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?

Fancy looking at artwork before you sleep?

There is a newish trend in the hotel industry that is being called ‘Art Hotels’.These Art Hotels have each room decorated differently with art, whether it is art deco, renaissance or another type of art, each is a masterpiece.

An example of an art hotel is the ‘Reflections Hotel‘ in Bangkok, Thailand. The photos below are from the hotel…

Tourism in India - growing in leaps & bounds

India is getting another company investing in the tourism sector. UK based Dawnay Day group is injecting $200 million into the industry to build 10 hotels in Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and New Delhi by 2010. This is the first step in an effort to build a total of 30 new hotels.

Another company that is getting into the tourism industry in India is the easyGroup, founded by Stelios Haji-Ioannou. easyHotel has formed a joint venture with Istithmar PJSC (an investment house based in the UAE). They are planning to build 8 budget hotels across India in the next four year. The alliance also has plans for the future with easyHotels opening in Pakistan, North Africa and the Middle East.

Disappearing Brochures…

In one of my earlier posts I asked the questions 'When will brochures disappear?' and now I am slowly starting to see the travel industry changing its ways.

The Hilton Group has taken a big step into the land of no brochures by announcing that they are no longer going to be printing their worldwide hotel brochures. Those of you that have stayed in a Hilton Hotel know what I'm talking about…they are the ones that they leave in the draw beside the bed or on the desk or just near the minibar hoping that you might pick it up and take it with you to think about future hotels to book. Instead they will be preparing e-brochures that will be available across all of their websites.

I think that this is a great step into the world of no brochures!

Fresh air, dirt and maybe some animals…sound like fun?

Farm Stays are a great way to spend your holiday. Many offer cheaper board if you help them with the day-to-day operation of the farm. Of course, if you don’t want to spend your entire holiday on a farm, there are always the options of day trips. These are perfect if you have children and are a great way of getting them away from city life plus they might learn something…you never know.

Farm Stays can also be a good alternative for a backpacker if they are running short on cash & don't mind doing a bit of work.

Do you want more info about your hotel?

It was brought to my attention that there is a really cool website out there that gives you all the information you could need about a hotel without having to be pressured to book through the site or pay a fee to view the information…the website is Link2Hotels.com

I was surprised how easy to use it was and I can't believe that there hasn't been a site created like this before. I have seen travel agents use something similar but the information on this site is detailed & really useful. I could actually see travel agents (or other industry people) using this site as a form of additional information before booking directly with the hotel.

There is also a lot of different search criteria that they offer such as Number of Stars rating, price range, style, type, proximity and amenities. They also offer the service in a number of different languages!

Plus it has hotels listed worldwide, infact it states that they have over 250,000 hotels listed which is more than Travelocity, Expedia & Hotels.com and you can also save your favourite hotels in a 'My Hotels' section so you can have the information saved.

Definately check the site out & it is worth being added to your favourites!

Note:This site is also known as www.worldhotelsyellowpages.com

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!

Fancy seeing a neighborhood before you visit it?

There is a great site that I saw recently and have been addicted to ever since…

TurnHere.com is a site that has mini films about neighborhoods all over the world. It is in its infancy, but there are already a good number of films and the quality is great.

The films are informative, interesting and are broken up into categories such as Most Watched, Foodie Havens, Party Towns, Art Nouveau, Our Favorites, Music, Surf's Up and Tourist Spots.

I think that this would be a great tool for any traveller or industry professional to use to get an idea of what a place is like before they travel. Or just fun to watch & dream about those destinations you wish you could visit.

Do you use all the facilities?

When staying at an all-inclusive resort (ie. Club Med), do you actually use all the facilities that they offer?

Or do the resorts know that you aren't going to use all of them but they offer them anyway beachse it sounds like you are getting more for your money?

I have been to two all-inclusive resorts, Club Med (Noumea, New Caledonia) and Contiki Resort (Great Keppel Island, Australia). Both of them offered many great activities but hardly anyone participated, instead they chose sit & relax by the pool.

So is it a waste of money for these resorts to include everything even though they might only get one person using it? Or is it a good marketing tactic that gets people thinking that they are getting more for their money?

By the way, both the Club Med & Contiki resort that I went to are now closed.

Does the tourism industry go the ‘extra mile’?

I have always been a sucker for good customer service…I have always thought that it is one of the most important things in a business, so I am interested in travel companies that go that extra mile to make sure everything is perfect or you have all the information you need.

For example, I was reading an article about the Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour hotel (Victoria, BC) and they had recently won a local award for Outstanding Customer Service. The article explains some great things that the staff did such as:

 - A staff member had just finished her shift & it was raining really hard as she walked towards some hotel guests that she recognised. Unfortunately they didn't have an umbrella. She promptly gave them hers. 
 - A chef was working in the hotel buffet preparing an omelet for some guests and he heard them speaking French (which he understood) and they were talking about how they had trouble finding a book. In a gesture of goodwill he searched out the book and sent them two copies of the book they were looking for.

Both of these stories of impeccable customer service were reported to the Victoria Hospitality Office and the staff members were awarded.

I know that in every industry, customer service is extremely important, but I believe that the tourism industry needs great people that provide a service that guests would be happy to tell their friends about.

Does anyone have any stories about great customer service they have received?