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Are Travel Agents Extinct?

Why call a Travel Consultant instead of going direct? Good Question! Lately I have been talking to a lot of people about owning a travel agency, and have been getting the same question, “why use a travel agent when I can do the research myself and book a trip on the internet?” Well, you are about to find out that there are several reasons to use a Travel Consultant (the new title), one of them being it is TOTALLY FREE to you, the client. And about 5 years ago, it was predicted that being a Travel Agent was a dying profession, and in the age of technology, travel agents would b...Read More...

BRAZILIAN ADVENTURE: RIO AND BEYOND

Brazil is not one of the places that we see a lot about in travel magazines or on the web. It is a place that offers much for the traveler. My husband had talked about seeing the "statue" in Rio for quite sometime. Last year while cruising with Princess they highlighted a repositioning from Rio to Fort Lauderdale. That was made just for us. We left Houston on the long flight to Rio to board our Princess Cruise ship.

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A culinary detour to ancient Jaffa offers a walkable feast

Jaffa, Tel Aviv's twin city, offers a food lover's walking tour of delicatessens, specialty markets and street stands.

The ancient, annexed port city is a favorite haunt of Janna Gur, editor of the popular Israeli food magazine Al Hashulchan (``On the Table'') and author of The Book of New Israeli Food (Schocken, $35).

``Jaffa's a culinary melting pot, with remnants of a disappearing culinary world,'' she said as we headed down the main drag on a sunny Sunday.

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In Seattle Area, an Assortment of Treats

The factory, in the Fremont neighborhood, occupies a building that was once a trolley barn and later a brewery. Tours of its production line are conducted several times a day. With frequent samples to keep us focused, we were instructed at length by our guide, a pipe-thin woman dressed in funky hand-sewn clothes, on the origins of chocolate, its cultivation and, naturally, the virtues of Theo’s environmentally conscious method.

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2/15/10 - PAPUA NEW GUINEA ADOPTS NEW CRUISE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

Peter Vincent, Chief Executive of Papua New Guinea’s Tourism Promotion Authority, announced today the adoption of a comprehensive cruise development strategy for the nation. The strategy will be released in full on March 30. Key elements will be available to cruise lines and others for whom PNG is destined to become a focus of interest over the next five years.

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POLAR ISSUES RAISED

The polar regions are seeing an increased push in demand for voyages and landings. With more ships and capacity appearing in these regions over the last decade, there is no shortage of issues at hands for the lines to deal with.  “All of a sudden we have a situation where there is a lot of interest in the Polar areas with the climate change hype,” said Sven Lindblad, president and founder of Lindblad Expeditions. “Companies are waking up and saying ‘hey we’re going to take some people to Antarctica today,’ without any prior knowledge. It would be like me waking up tomorrow and wanting to run tours in Vegas.”

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Hot Springs and River Pools With Baja Wild Outfitters

By Janice Mucalov Sometimes the weather just doesn’t cooperate when you’re on vacation, and plans have to be reconfigured. A good tour company is one that can react quickly and turn a cancelled excursion from a disappointment into a terrific day — despite the change in plans. On a recent visit to Cabo San Lucas, Baja Wild Outfitters did precisely that for us. We were booked to go kayaking and snorkeling at Cabo Pulmo Marine Park, a national marine sanctuary on the unspoiled eastern cape of the Baja Peninsula. One of only three living coral reefs in Nor...Read More...

Switzerland Lands More Locations on UNESCO List

On July 7, the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO added the Albula and Bernina line of the Rhaetian Railway to its world heritage list. This makes the Rhaetian Railway, serving the Canton of Graubunden in the south east part of Switzerland, only the third railway worldwide to be considered "universally outstanding" by UNESCO. On the Bernina line (built in 1903) the railway crosses 52 bridges and 13 tunnels. The Albula line (built in 1910) runs over 144 bridges and through 42 tunnels. The Rhaetian Railway (RhB) is the highest-altitude trans-Alpine line in Europe, and a line with one of the s...Read More...

Forever Young in Copenhagen

< p>Last month Monacle Magazine named Copenhagen the world's "Best City to Live In." At almost any time of day you'll find visitors crowding Copenhagen's waterfront to gaze at the statue of the Little Mermaid, who looks longingly from her otherworldly perch for her human lover. The statue embodies the city's most essential trait, namely it provides you with ability to keep one foot in childhood as you negotiate the steps of adult urban life. A child-like wonder can be found all over this city, where the omnipresent spirit of Hans Christian Andersen seems to turn up at every corner ...Read More...

Swimming with Whale Sharks

0%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"> By Cancun Convention and Visitors Bureau Swimming with the Whale Shark, the largest fish in the world is a dream that can only become a reality in few places throughout the world, such as Australia and Belize. Closely and conveniently situated near the U.S., Cancun located in the Mexican Caribbean, is particularly privileged due to the fact that the majority of the whale shark species prefer these waters. The best time to be a part of this fantastic adventure is during the months of July and August. The Whale Shark...Read More...