Would you buy your next holiday from Ebay?

Think about it…you buy presents, books and a tonne of other items from Ebay, so would you buy a vacation?

There are airfares, vacation packages, hotel accommodation, self catering houses and a lot more all up for auction, but would you trust buying your next holiday from the auction site?

There are some good deals to be had and people are bidding, but would you?

In the Navy…

Victoria, BC Canada has been getting a little bit of attention for the last 3 days as there was a US Navy ship visiting and there was an influx of 3,200 people.

What a great time for them to be visiting, beautiful summer weather and they were here from Monday-Wednesday, which meant a big boom for downtown restaurants, hotels, bars and shops as the navy guys & girls spent their money!

I had never really thought about this side of tourism, but it does happen. I remember living in Sydney when Navy ships pulled into the harbour and you really noticed the increase of people in downtown.

Anyway, I think it is a great thing for tourism in any city that are dedicated stopovers for Navy ships!

‘Majesty of the Seas’ to get a new look

Royal Caribbean Internation has announced that they will be proceeding with an extensive overhaul of their ship 'Majesty of the Seas'. The refurbishment is due to start in January 2007 and the update will include a spa / fitness area and a new dining area.

I wonder if the reason that they are doing this is due to Baby Boomers loving the cruise life?

A company that the industry NEEDS to know about!

In previous posts, I have emphasized how important it is for hotels, tour operators and other travel related companies to have good photos & videos of their products on their websites!

Now there is a company that specialises in producing visual content for hotels, cruises and destinations! VRX Studios are based in Yaletown, Vancouver (Canada) and they currently have:
 - 1,036 Hotels
 - 442 Destinations
 - 10, 540 Virtual Tours
 - 12, 927 Still Images
 - 864 Interactive Maps

It isn't free, but every company out there that has a website in the travel industry should at least consider this company for any photos, maps or videos that they need created.

They are a growing company and their client list includes Outrigger Enterprises, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawaii, Sutton Place Hotels, Vancouver International Airport, Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line and a lot more. You can look at some of their examples and they are definately top-of-the-line! I would be impressed if I was looking at a website & they had really great images and 360 degree photos / videos.

Remember that a picture tells a thousand words, so you better have a damn good photo…or better yet a great video!

Cruise ship season hits Victoria, Canada

Just a quick note to let you all know that the tourist season in Victoria, Canada is well under way. The first cruise ship arrived today and there are people everyone, the small pedi-cabs are all over the streets and the shops are full.

It has been rumoured that this will be the best cruise ship season that Victoria has had in a long time with record numbers of cruises docking.

Death on Pacific Sky cruise ship!

So a few days ago a women was ‘apparently’ drugged and assaulted by a group of men on board a Pacific Sky cruise with her daughter sleeping . Unfortunately she also died.

This is not good for the cruise ship industry…once they were a place to sit back, relax and get to know your fellow travellers and now you have to always be on the look out. How would you feel if something happened to you and then you were stuck on the ship with no place to go…

Is the image of an exotic cruise ship holiday slowly being diminished?

Share your experiences about the travel industry…

Over the last fews years, I have become more interested in the customer service side of the travel industry - the good help and the bad.

Here are some examples I have had for both:

Good - Singapore Airlines being extremely helpful with changing an itinerary / dates. Sure they charged us but that was expected. Now the staff at the Christchurch office were really good, understood exactly what we wanted and did it without hassles. Also I just called again to see if would cost me extra to change the flights again (I’m not super organised) and the office in Sydney was really helpful too. No problems and I can change the flights without any charges. Friendly service all round and they even asked if there was anything else that they could help me with…what more could I want.

Bad - A friend walked into a Flight Centre after Sept.11 2001 and all flights were grounded. My friend was set to leave to fly from Toronto to Ireland the following day and advised that he needed to re-book a flight to Ireland as his flight was grounded and the Agent said “What for?”. The response…’does it really matter?’ After that, the agent was completely unreasonable and didn’t want to help at all after a clients flight had been cancelled. Why did this agent ask the question? He had a customer with money to spend and he is asking questions! As a result my friend didn’t book through Flight Centre but went with a smaller company who was super helpful and understood his needs.

I think that it is important that the travel industry know what they are doing well and not so well, so please leave a comment whether is a good experience or bad experience…I want the travel industry to become aware of what is working and what isn’t! If we don’t let them know, nothing will change.

What costs $1.24 billion and holds up to 6,400 passengers?

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines new vessel nicknamed “Project Genesis”…the cruise line has ordered the world’s largest and most expensive cruise ship - larger than the QEII.

The cruise industry is really taking off and the trend for ’supersizing’ cruise lines is growing by the minute. With more people these days wanting more room and luxury when they are travelling it is no surprise that Royal Caribbean is spending a lot of money on the best ship available.

While things are still being finalised for the design and layout of the ship it is rumoured that it will have ice skating rinks, rock climbing walls and surfing pools…what more could you want??

With all this money being spent on cruise ships, is the industry taking note that more people have disposable income and are willing to spend it on an all-inclusive holiday like a cruise?

For more information… NY Times