author of Gorky Park and Havana Bay, commented: โ€œThis is the most beautiful, most sympathetic book about Cuba I have seen for years. It's terrific!โ€



About Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles and the author:

The 190-page Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles (ISBN 1-56656-546-4) is published by Interlink Publishing of Northampton, Maine. Released in August 2004, the large-format, hard cover edition is illustrated with 168 photographs. Christopher P. Baker is also the author of National Geographic Traveler Cuba, Moon Handbooks: Cuba, Moon Handbooks: Havana, and Mi Moto Fidel: Motorcycling Through Castro's Cuba, winner of both the 2002 Lowell Thomas Award โ€˜Travel Book of the Year' and the North American Travel Journalists Association's โ€˜Grand Prize.' His many other awards include the Benjamin Franklin Award and the Caribbean Tourism Organization's โ€˜Travel Journalist of the Year.' More information is available on http://www.cuba-automobiles.com and on http://www.interlinkbooks.com

Travel Guides For Air-Travel-Packing With Children

Where to Start?

Travel with children is a great challenge. It requires proper guides and planning for a fun and relaxing air travel. Here is the step by step travel guides to ease your struggle on when or where to start to plan.

Air Travel Booking And Internet Searching

Early booking helps you to choose suitable flight, time and seat. If possible book an evening flight where your kids will sleep and you can rest well for most of the air travel. Search for the most update regulations for air travel with children and you can refer to Transportation Security Administration of USA, they have great tips on how to manage children at the airport and during check in. Important thing to take note is that an airport officer will not ask you to do anything to separate you and your children. Print out maps of the airport to ensure that you know where to check in and where are the suitable places for your children to enjoy themselves and use up all their energy. Finally, if you are traveling in international flight, make sure your children photo in the passport is the most recent.

Choose The Right Seat In Air Travel

Grab a seat near the window as children are dream of flying and you can give them some quiz to let them guess you see outside the window during the air travel. Choose the front seat, aisles or next to the window and at the seat near to the engine. It is because you need more space for children to play and if you are near the engine, you will get even more agitated when your children get naughty.

Packing For Air Travel

Pack extra backpack for your children, especially for their entertainment during the air. If you will transfer between flights, you need to prepare extra cash for extra snacks or toys as it is expensive there. You do not want them to keep complaining that they are hungry and boring. A day before the air travel, make sure all travel documents and money are in your hand carry luggage.

Travel Snacks

Pack ahead with their favorite snacks, especially when your children wrangling and misbehave, you can calm them down with this favorite snacks. Another suggestion is wrap their snack as gifts when they behaving well. If your children eat a lot, bring a lot of snacks that are small in size as it easier to pack. Pack odorless process food such as chocolate bar, crackers, apple or potato chips because tendency of vomit is lower when they travel for a long distance.

Toys, Books And DVD For Your Children

Bring along time consuming toys like puzzle, blocks and constructions toys in their backpack. For girls, Barbies and Polly Pockets are the best options for toys. If they get bored with their toys, fill their time with drawing using combinations of blank paper, stickers and crayons. Finally, pack their favorite books for a quiet time reading for their remaining air travel journey. Normally, movie that played in the plane for older age group and children will be bored. Therefore, it is a great idea to pack DVD player, headphones, favorite DVDs, iPods and make sure enough batteries. As long as there are enough batteries, your children will keep occupy and you can have an enjoying plus peaceful air travel.

Conclusion

Proper preparation for an air travel with children will save your time and money. With this travel guides, you can find peace and more relax journey with your family.

Francis Wong has been enjoying traveling especially in Asian Countries. There are many ways to ensure you can travel more frequently and you can save even more.

http://travel.tipstolife.com

New Technology at Vail Resorts Takes Online Booking to New Heights

Vail, Colorado/Atlanta, October 7, 2002 โ€" Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE:MTN) today announced new Internet booking services available at its www.snow.com site, providing visitors with enhanced capabilities for searching, selecting and purchasing accommodations, activities and other travel components. The site's improvements were made possible by a new booking engine developed in partnership with Datalex (ISE:DLE; OTC:DLEXY) and Resort Technology Partners (RTP), representing a new generation of Internet distribution technologies for leisure travel enterprises.



At the www.snow.com site, visitors can perform complex searches for accommodations by product types, locations, amenities and individual preferences. Content-rich site information includes property photographs and descriptions, maps and other destination content. The booking system enables the purchase of accommodations, ski-lift tickets, airport shuttle services, car rental, and activities. Travel components can be purchased individually or as customized packages covering a wide variety of activities including skiing, golfing, fishing, mountain biking and more. The new system enables the resort operator to target promotional offers, such as seasonal rates and extended stay programs, and to respond quickly to market opportunities with special pricing and packages.



Leading mountain resort operator Vail Resorts Inc. (VRI), global travel industry technology provider Datalex, and resort and recreation technology specialist RTP developed the new booking engine over a two-year period, using Web Services technologies designed specifically for booking operations across the Internet. The build decision was based on VRI's requirement to better represent the breadth of facilities available at its destinations, to broaden the scope for customer online self-service travel booking at its portal Websites, and to realize increased efficiency in its sales, distribution and reservations management operations.



"Given the growth in online vacation bookings over the past several years, we realized that a comprehensive online reservations system was needed in order to continue meeting the needs of our guests and delivering high levels of service,โ€ said Martin White, senior vice president of marketing and sales for Vail Resorts. โ€By partnering with Datalex and RTP on our new online reservations system, we are able to offer our guests one-stop shopping for their vacation needs and capture important information for future marketing opportunities, all of which gives us an edge in a highly competitive industry."



The current implementation, targeted at existing site users, represents the initial phase of development of the Internet booking system, which has been deployed at www.snow.com for Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly. Direct connections have been developed for the principal property management system used by VRI's hotel groups, enabling guests to view real-time pricing and availability. The site will be complemented with additional components for booking airfares and storing customer profile information. VRI plans to attract new users to the site and will develop dedicated portal sites for property owners, travel trade distributors and group organizers. VRI also plans to implement a professional-level interface for its call-center personnel and to use the booking system for its other managed resort locations.



โ€œThe development represents a significant extension of Datalex's technologies,โ€ said Datalex CTO Jim Peters. โ€œThis solution enables us to meet the growing requirements among global hospitality, resort and destination management organizations for dynamic Internet packaging, content management, inventory system connectivity and distribution. It is exciting for Datalex to deliver these Web Services technologies also among our traditional clientele of transportation and tour providers, and Internet retailers.โ€



Datalex will continue to develop, integrate and market the Internet booking engine technologies with its e-Commerce solution suite and will extend connectivity options for a wide range of hotel and resort property management systems. System components were developed using the latest technologies including J2EE standards and Enterprise Java Beans, based on a Web Services framework.



โ€œWe are very proud of the work we have done helping Vail Resorts and Datalex seamlessly integrate their new booking engine with the new Vail Resorts websitesโ€ said Charlie L'Esperance, president and CEO of RTP. โ€œSince RTP has expertise in all three areas (resort transaction processing, website development, and user interface design), we were able to deliver a very effective e-Commerce capability for Vail Resorts, with real business value.โ€



About Vail Resorts International



Vail Resorts, Inc. is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado, Heavenly in California and Nevada, and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson

Hole, Wyo. The Company also holds a majority interest in RockResorts, a luxury resort hotel company with 10 distinctive properties across the United States. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning, development, construction, retail leasing and management subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN). The Vail Resorts company website is www.vailresorts.com and consumer website is www.snow.com.



About Datalex



Datalex is a leading provider of technology solutions for the global travel industry. Founded in 1985, the company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and maintains offices throughout the world: Europe (Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, Manchester); USA (Atlanta, Petaluma, Minneapolis); and Asia-Pacific (Melbourne, Singapore).



Datalex's customers include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Amadeus, American Express, American Trans Air, Amtrak, California State Automobile Association, Delta Air Lines, Disney Cruise Lines, FAR&WIDE, Galileo, KLM, Lufthansa, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, SNCF, Sol Melia, South African Airways, Thomas Cook, Trailfinders, Travelcare, T-Systems, Unisys, WEXAS and Worldspan. Datalex is a publicly held company traded on the Irish Stock Exchange (symbol: DLE, and also OTC: DLEXY). For more information, please visit the company's Web site at www.datalex.com.



About RTP

RTP provides integrated point of sale, Guest Service, CRM, and eCommerce software solutions to premier resort and recreation businesses. RTP counts 10 of the top 15 mountain destination resorts in North America as customers including: Vail Resorts, Aspen/Snowmass, Whistler Blackcomb, Park City and, Northstar-at-Tahoe as well as leading theme parks, golf course operations, private clubs, and destination resort hotels and communities.



RTP, LLC

Peter Hoskins

970-477-4812

peterh@rtp.com



Vail Resorts, Incl

Kelly Ladyga

970-845-5720

kladyga@vailresorts.com





-ENDS-



This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking information involves risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect expected results.

How to Get the Best Rates on Flight Bookings

Need to book yourself a flight but not sure where to start? Then perhaps this article is for you. What I'm discussing here is the simple principles about booking flights, particularly booking flights online that could save you a lot of money. So whether you're a flight booking novice or a seasoned traveller, it's definitely worth reading on to see if there's any money saving tips that you can use the next time you need to book a flight.
As with most forms of travel booking the best price you can get for an airline ticket is to book it as far in advance as possible. So, as soon as you know when you want to travel get online and start hunting out the best deal for your journey.
The best way to compare different flights and rates is, as is so often the case, to make your travel arrangements online. Shop around for all the options and consider using airports that are perhaps a little harder to get to as a budget airline 50 miles further away might offer a saving on the ticket price that's worth making the extra effort to drive that bit further to the airport.
Flexibility in your travel times can also save you money. Often just changing the time of your flight on the same day can have a significant impact on the price you're quoted so try and move things around a little. Whenever possible choose early morning or late evening flights if you can as they're very often the cheapest times to fly.
Also consider indirect flights. If you've got time on your hands and don't mind the extra waiting around for connecting flights you can often get some good savings by taking a more circuitous route to your final destination. You might spend longer in the air but you could end up with more money staying in your pocket!
Another option to consider is whether you can package together various elements of your travel arrangements. Some airlines have advantageous partnerships with hotels and car rental companies so a package deal could be for you if you're looking at booking the extra services they're offering anyway. In some circumstances packaging like this can be cheaper overall, even if the flight itself is more expensive, as some airlines have very attractive partner deals.
Finally, it really is worth shopping around with airline tickets and doing the extra research to ensure that you get the cheapest possible flight as the savings that can be made are a lot more than you might expect. So, do your homework, save yourself some money, and have a great flight.
Ray Chapman is a writer and webmaster of several guides and directories and works in the travel industry. For more information on travel visit the Travel Zone @ http://www.travelling-zone.net.

Online Hotel Booking - Top 4 reasons why you need to book hotels online

ÂOnline Hotel Booking â€" Top 4 reasons why you need to book hotels online ÂOnline hotel booking is the best way to book rooms in hotels. Customers can enjoy the easiness of online booking and can find the cheapest hotel rooms with excellent facilities. Here are the 4 advantages of online hotel booking. Â1. Discounted Rates:- ÂMost of the online hotel search engines guarantee that their rates are the best prices available online. This is possible for them because they negotiate these low rates with hotels and hotel suppliers based on their bulk purchasing Capabilities. Some websites even offers a partial money back, if the same hotel is available on lower rate in another website. ( Eg:- http://www.selectyourhotel.com - refer their best rate guarantee page ). Some online booking service provider's websites even allow you to compare the prices of multiple hotels when selecting your online hotel bookings. By this way it is very easy to find well-equipped hotel rooms in cheap price. It is better to find a larger online hotel booking service provider, if you are looking for a cheap hotel room. Last minute deals and vacation packages are the other ways of saving money through online travel booking. 2. Better Selection:- The variety of choice and easy user friendly navigation during the booking process has made online hotel booking so popular among people. Each and every online hotel booking sites have their online hotel reservation engine as their backbone. These engines allow people to retrieve the updated and current information on the available hotels in a particular city or place. With the help of the engines and with the supportive and informative web pages it is easy for people to analyze find the rooms of their exact match. You can find a wide selection of accommodation online from budget hotels to 5 star luxury resorts. A large number of discount hotels, which are well equipped with all the latest facilities and cater to the demands of travelers visiting the city. Â3. Convenience:- ÂThe most important advantage of online hotel booking is convenience; you can book your hotel by simply sitting in home. Online hotel search engines help you to browse through the hotels around the world and compare the facilities and rates easily. When you choose your hotel for your accommodation, simply you can complete your reservation when required. Some of the websites also offer combined booking ( eg:- Hotel, Flight, Car Rental together).The advantage of this kind of bookings is that you can save a good amount of money. It is also very helpful for those who plan their weekend getaway in last minute. 4. Travel Reviews:- Most of the online reservation websites provide travel guides and travel reviews. In travel guide normally for each destination, they provide the information about the city, attractions, things to do, events, entertainments, family friendly hotels etc. Visiting all tourist spots may not be possible for a tourist, even during the course of a long vacation. So it is always better to go through a good travel guide, select the places you want to visit and get your reservations well in advance.      .   Â

Raju Pallan, the author owns an online travel reservation website. visit
Discounted Hotels-Book online and save up to 70%
His Article Directory
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New Book Spells relief for Americans Traveling Traveling Abroad Post 9-11

Baltimore, MD June 8, 2004 -- With the recovering economy and the continued easing of international travel restrictions amidst the backdrop of the terrorist havoc of September 11, 2001, many Americans have resumed traveling abroad. Unfortunately, while many of them are making their travel plans, they neglect to anticipate the very real problems they can encounter here in the U.S. as well as abroad.



Traveling Abroad Post "9-11" and in the Wake of Terrorism: A Practical Guide for Americans & Other International Travelers by Gladson I. Nwanna takes the guesswork out of preparing and traveling abroad during these uncertain times by providing and addressing a broad range of issues on foreign travel post 9-11. Both the business traveler and tourist will benefit from the information and advice Dr. Nwanna provides in this book.



Traveling Abroad Post "9-11"... addresses such diverse concerns as safety, health, money, shopping and driving. The author also addresses matters of etiquette, law and order, common sense, good judgment and good habits.



Readers of the book will find not only information about security awareness, overseas, but also how they can get help from the U.S. Department of State should they be stranded or handicapped by a disaster while abroad. The book also includes important post 9-11 packing tips for those traveling by air and new airport security screening procedures and guidelines established by the Department of Homeland Security.



Information contained in Traveling Abroad Post "9-11"... should be useful to all categories of international travelers, but more so for those who have not traveled abroad since the "9-11" incident or those traveling abroad for the first time.



Very prominent throughout this book is Dr. Nwanna's ability to draw on his vast first hand experiences with specific emphasis and cautions on a myriad of potentially costly issues often taken for granted by many travelers to foreign countries. Topics covered include how not to flirt and fraternize with foreign law enforcement officials and preventing abductions, as well as treats and tricks of foreign con artists.



Besides the hundreds of tips and advice given by the author, Traveling Abroad Post "9-11"... contains 14 appendices, references and resources that overseas travelers can consult.



Gladson I. Nwanna, Ph.D., is also the author of the bestseller international travel book "Americans Traveling Abroad: What You Should Know Before You Go"; "Americans Living Abroad: What You Should Know While You are There," "American Businesses Abroad: How to Protect Your Assets and Personnel," and the regional book series "Do's and Don'ts Around the World: A Country Guide to Cultural and Social Taboos and Etiquette." Dr. Nwanna is a university professor, a former consultant to the World Bank and a veteran traveler. "Traveling Abroad Post 9-11 and in the Wake of Terrorism: A Practical Guide for Americans & Other International Travelers" is published by Frontline Publishers. Available at Amazon.com., through major bookstores nationwide or directly from the publisher at 410-922-4903. Retail Price is $24.99, ISBN: 1-890605-13-1, 265 pages.



A copy of your review will be appreciated.



Editors: Review Copy available upon request at http://www.frontlinepublishers.com/request.htm



Contact Information

Francese Mitchelle

410-922-4903

http://www.frontlinepublishers.com

Book Series Protects Millions of International Travelers from Cultural and Social Embarrassments.

Baltimore, MD July 13, 2004 -- With the continued easing of international travel restrictions and growing interest in international trade and culture, more and more travelers have resumed traveling abroad. Unfortunately, while many of them are making their travel plans, they neglect to anticipate the very real problems and embarrassments they can encounter once their feet touch foreign soil.



"Do's and Don'ts Around the World: A Country Guide to Cultural and Social Taboos and Etiquette," by Gladson I. Nwanna takes the guesswork out of journeying abroad.



"Do's and Don'ts Around the World" contains hundreds of country-specific cultural and social do's, don'ts and taboos. Each regional volume contains a separate listing for almost every country in the region. The book addresses such diverse topical areas and concerns as greeting protocols, business etiquette, table manners, tipping guidelines, gift giving, body and sign languages. Readers will find in this book important social and cultural beliefs and practices ranging from the types of gifts to avoid, best types of gifts to give and best time to present gifts to such details as colors, shapes and numbers with culture-specific connotations and much more.



In addition, "Do's and Don'ts Around the World" contains basic country information that should be useful to international travelers. Included is information on currency, electricity requirements, emergency telephone codes, shopping, national holidays, banking and business hours.



Information conveyed in this book should help relieve some anxiety among foreign travelers and ensure a safe, enjoyable, rewarding and hitch-free trip for millions of overseas-bound travelers by increasing travelers awareness to issues, practices and behavior in other countries.



"Do's and Don'ts Around The World" will also be useful to every international traveler irrespective of the country of origin or country of destination. Both the business traveler and tourist will benefit from the variety of topics addressed in this book.



"The Do's and Don'ts Around the World" covers virtually every country in the world, including every region and continent in the world. The nine books in the series include volumes covering countries in: (1) Europe (2) Asia (3) Oceania and Japan (4) South America (5) Russia and the Independent States (6) Africa (7) USA-Canada-Australia (8) the Caribbean and (9) the Middle East. Individual country reports are also available. Country Reports can be purchased by visiting www.frontlinepublishers.com .



Gladson I. Nwanna, Ph.D., is also the author of the bestseller international travel book "Americans Traveling Abroad: What You Should Know Before You Go"; "Americans Living Abroad: What You Should Know While You are There," "American Businesses Abroad: How to Protect Your Assets and Personnel," and "Traveling Abroad 'Post 9-11' and in the Wake of Terrorism: A Practical Guide for Americans & Other International Travelers." Dr. Nwanna is a university professor, a former consultant to the World Bank and a veteran traveler. The Do's and Don'ts Around the World book series is published by Frontline Publishers. Europe 1-890605-00-X, 400 pages; $39.99; South America 1-890605-03-4; 230 pages, $24.99; Africa
1-890605- 04-2, 450 pages; $39.99; The Caribbean 1-890605-02-6, 230 pages; $24.99; Asia 1-890605-01-8, 260 pages; $24.99; Russia & The Independent States 1-890605-06-9, 120 pages; $15.99; U.S.A, Canada & Austaralia 1-890605-08-5, 75 pages; $15.99; Oceania & Japan 1-890605-07-7, 200 pages; $19.99; The Middle East1-890605-05-0, 120 pages; $15.99. These books are available at Amazon.com, through major bookstores nationwide or directly from the publisher at 410-922-4903.



A copy of your review or any mentions will be appreciated.



Editors: Review Copy available upon request. To view a sample Country entry or listing please visit http://www.frontlinepublishers.com/sample.htm

Top Reasons for Choosing an Online Travel Agency

When you are looking to plan a vacation, there are going to be several things that you want to look at so that you know your vacation is going to be as smooth as possible. One of the most important aspects is going to be deciding on how to plan your trip. Choosing an online travel agency is something that you have probably considered, and when you are planning a vacation it can be a time saver, a money saver, and a lifesaver. Choosing an online travel agency saves time. When you are planning a vacation and attempting to do all of the planning on your own, you are constantly going from site to site scoping out the deals, and figuring out how to fit those deals into your planning. When you use an online travel agency, your time is at least cut in half. You have many tools right at your fingertips, and you should have access to the best deals under the sun.In most cases, you do not have to worry about waiting around to find the right deals either, or looking through all of the various sites to make sure that you are getting the best savings. By booking your flight arrangements, your hotel packages and your entire travel itinerary with an online travel agency, you can avoid unnecessary stress and save valuable time and energy that would have been otherwise wasted hunting around for similar deals an online travel agency offers.You might not be aware of it, but booking all of the parts of your vacation on your own, no matter where you are going, is going to cost some extra money. If you book it on your own, there are booking fees and taxes that you will have to pay on all of the parts of your trip. You can save on these expenses by working with an online travel agency. Also, you will not have to worry about hunting for the best deals. It is going to be almost impossible for you to find the best deals for everything when you are booking a trip on your own. This is just one example why an online travel agency might be the best option when planning a vacation. You should rest assured knowing that you have found the best deals, as the travel agency will search for them and will keep you informed. This means that you never have to worry about wondering if you have made the right choice. Worrying causes stress and you do not want to be stressed out on your vacation. Going through an online travel agency can really be a lifesaver. When you are planning a trip, even one to a country you have been to many times, it is often hard to figure out all of the right rules, traditions, and regulations that might govern your travel. There are news alerts to worry about, and it is always important to know where you should go and maybe where you might want to potentially avoid. An online travel agency can help you find a place to stay which meets your financial needs and expectations. Also, an online travel agency will assist you in planning an itinerary so that you can see everything you wish, and stay as safe as possible. When you are going through an online travel agency they will make you aware of aspects such as these. You will have access to travel safety alerts, and the newest information about where and when it is safe for you to travel. Booking a vacation on your own is not going to give you all of this information. If you research it yourself you may not be too sure if you are receiving the proper information. You can always go back and double check, but the travel agency does this every day, it is their job to keep you out of harm’s way. Therefore, booking through an online travel agency can really be a lifesaver in the end. Please remember your own sanity. Booking a vacation yourself is going to be a lot of work and can become very stressful. With an online travel agency, everything is taken care of for you and it can save you a great deal of time and money. When you are booking a vacation, you have several choices. You can book on your own and take your chances, or you can use an online travel agency and save time, money, and perhaps your sanity as well as your safety. Online travel agencies are easy to find, easy to use, and great for any type of travel, whether your trip is for business or pleasure. When your trip ends up being the travel experience of a lifetime, you will be glad you booked it using an online travel agency.

Tiffany Jordan is freelance writer who often discusses the travel industry and planning a vacation with an online travel agency.

Online Travel Growth Drives WRI Expansion

Sales triple over 2001. Expansion will increase product by 100%



Dublin, Ireland - September 9 , 2002 - Web Reservations International (WRI), the leading provider of on-line bookings for the Budget, Independent and Youth Travel (BIYT) market, today announced a significant increase in revenue and a major expansion plan for its hostelworld.com travel system.



In the first six months of this year, WRI has seen its business increase significantly over the corresponding period last year. Sales have increased by over 200% and the number of products available for sale over its booking system has increased by over 300%.



โ€œWe have seen phenomenal growth in bookings this year and we are now expanding our operations to contract with more hostels, tour operators and other products to fulfill demandโ€ said Tom Kennedy, President & Founder of WRI. โ€œIt is estimated that the Budget, Independent and Youth Travel market will represent more than 25% of all travel by 2005 and it is the most web-friendly segment of the market. Web Reservations International is already the leader in technology and booking revenue in this market and we intend to grow even faster in the future.โ€



Web Reservations International has already embarked on an expansion plan that includes increasing product availability and marketing support for its hostelworld.com booking system and website. Hostelworld.com, a business division of WRI, focuses on offering worldwide hostel and budget hotel reservations. Through www.hostelworld.com it now books more than 6,000 beds per day in over 90 countries.



Expansion plans include:



-

The recruitment of over 200 hostels and budget hotels each month to the hostelworld.com system, increasing the number of beds available for booking by 14,000 per month.



-

Increased focus on adding activity and tour products for the BIYT market. These include bungee jumping and bus tours. These products will be offered through www.hostelworld.com and new websites.



-

Sponsorship of a US College tour to promote its online booking sites for students.



-

Development of myhostelworld.com system, which provides travelers with full itinerary booking and management.



BIYT sector and the Internet



The BIYT sector has been neglected by online travel companies because of the low prices, low margins and the high cost of traditional booking systems. These traditional booking systems, called Global Distribution Systems (GDS), provide pre-Internet travel booking systems. However, the high cost of installing and using GDS systems makes them unsuitable for both BIYT product providers and travel companies.



In comparison, WRI's Internet booking system provides a web only, low cost booking system, effectively becoming the GDS of the BIYT sector.



The BIYT market is one of the fastest growing online segments. It comprises students, youths, backpackers and independent travelers. They typically are web-savvy, value conscious and tend to take extended vacations and set the travel trends for the business travelers of the future.



About Web Reservations International



WRI is the leading provider of online reservations to the BIYT market (Budget, Independent and Youth Travel). Through its hostelworld.com division, WRI offers confirmed online reservations for hostels and budget hotels. Additionally, through a range of web sites, it offers reservations for adventure holidays, activities and tours for the BIYT market. WRI enables over two thousand companies to sell their tourism products online. WRI also licenses its reservations technology to a wide range of affiliate travel websites including www.studentuniverse.com , www.lastminute.com www.travelocity.com.



Web Reservations International was founded in 1999, is privately held and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.



For further information



visit: www.webreservationsinternational.com



or contact



Niamh Ni Mhir



Director of Marketing



Web Reservations International



Email: niamh@webresint.com



Tel: +353-1-4980711

Datalex And Sight & Sound Software Merge To Offer Complete Online Booking Solutions To Travel Industry

Datalex And Sight & Sound Software Merge To Offer Complete Online Booking Solutions To Travel Industry



A New Power Emerges in the Online Air Travel Booking Market





DUBLIN, Ireland & PORTLAND, Ore. โ€" April 3, 2000 โ€" The power of online travel booking systems is poised to grow dramatically with the merger announced today of Sight & Sound Software and Datalex. Sight & Sound Software's product, BookSmart, is a top-performing online travel booking engine and Datalex is a leading global provider of full-service solutions to the airline and travel industry. The combined company will be better positioned to serve new and existing customers, bring innovative solutions to market faster, and deliver the underlying technologies needed to allow the online travel industry to continue to thrive and reach its full potential.

The joint forces of these two leading technology providers will dominate the online air travel booking market, which is the largest, and fastest growing online commerce category. The merger reflects demand for increasing sophistication in booking engine technology. Online travel enterprises compete through their offerings of content, user functions, and high levels of personalized customer service.

โ€œOne combined company will now provide the full range of integrated solutions for the online travel enterprise,โ€ said Neil Wilson, CEO of Datalex. โ€œCustomers were telling us, โ€˜What we'd really like is to use Sight & Sound for this and Datalex for that.' Now all the desired components are available from a single source.โ€

โ€œSight & Sound and Datalex have the full range of products to satisfy the needs of the online travel enterprise,โ€ said Jeff Kennedy, CEO of Sight & Sound Software, โ€œand the open architecture needed to work with other best-of-class solutions to build a complete infrastructure for the enterprise.โ€

Sight & Sound's leading-edge distributed computing technology and open architecture allows BookSmart to be deployed, configured and scaled to serve more customers. Customized applications can be written on top of BookSmart to add important features, such as BroadVision's personalization systems. Furthermore, third-party distribution, supported by marketing and technical services, assures continued rapid revenue growth for the merged company.

Datalex has 15 years of unmatched domain-knowledge expertise across many areas of travel technology that includes Java-based booking systems, private fares engines, tour and cruise products and connectivity solutions that work with the WORLDSPAN, Galileo, Amadeus, and Sabre reservation systems.

โ€œThis merger will significantly change the competitive landscape of the online travel industry,โ€ said Krista Pappas, director of travel at Gomez Advisors, the leading e-commerce authority providing decision support to consumers that want to transact online and information to business that want to attract and retain online consumers. โ€œThe new organization will address a broad range of requirements - including booking engines, private-fares engines, host access servers, and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions โ€" to satisfy the needs of the entire online enterprise.โ€

Company & product plans

The combined companies will be registered as Datalex Ltd. and the headquarters for the company will remain in Dublin, Ireland. The Dublin office will serve customers in Europe and the Middle East and function as the center of excellence for research and development of leisure travel products. Portland, Oregon will become a center of excellence for booking engine research and architectural development. Jeff Kennedy, CEO of Sight and Sound Software will become CEO of Datalex USA, while Neil Wilson will remain CEO of Datalex Global Group Operations.

The product road map entails combining the best technology and architectural attributes of both booking engines, BookSmart and BookIt!, and surrounding them with an array of products that support booking tours and private fares, host connectivity, and CRM. โ€œWe are committed to maintaining compatibility and support for our current customers, while leveraging the best of the technology from BookSmart and BookIt!,โ€ said Wilson. โ€œWe'll be forming a team of strategic planners and architects to plan our next generation of products. In the meantime, the complementary products will coexist.โ€

The convergence to one, feature-rich, open system provides a scalable, extensible architecture for the entire online travel enterprise that can be combined with other best-of-class components. โ€œDatalex's global presence will deliver this technology worldwide through locations in Europe, North America, Australia, and Africa and through a network of global integration and hosting partnerships,โ€ Wilson added.

About Datalex

Datalex is the leading global provider of full-service, end-to-end Information Technology solutions to the airline and travel industry. Founded in 1985, the company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and maintains offices in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Manchester, England; and Melbourne, Australia. Datalex employs more than 330 professionals. The company's core competence is in devising solutions for e-Commerce, Enterprise Application Integration and Customer Relationship Management. Each day Datalex products and solutions are used throughout the world by major airlines, travel agencies, and thousands of travel consumers. Datalex was recently announced as a technology partner for the new airline travel site founded by United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines. Major travel customers include Aer Lingus, Amadeus, Amtrak, British Airways, California State Automobile Association, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, KLM, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, Tickets.com, Thai Airways, and WORLDSPAN. For more information please visit the company's Web site at http://www.datalex.com.

About Sight & Sound Software

Founded in 1994, Sight & Sound Software provides products and services for the online travel market. The company's flagship product, BookSmart, occupies a unique position in the online travel industry. For more information, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.book-smart.com.

For more information, contact:



Karen Werstein



Wave Rock Communications

503.944.6217

kwerstein@wave-rock.com



Barry Ahern

Slattery PR, Dublin

+353 1 661 4055 or

+353 086 850 8673




David Smith

Datalex USA

770.582.4000

news@datalex.com

Completed Datalex and Sight & Sound Software Merger Signals New Era for Online Booking Technology

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE














Completed Datalex and Sight & Sound Software Merger Signals New Era for Online Booking Technology



A New Leader Emerges in the Online Travel Technology Market





PhoCusWright LIVEurope, Montreux, Switzerland; and ATTIS, Dublin, Ireland, May 10, 2000 โ€" Datalex (www.datalex.com) completed its merger with Sight & Sound Software (www.book-smart.com) today. Sight & Sound Software's leading product, BookSmart, is a top-performing online travel booking engine, and Datalex is a leading provider of e-Business applications, such as BookIt!, its suite of Internet booking engines, and full service travel industry solutions such as the ARIVA CRM suite and web-hosting. The combined company is better positioned to serve new and existing customers, bring innovative solutions to market faster and deliver the underlying technologies needed to allow the online travel industry to continue to expand and reach its full potential.

Neil Wilson remains CEO of Datalex Limited global group operations located in Dublin, Ireland while Jeff Kennedy officially assumed the role of CEO Datalex Communications USA Inc. located in the United States. โ€œWe are pleased to say we've received positive feedback from our customers,โ€ said Wilson, whose clients include Delta Air Lines and British Airways. โ€œWe will remain committed to our customers as we combine the best technology and architectural attributes of both BookSmart and BookIt! and surround them with products that support tours and private fares reservations, travel vendor connectivity and CRM.โ€

โ€œThis merger reflects the demand for sophistication and personalization in booking engine technology,โ€ Kennedy said. โ€œWe are both looking forward to extending Datalex's ability to serve the needs of the online travel enterprise.โ€

The company's full range of products satisfy the needs of the online travel businesses and provide the open architecture needed to work with other best-of-class solutions to build a complete enterprise infrastructure.

โ€œI would call this the perfect marriage,โ€ said Mark Tilden, CTO of Sight & Sound. โ€œDatalex brought travel breadth to the organization while Sight & Sound added a technical depth.โ€

Company and product plans

The combined company's corporate headquarters will remain in Dublin, Ireland. The Dublin office will serve customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and function as the center of excellence for research and development of leisure travel products. The Portland office will become a center of excellence for booking engine research and architectural development.

โ€œDatalex's global presence will deliver this technology worldwide through locations in Europe, North America, Australia and Africa, and through a network of global integration and hosting partnerships.โ€ Wilson added.

About Datalex

Datalex is the leading global provider of full-service, end-to-end Information Technology solutions to the airline and travel industry. Founded in 1985, the company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and maintains offices in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Johannesburg, South Africa; Manchester, England; Melbourne, Australia; and Portland, Oregon, USA. Datalex employs more than 370 professionals. The company's core competence is in devising solutions for e-Commerce, Enterprise Application Integration and Customer Relationship Management. Each day Datalex products and solutions are used throughout the world by major airlines, travel agencies and thousands of travel consumers. Datalex was recently announced as a technology partner for the new airline travel site founded by United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines. Other major travel customers include Aer Lingus, Amadeus, Air Canada, American Airlines, Amtrak, British Airways, California State Automobile Association, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, KLM, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Mexicana, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Tickets.com, Thai Airways, Varig and Worldspan. For more information please visit the company's Web site at www.datalex.com.



For more information, contact:



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE














Completed Datalex and Sight & Sound Software Merger Signals New Era for Online Booking Technology



A New Leader Emerges in the Online Travel Technology Market





PhoCusWright LIVEurope, Montreux, Switzerland; and ATTIS, Dublin, Ireland, May 10, 2000 โ€" Datalex (www.datalex.com) completed its merger with Sight & Sound Software (www.book-smart.com) today. Sight & Sound Software's leading product, BookSmart, is a top-performing online travel booking engine, and Datalex is a leading provider of e-Business applications, such as BookIt!, its suite of Internet booking engines, and full service travel industry solutions such as the ARIVA CRM suite and web-hosting. The combined company is better positioned to serve new and existing customers, bring innovative solutions to market faster and deliver the underlying technologies needed to allow the online travel industry to continue to expand and reach its full potential.

Neil Wilson remains CEO of Datalex Limited global group operations located in Dublin, Ireland while Jeff Kennedy officially assumed the role of CEO Datalex Communications USA Inc. located in the United States. โ€œWe are pleased to say we've received positive feedback from our customers,โ€ said Wilson, whose clients include Delta Air Lines and British Airways. โ€œWe will remain committed to our customers as we combine the best technology and architectural attributes of both BookSmart and BookIt! and surround them with products that support tours and private fares reservations, travel vendor connectivity and CRM.โ€

โ€œThis merger reflects the demand for sophistication and personalization in booking engine technology,โ€ Kennedy said. โ€œWe are both looking forward to extending Datalex's ability to serve the needs of the online travel enterprise.โ€

The company's full range of products satisfy the needs of the online travel businesses and provide the open architecture needed to work with other best-of-class solutions to build a complete enterprise infrastructure.

โ€œI would call this the perfect marriage,โ€ said Mark Tilden, CTO of Sight & Sound. โ€œDatalex brought travel breadth to the organization while Sight & Sound added a technical depth.โ€

Company and product plans

The combined company's corporate headquarters will remain in Dublin, Ireland. The Dublin office will serve customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and function as the center of excellence for research and development of leisure travel products. The Portland office will become a center of excellence for booking engine research and architectural development.

โ€œDatalex's global presence will deliver this technology worldwide through locations in Europe, North America, Australia and Africa, and through a network of global integration and hosting partnerships.โ€ Wilson added.

About Datalex

Datalex is the leading global provider of full-service, end-to-end Information Technology solutions to the airline and travel industry. Founded in 1985, the company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and maintains offices in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Johannesburg, South Africa; Manchester, England; Melbourne, Australia; and Portland, Oregon, USA. Datalex employs more than 370 professionals. The company's core competence is in devising solutions for e-Commerce, Enterprise Application Integration and Customer Relationship Management. Each day Datalex products and solutions are used throughout the world by major airlines, travel agencies and thousands of travel consumers. Datalex was recently announced as a technology partner for the new airline travel site founded by United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines. Other major travel customers include Aer Lingus, Amadeus, Air Canada, American Airlines, Amtrak, British Airways, California State Automobile Association, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, KLM, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Mexicana, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Tickets.com, Thai Airways, Varig and Worldspan. For more information please visit the company's Web site at www.datalex.com.



For more information, contact:



Karen Werstein

Wave Rock Communications

503.944.6217


kwerstein@wave-rock.com



David White

Sight & Sound Software, Inc.

503.274.0938


dwhite@sight-n-sound.com



Barry Ahern

Slattery PR, Dublin

+353 1 661 4055 or

+353 086 850 8673




David Smith

Datalex USA

770.582.4000

news@datalex.com

travel software in a tour operator's office

The use of travel software in a tour operator’s office Travel… the one modern day activity that has its origins in times going back eons of years. If early man traveled out of sheer necessity then modern day man travels for pleasure, profit, business and bonding. For some life depends on traveling, for others travel is what one does on holiday. But whatever the reason and whatever the nature of travel, the one thing common in all this is the irrefutable fact that today if you want to travel then you need to book tickets, make reservations and plan well, really well in advance to avoid disappointment. Savvy business persons caught on to this travel bug many years ago and today travel and tourism agencies are aplenty. Each offers the best bargain, the best deals, and the best in every possible travel requirement. Agencies are fully automated and computerized and the advent of the internet made life so much easier for these enterprising business persons. travel software is one very integral part of all this high tech computerization and automation. Today computers are the way to do any business…big or small. Everyone has something to offer in every field possible and travel is no exception. Today, sitting in one office bookings can be made to anywhere in the world and by any mode of travel or all modes of travel. Travel software is the magical software that helps get it all together. There are a lot of advantages to using travel travel agency software software. There are lots of global distribution systems operating in tandem in the world of travel bookings today. Since people have very individual travel booking requirements this travel software helps keep it all in place and it can integrate the specific details to suit the person requirements. There are lots of options for travel software in the market today. Some travel software comes with integrated financial tools that are task specific. Efficient and well integrated travel software can make bookings and reservations a lot easier than you think. Today it is possible to use travel software that not only is Global Distribution System or GDS compatible but also linked with private charters, specials and other business oriented connections. Customer satisfaction is assured when you have travel software where all your records and data etc is kept indexed on your computer and you can get results in seconds. Here is one software solution where small companies benefit because the travel software aids client base expansion and saves time and money as you are using one fully integrated program. Large companies also save on money and time and effort as all their small assorted programs now get compressed in to one fully automated travel management software which ensures that work is done quickly and efficiently. Sometimes bookings require different currency calculations; availability is a very important factor while making reservations, bookings done using credit cards etc require secure sites where there is no fear of data stealing, these are just some aspects of why travel software is a good decision. With travel software bookings can be done form anywhere to anywhere, and in any currency. Travel software will take care of enquires availability, administration issues and text and email notification to inform you about your bookings. Payments can be made via secure gateways and all credit cards and other important data remains confidential. There is no cost of installation and execution and one can cancel a booking at anytime also. The travel software is just right for companies looking for a proficient and flexible online booking system. People have varied travel and booking requirements and a good company is one which can meet these conditions successfully. Travel software is available today in many versions which are feature rich and task specific to suit all types of companies and travel related details. Travel software ensures that bookings are confirmed are authentic, not in danger of being double booked and it ensures that wherever possible seat numbers are also supplied to avoid fraudulent entries. So if you are in the travel business then this is one software that you should install on your computers so you can expand your clientele and data base and give your business the boost it requires. Surf the net for one of the many variants available and you should be able to come up with the perfect travel software to meet all your demands.

Destination and Trip Content - How to Write Consumer Travel Articles Online

If you go online these days and put in a destination point, any city, anywhere in the world you are bound to find consumer travel articles. Interestingly enough, many people get online before they decide to go to a certain city to visit and learn all they can, and they read these articles too. In fact, they are some of the most popular articles on the Internet. Likewise, if you go to a bookstore there usually a couple isles of travel books; it is also one of the best-selling categories right up there with self-help books, and cookbooks in the non-fiction section.

But let's say you are an online writer and you are writing consumer travel articles, what should you put in them? This is a good question and over the years I've written a good number of travel articles. In fact, I do not know of another person who has done this, but I have been to every single city in the United States of America that has over 10,000 in population, it took me seven years. So I know a good bit about travel, and I also know the questions I ask and wish to have answered before I go to a city.

Over the years, I have written so many articles on travel, that I've gotten a lot of feedback from my readers, they often thank of me for the information I gave them. They especially like restaurant tips, where to get good deals, where to save money, and little tips like that that make their traveling simpler.

This is what the consumer wants when they read travel articles and as long as you give that to your reader your articles will be of value for online content, or even to a travel magazine editor, some of which pay up to $.25 per word and they'll even buy the digital pictures that you taken, if their of decent quality. I hope you will please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes you should use the internet before you travel; broadband

Note: All of Lance Winslow's articles are written by him, not by Automated Software, any Computer Program, or Artificially Intelligent Software. None of his articles are outsourced, PLR Content or written by ghost writers. Lance Winslow believes those who use these strategies lack integrity and mislead the reader. Indeed, those who use such cheating tools, crutches, and tricks of the trade may even be breaking the law by misleading the consumer and misrepresenting themselves in online marketing, which he finds completely unacceptable.

Travel The World By Book

Whether in an aeroplane seat or an armchair I like to read about countries of the world. My job has given me the privilege of visiting many but there are others I seem to know almost equally well, by courtesy of my books.

Like many others, I spend long day-time hours in front of a computer screen and get much of my daily dose of information by that route, but still there's nothing quite like a book. It may be a mass market paperback or a leather-bound antiquity, but for me print on paper is something special. It takes me out of myself to other places in the world. Instantly I'm transported, and without the hassle of the airport.

Great travel writers have brought me into contact with the terrain and have introduced me to the people of towns and villages away from both traffic fumes in the streets and glass cages high in the concrete towers of capital cities. But far more than travel books have played important roles. Economists have introduced me to the challenges faced by many countries to survive in an intensely competitive (and sometimes grotesquely unfair) world. Novelists have based their plots in fascinating places and painted the background to their action. Historians have taught me how events and experiences of the past have shaped the present. Biographers have shown me the lives of outstanding men and women, and their impact for good or ill on their countries and the wider world. With or without illustrations their words have conjured up sights, sounds and scents.

Travelers, economists, novelists, historians, biographers; other specialist writers could be added: geographers, botanists, conservationists, missionaries, sportsmen, politicians, explorers, journalists; the list rolls on. Any one specialism by itself would have created partial and possibly biased perceptions. Together, however, each in his or her own way has contributed to a diverse, interdisciplinary flow of information, ideas and, I hope eventually, understanding of areas and peoples of the world very different from my own and which I have never actually seen with my eyes. I am profoundly grateful.

Hotel Reservations Have Guaranteed Lower Rates on Travel Website

August 25, 2004 -- Hotels-and-Discounts.com, one of the world's leading online travel booking websites, has announced they now offer lower discount hotel reservations worldwide. Their discounts have reached up to 70% off regular hotel reservation prices.



The website offers the opportunity for customers to book cheap hotel reservations in more than 12,500 hotels in over 400 cities across the globe. Hotels can be listed by their proximity to popular local attractions, price, star rating or the overall best value.



Hotels-and-Discounts.com prides itself on offering large discounts on some of the world's most popular hotels, even when other travel booking websites are sold out. Customer satisfaction is the company's primary goal. The website is available in a wide variety of languages and prices are shown in several currencies to make the hotel reservation process more convenient to visitors, as well as offering 24-hour customer service and a handy destination guide to over a hundred popular cities. The website also offers complete vacation packages including hotel, airfare and a rental car, as well as rebates of up to $100 on hotel reservations.



Hotel reservations can be booked directly via the Internet at www.Hotels-and-Discounts.com or by calling toll free in the U.S. or Canada at 1-800-276-7415; in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, or Italy at 00-800-1610-1620; or elsewhere at 1-956-283-2877. Hotel reservations are confirmed promptly.



About Hotels-and-Discounts.com

Hotels-and-Discounts.com is one of the fastest growing hotel reservation booking sites on the Internet. They provide visitors with an easy, convenient way to compare the quality, price, location, amenities and availability of hotel rooms around the world.



Hotels-and-Discounts.com is a Market E's Inc. site.

Travel in a Recession

The extreme volatility in the market place and fall in job security had sideswiped consumer confidence. The fall of asset prices have reduced household wealth for the first time in nearly 20 years. We have skidded into a "Cash is King" economy. The natural response to these conditions is to "spend less, travel less", as travel is considered discretionary spending. As the main drive of travel and tourism is income, the outlook for the traveler is looking pretty grim. Or is it?

Having said all that, I'm a firm believer in seeking out opportunities in the face of adversity, and for the global traveler, there are plenty of opportunities out there. Firstly, it is essential to focus on the value that travel creates in our personal as well as business lives. What one gains when one travels is so much more than the initial cost. When we travel, we immediately shift into a different mindset as we prepare for "exploration". We are more present than at any other times in our daily lives, and this particular mindset inevitably leads to "discovery", whether it is the discovery of different cultures, a reconnection with family and loved ones, business opportunities, or discovery of self. This is why I prefer to view travel as an investment. The key to traveling in a recession, therefore, is to cut cost without cutting the travel. This can be done in a number of ways.

1) Check out flight and accommodation bargains via online booking. The advent of online travel bookings has been a blessing to the frequent traveler, and it makes more sense than ever to simplify the booking process. The smart strategies for booking online are to look far in advance to take advantage of good rates and packages, and to be flexible with flights and accommodation in order to get the savings.

2) Consider closer destinations. Destinations that offer value for money with favorable exchange rates have an advantage as price becomes a key issue during times of recession. For example, Australians are now shifting their travel preferences from Europe and the US to Southeast Asia and the South Pacific.

3) Check out your own backyard. Traditionally, there has been the perception that traveling within ones own country offers poor "brag value". However, the recession is seeing more travelers experiencing what their own country has to offer.

4) Look at Low Cost Carriers (LCC). 30 years ago, whilst stranded at an airport, Richard branson chartered a plane, sold seats to other stranded passengers, and in effect started Virgin Atlantic Airways. Today, the low cost carrier segment (LCC) owns one third of the travel market. from this year (2009), Air Asia (Asia's answer to Virgin) will be flying Australians to Britain using Air Asia X through Kuala Lumpur. This route will be equally popular with Europeans heading to Australia. Air Asia is now Asia's largest airline, with 79 mostly airbus aircrafts heading to 72 regional destinations.

5) Rethink your accommodation. Check out "pensiones', "hostales", Bed and Breakfasts, and serviced apartments as viable alternatives to hotels. They can be very pleasant and they can lead to a more authentic travel experience. However, it is also becoming commonplace for 5 -Star properties to offer 3-Star prices, or to promote very attractive package deals. Search the net for accommodation deals before you make your booking.

6) Take shorter breaks more frequently. When your budget does not allow for a longer overseas trip during the year, do not underestimate the benefits of more frequent weekends away. After a couple of nights in rural surroundings, staying at a quaint "B & B", eating a great meal at a local restaurant, you will come back home refreshed and recharged.

7) Go Cruising. Cruising continues to experience unprecedented growth as it provides great value for money, particularly for families. With an average duration of 10 days, one can visit multiple destinations on one itinerary, take advantage of a variety of cuisines and entertainment which are all-inclusive, and you only have to unpack once. Today's cruises are not just huge floating resorts that cater to the mass markets; there are now so many types of cruises available.

How long this downturn will last is anyone's guess. But the frequent traveler is not ready to give up on their travel altogether, and taking advantage of the travel opportunities that are out there will make all the difference between feeling the pinch or the pain.

Victoria Ugarte was born in Manila, Philippines to parents of Spanish heritage and received a unique Spanish-Filipino upbringing. She was bitten by the travel bug at just eight years of age when she travelled to Madrid with her parents, and where she lived for a short time. Much later in her life, fashion and travel became synonymous with Victoria's career. A member of the Australian "ragtrade" for over 20 years, she flew all over Australia and the world, dipping into wonderful and exotic places, as well as more traditional destinations. Her flair for seeking out special places to add color to her travel itinerary, plus her skills in pulling together a suitable travel wardrobe within a limited timeframe, developed rapidly. With much work-related travel in the areas of fashion buying, merchandising, marketing and trend research, Victoria was in a wonderful position of being able to learn from local business contacts where to eat, where to shop, what to see, opening many avenues for great experiences. Inspired by her hero and muse, Amelia "Millie" Earhart, Victoria continues to channel her passion for style, travel and writing into the launch of her website, "Postcards from Millie"

TraveLogia Takes World's #1 Industry TRAVEL and Direct Marketing Industries by STORM with Online Travel based Products and Services!

Raleigh, NC--TraveLogia is the world's first online travel company to provide a FREE 3-Day, 2-Night Hotel Vacation, and FREE BoardingPass software that searches up to 200 sites with 1 click for the best rates in Air, Hotel, and Car rentals, and over $1,000 in popular travel savings โ€" to EVERYONE who simply registers for FREE as an Online Member with http://shopofdeals.travelogia.com.



Online travel bookings currently generate more sales than any other product or service sold on the Internet โ€" and conservative estimates have online travel bookings increasing 280 percent from 1999 to 2004. Travel sites are among the top-rated websites in terms of percentage of visitors who are "extremely satisfied" and "very likely" to return, according to a study by cPulse.



According to most leading E-commerce Analysts, travel is the largest and fastest-growing business on the Internet today. TraveLogia provides you with what you need to start earning money in this incredible industry! What could be easier then that? It's easy, fun, and you can earn commissions on travel bookings 24-hours a day, even while you're asleep!



TraveLogia offers a phenomenal home-based business opportunity for stay-at-home Moms & Dads, as well as men or women from all professions. Many have already achieved financial success with no special skills. TraveLogia is perfectly positioned in the right place at the right time.



Before you plan another trip or head off to your next business meeting, stop and remember that as a TraveLogia Club Executive you can get paid to travel! Simply become a TraveLogia Club Executive (CE) and receive HUGE travel savings and GREAT commissions every time you travel or someone books travel through you.



Have you ever heard of taking a cruise for $35 per person, per day? As a TraveLogia CE you can! Whether you love to play in the sun, shop till you drop or dance till dawn...As a TraveLogia CE you have access to the most glamorous cities, amazing beaches and romantic destinations around the world at a fraction of the prices most people pay!



And there's no need to give up your day job because the hours are totally up to you - full time, part-time, or anytime! All you do is refer friends, relatives and colleagues to your travel site automatically created for you when you become an affiliate... And reap the benefits! Major savings on airfare, hotel stays, car rentals, cruises, a variety of vacation packages, and of course, travel commissions!



With today's technology, booking travel online and earning extra money is as easy as point-and-click. Become a TraveLogia Club Executive today and start living life like a paid vacation! TraveLogia's Club Executive Program offers a complete compensation plan for affiliates marketing on the Internet. We've designed our program to be both competitive and comprehensive, allowing you to maximize the revenue you earn from users sent to htttp://shopofdeals.travelogia.com. What could be easier than that?



Club Executives also receive the tools to maximize their internet marketing home based business with TraveLogia's Affiliate Marketing System (AMS). The AMS is a VERY dynamic and multi-faceted tool created for automatic lead generation and non-stop prospecting. This professionally designed marketing system helps you earn commissions while building your home- based business successfully. Trained CE's also earn HUGE commissions in assisting Non-profit, charity, and fundraiser organizations with their financial objectives via TraveLogia's Non-Profit program designed to generate needed revenue for these organizations.



Now anyone can cash in on Travelogia's breakthrough product and services by following these 3 simple steps:

#1 Review video presentation at

http://www.NetworkingIncome.com/TraveLogia/ShowMe.asp?l=14505245

#2 Download the Free Boarding pass software at http://www.shopofdeals.travelogia.com/newce/register_dl.asp

#3 Become an Independent Travel Agent or a Club Executive and get your web site Today! Note: The club executive will receive the most benefits and the most income at

http://www.shopofdeals.travelogia.com/MainPage.aspx?p=ENROLL



For further information on Travelogia's products, services, and opportunities visit http://shopofdeals.travelogia.com/ce and http://shopofdeals.travelogia.com. Or contact Tracy Woody by phone at 919-832-1658 or email to cellphone_1@juno.com.

Advertise Online To Get More Bookings For Your Vacation Rental Home

'Renting by Owner' is a growing trend. Whether you own a beach house in the Caribbean, a ski chalet in Vermont, or a condo in Hawaii, renting by owner has been touted as the best way to maximize your rental income.

For the thousands of second home owners who rent their vacation homes to help pay the mortgage and other costs, renting by owner isn't possible due to career or other life demands. However, augmenting your property manager supplied bookings with for rent by owner bookings may be worth a second look in the tightening travel market and with insurance and other costs going up.

Having a property manager manage your vacation rental has its advantages - you won't be the one getting the calls in the middle of the night when tenants locks themselves out, or when the toilet is plugged or the furnace doesn't work. You don't have to worry about answering the phone, booking the property, advertising, cleaning, maintenance or a myriad of other items a property manager takes care of for you.

Renting vacation homes doesn't have to be exclusively for rent by owner or exclusively managed by a property manager. Having a property manager handle the daily maintenance, check in, cleaning and other miscellaneous chores can co-exist and actually be enhanced by marketing your property on for rent by owner Web sites.

If your life is too hectic to exclusively rent by owner the best thing to do is approach your property manager and see if they are willing to accept bookings you might get on your own via the for rent by owner Web sites. Some managers are willing to reduce the commission charged for bookings that you bring in. The commissions won't be eliminated altogether since the property manager still needs to handle check-in, cleaning and other miscellaneous chores. It's reasonable to ask for and get a reduction for the booking however. Often the reduction is in the range of 10 - 15%.

Once your property manager agrees (you may want to ask that the details be spelled out in your property management contract if it isn't already in there), research several vacation rentals by owner Web sites. They each have their strengths and the larger, established brands have a loyal following. Many of these for rent by owner sites enjoy high rankings for many competitive search phrases on Google and Yahoo and also enjoy repeat travelers who come back to the site whenever they travel and wish to rent.

Some sites to check out include VRBO.com, CyberRentals.com, GreatRentals.com, A1Vacations.com and a new entry - HomeAway.com. For less than $300 a year, which is often less than four lines for one month in your local paper, you'll get up to 12 photos, almost unlimited text, online calendars and rate cards.

Right now Homeaway.com has an interesting offer - for only $299/year you get your property listed on CyberRentals.com, GreatRentals.com, A1Vacations.com and HomeAway.com. CyberRentals and HomeAway are cited by Forbes.com as among the best of the web for vacation rentals.

Once you place your listing online make sure to follow these tips for successful renting:

Respond as quickly as possible to your inquiries. Life moves quickly and Internet readers are unwilling to wait for days for an answer to questions. Responding quickly can make the difference between getting the booking and having the traveler book elsewhere.

Supply extra information. such as a new addition or upgrade to the property, a wonderful seasonal event, opening of a new restaurant or anything else that increases the readers familiarity with the area or piques their interest significantly affects booking decisions.

Show interest in the reader. and enthusiasm for your vacation home. Be patient even if the answer to a question is on your website. Sometimes people ask questions to verify what they've read online.

Welcome children. More than two million children are enrolled in year round schools and available to take vacation during the off seasons. Additionally there are millions more who aren't yet in school.

Photographs are worth a thousand words. Check with your property manager to see if the photos they shot are available for you to use, if not, have some new photos taken. Make sure to show the kitchen, main living room, outside of the house, bedrooms and any special features such as a grand fireplace or a fantastic view.

Accept pets. More than 29 million Americans brought their pets on trips, according to the Travel Industry Association of America. If you're looking for a few extra weeks rental, accepting pets could be the answer.

Helpingourhomeless.com Announces New Online Travel Booking Service

April 7, 2004 -- Helpingourhomeless.com invites you to discover our new online travel reservation system designed to save time and money. Now visitors to helpingourhomeless.com can shop 24x7 for the best possible travel deals on hotel rooms, car rentals, cruises, airline tickets, golf vacation packages and travel insurance, which 100% of all net profits goes to local homeless organizations all over the country.



Select from over 57,000 hotels and resorts worldwide including 8,000+ Hot Rate hotels, 28 car rental companies, all major cruise lines, hundreds of airlines, 500 golf vacations and the leading travel insurance companies to book travel services instantly and securely.



The helpingourhomeless.com hotel booking engine offers the high quality of over 200 major hotel brands in nearly 10,000 diverse destinations worldwide at discounted rates and features full color hotel brochures and interactive mapping. To accommodate the needs of global customers the hotel booking engine is available in 12 languages and can book hotel rooms in over 160 currencies.



Vacation seekers can log on to helpingourhomeless.com to review the latest โ€œHot Travel Dealsโ€ specials, which include the latest and hottest deals on hotels, cruises and golf vacation packages with our specially negotiated rates. These specials are updated weekly and allow travelers to take advantage of deep discounts that they won't find anywhere else on the Web.



Spend less time getting the travel information you need with our extensive details on each hotel and destination, and review our โ€œFamily Friendly Travel Guideโ€ with a choice of hotels or resorts that cater to families with young children or pets.



Helpingourhomeless.com provides online cruise availability and booking in real time, allowing you to compare several different cruise line packages at once. Visitors can take 360-degree virtual tours of cruise ships, plan whole cruise vacations and book discounted cruises via telephone, web or e-mail.



Through broad choices, low prices and excellent customer service, helpingourhomeless.com can take you to where you want to go.



Now you can have the joy of giving, while at the same time, getting deep discounted rates on all of your travel needs.



For any organization that would like to get approved to receive donations from Helpingour homeless.com must fill out the form located on our website.

www.TRAVELFAD.com ANNOUNCES NEW ONLINE TRAVEL BOOKING SERVICE

ORLANDO, FL July 27, 2004 -- www.travelfad.com invites you to discover our new online travel reservation system designed to save time and money. Now visitors to www.travelfad.com can shop 24x7 for the best possible travel deals on hotel rooms, car rentals, cruises, airline tickets, golf vacation packages and travel insurance.



Select from over 57,000 hotels and resorts worldwide including 8,000+ Hot Rate hotels, 28 car rental companies, all major cruise lines, hundreds of airlines, 500 golf vacations and the leading travel insurance companies to book travel services instantly and securely.



The www.travelfad.com hotel booking engine offers the high quality of over 200 major hotel brands in nearly 10,000 diverse destinations worldwide at discounted rates and features full color hotel brochures and interactive mapping. To accommodate the needs of global customers the hotel booking engine is available in 12 languages and can book hotel rooms in over 160 currencies.



Vacation seekers can log on to travelfad.com to review the latest โ€œHot Travel Dealsโ€ specials, which include the latest and hottest deals on hotels, cruises and golf vacation packages with our specially negotiated rates. These specials are updated weekly and allow travelers to take advantage of deep discounts that they won't find anywhere else on the Web.



Spend less time getting the travel information you need with our extensive details on each hotel and destination, and review our โ€œFamily Friendly Travel Guideโ€ with a choice of hotels or resorts that cater to families with young children or pets.



www.travelfad.com provides online cruise availability and booking in real time, allowing you to compare several different cruise line packages at once. Visitors can take 360-degree virtual tours of cruise ships, plan whole cruise vacations and book discounted cruises via telephone, web or e-mail.



Through broad choices, low prices and excellent customer service, travelfad.com can take you to where you want to go.