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photo: PlusONE


This month of July has not been an easy one in the world, and especially in the world of tourism.  Until recently, tourism oriented nations experienced one or another form of crisis on a tri or bi-monthly or monthly basis.  During the last few weeks, the crise du mois seems to have become the crise de la semaine (crisis of the week).

 
During the last few weeks, the Middle East, especially Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and the Asian sub-continent have witnessed an upsurge of violence.

Should Travel Writers Ask for Free Trips or Get Paid by a Destination?

This started out with a question: Should travel writers ask for free trips.

It’s  a vexing and contentious issue for travel professionals.

The ethical issues are pretty clear: If a travel writer is given an all-expense trip to a country, hotel, resort  or whatever -  and this usually includes airfare, meals, accommodations and passes to attractions in the region - can that writer be balanced in his or her article?

In the

Report: E-mails Are 40% More Effective Than Twitter or Facebook, Combined

So, after all the excitement about Facebook and Twitter as communities and marketing panaceas, good, “old fashioned” e-mails prove to be 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined.



That is, if your goal is to acquire customers, and not just share the latest family news or travel experience.



Apparently, says Hotelmarketing,  the reason is simple: 91 percent of all US consumers still use e-mail daily. And “t

Kill the Travel Press Release-Tweet it Instead

So I was sitting at a media lunch when I overheard someone from a Canadian tourism office say to her companion that they were thinking of no longer sending travel media releases out. They were going to tweet them instead.

I was taken aback because just an hour previously, I wrote  this article and thought somehow she was the  angel of affirmation.

But she’s right on.

I receive on average 35 travel press releases a day,  in one form or another.

And that’s

Will buying an airline ticket soon be as personalized as buying a suit from a sales person? Probably, as trends go.

It's no surprise that airlines want to personalize their relationships to their customers. If they can figure out how, it would be a huge step toward making the ticket-buying process a lot more individualized, and rewarding.

And why shouldn't it be?
After all, buy a book from Amazon or any savvy online retailer, and you're guided to other books you might like based on your readin

From NMT Images

Please watch the 1- minute, Travel Video PostCard at the end of this post

New Innkeepers Use Social Media To Attract New Guests

In the highly individualistic culture of the Bed and Breakfast business, Tim and Amy Brady are fast becoming the "go to" couple for B and B owners and operators eager to gain access to the powers of social media marketing, and improving the guest experiences in the process.

The 30 something, very cool  couple are decidedly not what one thinks of when one th

Listen to the quickie  Audio PostCard on Packing Tips if images of jumping on your suitcase as your partner quickly snaps the locks shut, or sitting on the thing while you’re doubled over tying the straps, are your version of packing,

My favorite packing tip is this: If you pack it, then you carry, pull or lug it. But we discuss all that and more in the Audio PostCard.

The useful New York Times article on packing  quotes an American Airlines captain as saying he always travels with laundry soap

The recent announcement that AMI, parent company of “The National Enquirer,” had declared bankruptcy, struck me in a different way than it might have struck you. Because I once worked there. Yes, it’s true. I admit it. For two weeks, many years ago, I worked at “The National Enquirer.”

My story started in a raging blizzard that tied up the whole Northeast. We had three feet of snow n Hartford, CT. I was looking out the window at the blizzard that night, while talking on the phone with my younger