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…

Do you need someone to travel with?

TripMates.com is an interactive social network for travellers and it allows you to hook up with other travellers so you don’t have to travel alone…The site also allows you to create a trip blog and albums, add reviews and ask for tips before hitting the road.

The site was created by Sam Rogoway (based in LA, California) and it being called ‘The Interactive Travel Community’.

The only thing that I have noticed with this site is that you actually have to register before you can do anything which for some people is a bit of a turn off.

The site is stil in BETA but there is definitely a trend for these type of sites and I’ll feature another one next week.

Are books a tourist attraction?

Sidney, BC (Canada) is trying to become a ‘book town’, a town where there are a lot of second hand book stores and therefore appealing to a certain tourist.

I hadn’t really heard much about book towns but I went to Sidney and the book stores definitely add a special something and the town was busy with tourists (mainly from the US). Sidney has a total of 9 book stores with a population of 11,000.

Hay-On-Wye is another booktown, this time located in England. They have over 39 book stores with a population of just 1,800.

The book town idea was developed by Richard Booth and has grown to over 44 similar towns worldwide.

If your ideal holiday is digging through 2nd-hand book stores check out the following websites:
- www.booktown.net
- www.booktown.com
- www.booktown.co.uk

Happy reading!

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!

Sick of learning in a classroom?

Well if you love travel and you love learning, then why don’t you think about Travel Study Tours? Many universities and colleges around the world are now offering short trips (approx. 2 weeks) to selected destinations. I recently read that a local university is operating 2 tours, one to ‘Exotic Morocco & Southern Spain’ and the other to ‘Tunisia & Libya: Exploring Roman Africa’.

These trips are usually guided by one of the lecturers that specialises in the destination and they are a great way to get to know people as you travel in small groups. These trips aren’t just for students, but members of the public can join in…it might make an interesting trip. I can definitely see these ‘study tours’ becoming popular as more and more people want to get something out of their holiday other than tacky souvenirs.

Up, Up & Away…will it ever be affordable?

With Space Travel alive and well in this world, do you think that it will ever become affordable for people like me & you that aren't multi-millionaires? Will it be something that people will save for over the next 10-20 years so that they can atleast try to go to space?

If you are interested in Space Tourism, check out the following websites for more information:

www.spacefuture.com
www.spaceadventures.com

Is 55 the new 25?

When I think of old people…I don't think of 50-60 year olds, I think of people over the age of 80. This age group of 50-60 year olds are also known as the baby boomers. 

Baby boomers want to travel the world, explore and try new things. They know what sms is, they are mountain biking and surfing the internet on a daily basis. They also have the money to do what they want. Whether they are relaxing on a beach, camping in a national park or discovering the world, they are just enjoying life.

It is these Baby Boomers that are the perfect consumer for the travel industry. They have the money and the freedom to travel to exotic destinations and they spend their money staying in nice hotels, taking part in flightseeing instead of an escorted coach tour and they love to spend their money on quality items and experiences.

Then they talk to their friends and discuss their trip and how great it was…so are Baby Boomers the driving force behind the travel industry and the decisions that are made about products, services and destinations?

Extraterrestrial Tourism - the next big thing in tourism?

I read a lot of tourism news and I came across an article in a local Victoria (Canada) newspaper that had the headline 'Alien tourists visiting Victoria?' Now this isn't your usual headline so I had to keep reading.

It explained that Vancouver and Calgary both had 29 UFO sightings in 2005, with a total of 769 sighting in Canada. It also stated that there are more UFO sightings in August than any other month.

So does this mean that a new bread of travellers will be visiting Canada this year to catch a glimpse of aliens?

Movies & Tourism just fit hand in hand…

It always amazes me the number of movies that have influenced tourism to a particular destination.

The Da Vinci Code has been a great thing for tourism ever since the book came out and now that the movie is being released in a couple of weeks, I imagine the anticipation for tours of the film locations is going to be huge if it isn't already.

Another movie that I think may have an effect on tourism, is the new movie RV with Robin Williams. Are there going to be more families going on road trips this summer and will rentals of rv's increase?

Does anyone know of any more movies that are coming out that might have an effect on tourism?

A great website for Group Tour planners!

 I was doing a bit of surfing on the net & I came across a site called TripHub - a site specifically for group travel.It is a site that allows people to coordinate their group travel and some of the features include:

 - Invite people to join your group & keep track of who is coming
 - Research & discuss hotel options in over 350 cities
 - Share travel itineraries from any source to any supplier
 - Send emails to some or all members of the group
 - Track who owes money

The site is clear, easy to read & best of all it is currently free.

As I was a group coordinator at a couple of different jobs, it is great to see what the world of groups is becoming easier & less complicated. But does a site like this where people can book their own hotels and organise the group etc, take away from booking through a travel agent?

I believe so, but this is a great tool for travel agents to work with people. What is stopping a travel agent from using this tool & keeping in contact with the group organiser & participants.

I think that this is a site that will stick around for a while & definately one to keep an eye on.