Travel and Tourism

Josh Webber asked:

Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, purchasing travel insurance can help save you money. It is the same principle that applies when you buy something of value like a car or a classic piece of jewelery. Should anything happen, you do not want to lose your investment in one day. Most likely, you would want that car or ring replaced at full purchase value. If you have purchased air tickets, you would want to protect that investment as well. Who wants to lose money especially in these dire economic times?

Ways that Travel Insurance Can Help You Save Money

There are at least three situations where purchasing travel insurance can help you save money:

• Cancellation of flights – If you or the airline decides to cancel the flights you are booked in, your airfare will be partially covered by travel insurance. Say if you spent $4,500.00 worth of air tickets for you and your family, and suddenly the airline closes down for business or cancels a flight for any reason, you do not lose all of the $4,500.00 because travel insurance will reimburse that amount. Of course the airline will probably refund you the money if it is their fault, but having travel insurance will compensate you for the inconvenience and trouble. Also, if you cancel the flight yourself, travel insurance will get you back your money.

• Loss of luggage – When you purchase travel insurance, make sure it covers lost luggage as well. Imagine landing in some foreign country with none of your luggage! While most airlines are efficient about recovering lost luggage and delivering them to your door, don’t rely on that efficiency. There have been instances where luggage was never recovered.

• Medical problems – You may be in perfect health when you leave for vacation but you increase the likelihood of getting exposed to viruses or bacteria either in the plane or in your country of destination. There’s also the chance that you could accidentally drink the local drinking water or eat contaminated food. Medical visits in some foreign countries can cost an arm and a leg so you wouldn’t want to spend all your vacation money on doctor’s visits! If you have travel insurance that covers expenses for brief hospitalizations, medicine and emergency situations, think about how much all these could add up if you didn’t have travel insurance.

Tips for Purchasing Travel Insurance

• Ask your insurance provider – If you have an insurance company that insures your car, house and other property, they may also offer travel insurance or they may work with a partner or affiliate who does. Because you are an established customer, they may offer you travel insurance at lower rates. It doesn’t hurt to ask. In fact, in some instances, you may be better off going with your existing insurer than purchase separate insurance from the travel agent who books your flight.

• Go for the whole nine yards – What this means is if you are traveling with the family, you might be better off buying family travel insurance instead of separate insurance policies. It also means that because traveling with children entails more risk than traveling alone, you may want to consider travel insurance that offers comprehensive coverage; that is, plane fares, luggage, and health and medical visits.

• Multi-trip travel insurance – If you make more than one trip every year, you might be better off purchasing an annual multi-trip travel insurance policy. This would save you the hassle of purchasing travel insurance several times during the year. Some travel insurance companies will usually sell you a 12-month package that is renewable yearly and this is a huge convenience if you travel a lot during any given 12-month period. The single biggest advantage of buying an annual policy is that you don’t need to worry about arranging for emergency medical coverage.

• Compare packages and prices – As for most major ticket items, it pays to shop around for insurance. If you know you will be travelling six months from now, don’t wait until the month before your travel date to do some bargain hunting. Start now so that you are not rushed about reading the fine print and you can make a more informed decision about the kind of travel insurance that is ideal for your situation.

Remember to do the cost analysis if you are ever tempted to skip travel insurance. Even if your ticket is discounted, say you paid $600.00 to go to the Caribbean. Travel insurance will cost about $85.00 to $100.00. If you are forced to cancel your trip, you lose $600.00 (restricted and discounted tickets are usually non-refundable or non-transferrable) versus the $100.00 you paid if you had purchased travel insurance. If you want to save money, put travel insurance on the top of your list.

Caffeinated Content for WordPress

Andrew Gibson asked:


The growth of the self catering holiday has been greatly helped by the growth of the internet. It is now so easy to look up self catering holidays on the internet and then decide where you would like to stay.

Self catering holidays are very popular with holiday makers going on a family holiday. The great thing about looking for a holiday that is self catering is that they are available in most countries around the world.

One of the most popular holiday destinations for self catering holidays is Ireland. Many holiday makers choose to go on a family holiday to Ireland and choose self catering accommodation. Ireland is so popular with holiday makers on self catering holidays as it is a country full of warm welcoming people and has some of the most beautiful countryside in Europe.

While on a self catering holiday to Ireland families feel that they get to experience the real Ireland. They can sample the world famous Irish beer and also try some of the mouth watering local cuisine that they would not have got the opportunity to try if they had not been on a self catering holiday.

France is another favourite holiday destination for self catering holidays. Families go to France and choose a self catering holiday as they feel that it helps them experience the real way of life in France. By choosing self catering on a holiday in France, families can choose to eat out in local bars and restaurants. This enables them to get a true feel of the local culture and really appreciate the French cuisine. It is also fun to shop in the local markets and shops and then take the produce back to your self catering accommodation to cook.

By going on a self catering holiday to France enables you to try different foods that you would not try on a normal holiday. Normandy is a popular destination with holiday makers going on a self catering holiday to France. Many families go back year after year to France on self catering holidays as they fall in love with the flavour of the local food. By selecting a self catering holiday, tourists to France are able to experience the many mouthwatering foods specific to individual regions.

Scotland is another popular self catering holiday destination. Tourists are attracted to Scotland by its stunning scenery and warm and friendly people. Self catering holidays are so popular in Scotland as it can work our to be a very good value money. By choosing a self catering holiday you are able to choose when you want to eat and also where you want to eat. Scotland is famous for having some mouth watering food and whisky and holiday makers have the choice of eating out or back in their self catering holiday home.

In England some of the most popular self catering holidays are in Devon and Cornwall. Many families like to take self catering holidays in Devon and Cornwall and go there for the beautiful beaches and stunning views out over the sea. Self catering holidays are also popular in Devon and Cornwall as they help to reduce the price of the holiday.

Many lovers of the great out doors go on self catering holidays to the Lake District. They are so popular here because holiday makers like to go on long walks and explore the local mountains. They are then not restricted by meal times and can spend a full day out on the beautiful mountains in the Lake District.



Caffeinated Content for WordPress

Lesley Lyon asked:


A travel agent engages in purchase and sales of tour and related services of travel. Travel agents can be employees or they can do business independently. In the tourism industry if travel is considered as the leg for the industry, then the travel agents are the very important backbone of the whole system.

Even though the Internet has created revolutionary changes in the tourism industry, travel agency cannot be replaced. You are using the Internet as a travel agent for arranging your travel services. Websites of travel agents and travel suppliers are providing you their services depending totally on your needs.

As the travel industry is very competitive, being a travel agent is not an easy one. Travel agencies are under constant pressure like facing stiff competition among them and also with online portals and they have to survive with lower profit margin. There are travel agencies specializing on packages like honeymoon, health, water sports etc.

In the past, the travel suppliers used to sell their packages to the public through travel agencies. Nowadays, the usage of Internet for travel service by travel consumers has been increasing and so all the travel suppliers are opting for online travel agencies. The Travel Industry Trade Associations are linked with many Travel suppliers, Travel Wholesalers and Consolidators, though the travel suppliers have web sites on their own. The Outside Sales Support Network (OSSN) supports travel agents like home based, Independent contractors and outside sales agents with 100,000 members in it.

Being a travel consumer you can access the catalog e-vacation that includes reading of needed information and watching online videos of the destination you want to travel without any verbal communication with the travel agent. Some travel agents offer packages or services with mark up price and there are others who offer the product for the same price charged by the supplier and there is always a debate of these travel deals offered.

The United States State Department encourages group travel of US citizens while traveling abroad. The travel agencies understand this silent push and they offer services that are affordable to everyone at unbelievable price. Being a holidaymaker, there are stories revolving around them for bad services and rip-off stories. You must be wondering how to find a creditable agent for your travel services. Here are some ways by which you can find many travel agents who offer good travel services for you.

First, be clear with your travel objectives and look for travel agents offering all types of packages and travel services. Flexibility in the price offered for your travel service will make you feel comfortable with the travel agent and so a good agent must be ready for negotiation of prices with a customer. Get recommendation from other customers who have used the travel agency for their needs and always feed back is very powerful. Your network of contact will help you a lot and will give an idea of the travel agents’ competency.

Always choose agencies that wish to sustain good relationship with customers. These agents will give you the utmost benefits on the services provided by them because of expecting repeat business and for having long-term association with you. If you have found an agent who keeps his word and has offered you his best services, then you stick to him for all your travel needs.



Caffeinated Content