Destination information – How to Find Great Useful
Information to Suit Your Travel Needs
So you decided to vacation somewhere that has enchanted you
and your partner / family, perhaps one of those extra special “bucket list”
locations, like Switzerland or the Galapagos Islands, etc. etc. You start looking into details, wanting to
find out everything you can to make this trip extra special in every way; what
are the “must see” attractions, when is the best time to travel there, do I
need a visa, will my English be understood and perhaps more importantly will I
encounter people who speak English to me, etc. etc. Where do you get this information? There is a plethora of info available at your
fingertips through several forums such as the internet of course, along with
your local library or bookstore, perhaps word of mouth from a friend who has
been there, and the official tourism bureau.
However, finding concise, non-biased useful reliable current information without wading
through dozens of questionable websites with gobs of ads and fighting off pop-ups
is not an easy task.
~TO GET CONCISE USEFUL
NON-BIASED DESTINATION INFORMATION IT IS WISE TO REVIEW A VARIETY OF SOURCES
AND TO PAY VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO PRINT DATES ON THE MATERIALS YOU CHOOSE~
In this day and age the internet is of course a primary
source of info, with a vast array of resources at your fingertips. With the ability to post up to the minute
info, display dazzling pictures and videos with narration, this is an excellent
resource as we all know. Knowing what
sites to visit, or perhaps more importantly what sites to stay away from is a
key to your success. Typically it’s best
to stay away from sites that have numerous links that take you to another site,
as many of these are set up to simply link you elsewhere which earns that
website owner a bit of money each time you click a link.
There are websites that are interactive, allowing
“travelers” to post their personal review of various components of travel such
as hotels, restaurants, cruises and even attractions. There are many of these, with a reliance on ad
revenue and clicks onto links by viewers generating income for them. Perhaps the “top” website in this “Travel
Social Media” genre is TripAdvisor. I like how this site keeps track of all the
reviews and assigns a “score” and a rating from 1 to 5 calculated from all of
the reviews. The site is user friendly,
easy to navigate and minimal advertising and pop-ups and has millions of users.
~WHEN SEARCHING WEBSITES
WITH REVIEWS FROM TRAVELLERS, TO GET AN ACCURATE ASSESSMENT YOU SHOULD READ AT
LEAST 6 REVIEWS, AND REALIZE THAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT TASTES THAN
YOU~.
Occasionally owners / managers of places have been known to
post a review (of course very favorable) of their own place. If there are hundreds of reviewers who have
input their thoughts, you can be more assured of a score / rating that
accurately depicts a true picture of that place. TripAdvisor also owns and operates other
sites; Virtual Tourist which is very similar and Travel Pod which is filled
with blogs from travelers. All of these
sites are easily searchable.
~WITH A BIT OF TIME AND
PATIENCE YOU CAN GET SOME GOOD INFORMATION BASED ON OTHER TRAVELERS REVIEWS, AS
OPPOSED TO GETTING THE FLUFF AND HYPE THAT IS PUT FORTH BY THOSE PLACES
THEMSELVES IN THEIR DIRECT MARKETING AND ADVERTISING~
The official websites of the tourism bureaus for countries /
regions / cities are also excellent resources.
There is an amazing variety of styles and formats making it
difficult to provide general suggestions on how to best search those tourism
bureau sites to get information. I
recommend visiting the official tourism bureau website in all cases to gather
information, and cross-reference info you find useful with the same information
that is presented on websites that post reviews from travelers.
~TOURISM BUREAU WEBSITES
ARE VERY USEFUL; HOWEVER THEY TOO MAY BE INFLUENCED BY ADVERTISERS AND
“SPONSORS” WHO CONTRIBUTE INFORMATION AND FUNDING, WHICH MAY BIAS THE INFO PRESENTED
A BIT.~
Of course a good Travel Agent that you know and trust (even
more importantly, who knows you and your needs, preferences & tastes) is
your best resource. He / She will do
this research for you and filter out the undesirable or overly biased info,
presenting to you what is pertinent and important to you. Even with a trusted Travel Agent at your
service, it is still wise to do some research on various websites
yourself. This way you can see areas / attractions
/ events that are appealing that you can share with your agent to help direct
the research into your trip. Speaking of
events, this is one area of research often overlooked by travelers.
~DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT UPCOMING
EVENTS IN THE AREA YOU WISH TO VISIT!
YOU MAY SEE THAT A GREAT EVENT / FESTIVAL / CELEBRATION IS GOING ON
DURING THE MONTH THAT YOU PLAN TO VISIT.
WITH ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE, YOU CAN THEN ALTER YOUR SCHEDULE TO BE THERE FOR
THAT EVENT. OR CONVERSELY, YOU CAN AVOID
MAJOR EVENTS THAT YOUAREN’T VERY INTERESTED IN, AND AVOID THE CROWDS AND HIGHER
PRICES THAT USUALLY OCCUR DURING A MAJOR EVENT!~
For our agency use for our clients we regularly research
many destinations and compile our own up to date reports that I and my
sub-agents use. We are embarking on a
training program for travel agents and will be expanding our version of
destination information for agents we train and work with. With today’s technology, we are considering
posting this information online and allowing the public to access our concise
non-biased up to date destination information.
~STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES ON
OUR PLANS TO POST OUR PROFESSIONALLY RESEARCHED DESTINATION INFORMATION ON LINE
FOR PUBLIC ACCESS!!~