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Archive for December, 2011

The trip of a lifetime can take a lifetime to plan unless you know how to pick a travel agency.

A common misconception is that travel agencies add to the cost of your trip. In truth, finding and using a good travel agency to plan your trip usually saves you time, money, and frustration. So how do you pick a travel agency?

Ask around!

The best way to find a good travel agency is through word of mouth. Ask your family and friends who they’ve used and then ask them about their trip. How did they travel? Where did they stay? Was their trip enjoyable? Getting a few referrals from friends helps you to know in ahead of time what to expect from a particular travel agent and helps you weed out the good from the not-so-good as well.

Are you a member?

Many clubs and organizations offer travel services for their members and many corporations have established relationships with travel agencies that their employees can use. “Members only” travel plans frequently offer the best values.

Compare

Shop a couple of experienced firms. Travel agencies come and go like any other businesses. The ones that stay in business add experience and know-how to each trip they plan. Make your first inquiry with a travel agency a listening experience; judge how well the agent listens to you and how comfortable they make you feel.

A good travel agent will ask you to outline your trip. They’ll ask where you’re going and why, how you’d prefer to travel, how long you plan to stay, and what your travel budget is. Be open and honest with your answers. A good agent will readily put together a sample itinerary that describes availabilities in transportation, accommodations, and estimated costs.

If you feel like you’re getting the “hard sell” or the travel agency tells you there’s only package available, keep shopping. You can always go back if you find that they’re right!

In addition to finding the best rates in lodgings and transportation, an experienced travel agent can also give you some helpful tips about your destination and here’s the bonus– generally it costs nothing to use a travel agency! Because they can buy in volume, travel agencies get discounts on prices for both tickets and lodgings!

For travel made easy, use the services of a travel agency to make your outing a time to remember well!

India’s tourism industry is thriving due to an increase in foreign tourists’ arrivals and greater than before travel by Indians to domestic and abroad destinations. The visitors are pouring in from all over the world: Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia. At the same time, the number of Indians traveling has also increased.

India is probably the only country that offers various categories of tourism. These include history tourism, adventure tourism, medical tourism (ayurveda and other forms of Indian medications), spiritual tourism, beach tourism (India has the longest coastline in the East) etc.

Being an ancient country, India is a country of monuments. Just like the number, the variety is also varied in every sense. All in all these monuments spell the true colours of India and carry its very essence. But some incomparable monuments that form an integral part India’s historical heritage are, the epitome of endless love – Taj Mahal, the Axis of Islam – Qutub Minar, the pride of free India – Red Fort, the Chariot temple of the Sun God – Konark, the mighty Mughal citadel – Agra Fort, the glorious island caveland of Lord Shiva – Elephanta; the cave site of numerous Chaityas and Viharas – Ajanta, the grand memorial of an Emperor – Humayun’s tomb and last but not the least, the forgotten walled city of Fatehpur Sikri.

In recent years India’s emergence as one of the most sought-after adventure destinations is a well-known fact. The country offers the variety of adventure opportunities. This diversity is remarkably amazing – from the white water rafting on the Ganga, Indus or Teesta to heli-skiing in the high Himalayas; from hang-gliding and ballooning over the Indian plains to camel-safaris in the vast Thar Desert of Rajasthan; from chasing the elusive tiger on the backs of mighty elephants to trekking in the Himalayan ranges – the choices are endless.

The distinctive feature about the Himalayan tourism is that traveler has the option of enjoying myriad adventure activities. If you travel to Kashmir you can indulge in trekking, travel on horseback, go trout fishing in its rivers or enjoy in a little bit of skiing or water sports in its transparent lakes. Of late, skiing has put India on a pedestal in Asia. As a matter of fact, skiing in India is less expensive compared to anywhere in the world. The facilities are meant for beginners as well as for seasoned skiers. The three states that boast of providing these facilities are Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. Heli-skiing has established as another prime attraction for travelers. The facility for Heli-skiing can be availed of at Manali in Himachal Pradesh. Water-rafting, kayaking and canoeing on the Ganga are becoming popular day by day.

Sailing, another adventure sport, is rapidly catching tourist’s imagination and gaining popularity in Nainital, Ramgarh and Khadakvasla in Maharshtra. Introduction of water-rafting in the Teesta River in northeastern India is beginning to attract the tourists on a large scale.

Medical Tourism in India is a developing concept whereby people from world over visit India for their medical and relaxation needs.

With yoga, meditation, ayurveda, allopathy, and other systems of medicines, India offers a unique basket of services to an individual that is difficult to match by other countries. Also, clinical outcomes in India are at par with the world’s best centres, besides having internationally qualified and experienced specialists. In addition to allopathic treatments and surgery available at hospitals like Apollo, you can also avail the benefits of Ayurvedic Medicine in India. India is the birthplace of this 5,000-year-old science. The many Ayurveda resorts in India are located in various scenic locations of the country, from Ananda in the Himalayas to the many resorts in the picturesque backwaters of Kerala. Ayurveda is the system of traditional medicine in India. It is based on many centuries of experience in medical practice, handed down through generations. Composed of two Sanskrit words, “Ayu” or life, and “Veda” or knowledge, Ayurveda is regarded as “The Science of Life” and the practice involves the care of physical, mental and spiritual health of human beings.India is also the birthplace of the concept of Yoga and Meditation, practices that are becoming increasingly relevant and popular in the context of today’s spiritual aridity.

India is a land of inherent spirituality and people have been known to travel here to find solace in its ancient wisdom since time immemorial. India is called the “yogabhoomi” and the gateway to the heavens. Innumerable saints and seers, in their quest for knowledge, have contributed largely to the development of various religious monuments viz. Temples, Mosques, Monasteries etc. built lavishly across the length and breadth of the country. The kind of cosmopolitan existence India has is best reflected in its pilgrim centres. Religion is the heartbeat of the nation and the followers of all the major religious and sects, viz., Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Zororastrianism have lived here for centuries. Together has come up temples, mosques, gurudwaras, churches, synagogues and religious and spiritual centres. The spiritual tour starts from the holy city of Varanasi , the Buddhist stupa at Sanchi and the Jain temples at Ujjain . While following in the Footsteps of the Buddha you can see the holy sites of Buddhism in India and Nepal including Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Vaishali, Kushinagar, Lumbini and Kapilvastu. On the North India you can visit Nepal , see the temple towns of Khajuraho and Varanasi in India and the temples of Pashupatinath and Bodhnath in Nepal . On the West, you can see the amazing rock cut temples of Ajanta and Ellora near Aurangabad and the Sai Baba Temple at Shirdi.

For untold centuries, the powerful triad of the sun, the sea and the sand have pooled their resources to present spectacular effects and memorable experiences to a cross section of people from all over of the globe. India has almost a 6,000 km long coastline, which is home to some of the finest beaches in the world. Both the West and East Coast of India offer verdant vistas of palm on the Arabian Sea shores or the Bay of Bengal.On the west coast there are miles of sandy beaches broken into attractive bays by rocky headlands. The most popular ones are the beaches of Goa and Kovalam at Kerala.The beaches on the eastern coast are less well developed. The best known are the beaches of Mahabalipuram and a small but exquisite beach in Orissa called Gopalpur-on-Sea.

The Travel and Tourism industry holds tremendous potential for India’s economy. It can provide impetus to other industries, create millions of new jobs and generate enough wealth to help pay off the international debt. That is why we have included Tourism amongst the Core Sectors of the Indian Economy.

If you want to explore India you can visit the following site: http://www.royalindianvoyages.com

All inclusive Kenya tour information. The most bargain Kenya safari options are the all inclusive safari packages. Best all inclusive African Kenya tour packages will mostly include a package of bargain flights to Africa, national park tour, local transport and accommodation in wilderness lodges and hotels. In Kenya, inclusive packages have a characteristic of putting all the components of a safari in one. The tour operators are able to negotiate discounts from suppliers of beds, flight seats, local transport seats and entertainment spots. The discounts are further passed on to the travelers to Kenya.

This provides a discounted safari package to an otherwise expensive tour. For example, the cost of a return flight from the USA to Kenya would normally go for usd 1700 in the tourist season. If you calculate how much a family of six would have to spend on air fare alone, then the sense of purchasing all inclusive packages becomes evident.

All Inclusive Kenya packages-How You Benefit From them

On the local scene, Kenya tour providers would include lodges in Kenya national parks, safari van transport companies, Kenya car rentals and entertainment spots. When a tour operator negotiates for discounts and commissions from such providers, they are able to pass on the same to you on your Kenya tour. At the least you are able to get the best all inclusive tour packages at the cost price since the operator is able to enjoy commissions as his profit as opposed to marking up on the different components of the Kenya safari.

It’s therefore pennywise to insist on all inclusive Kenya safari packages when negotiating for your safari tour. In most cases you will be able to cut off more than 30% of the cost of the Kenya tour which s unnecessarily added up as mark ups by the selling middle men. More the reason to use Kenya local tour operator when booking your next Kenya all inclusive tour package.

There are a variety of all inclusive tour safaris which can be obtained from your tour operator. You will need to be wary of tour packages that seem overly cheap or low cost. The marketing gimmick mostly employed by overseas tour operators is to only present you with their cost price which includes only part of the Kenya tour components.

The Vacation Marketing Tricks Played On You By Operator

Other tour components like entry charges to game parks, taxes, cover charges are deliberately left out and no mention is made of them. Or if they do, they only give them rough estimate and label them as local charges. This marketing gimmick seems to work well into deceiving you that you are getting a sell off, down right steal all inclusive Kenya tour. However, what you might initially have cost you say, $1200 for a 10 day safari, turns out to be more costly when you arrive and the total cost of your Kenya tour tallies to $3000 for the same 10 days. Worse cases is where you jump into the tour deal without doing proper research into exactly how much more you would have to pay on arrival as local charges.

I once had a very very hard time trying to convince a potential visitor from Europe that a 20 day tour would in no probable way cost a paltry $300. When she gave me the website they had got the offer from (and even had confirmed prices on phone from them), she was shocked when together we tallied all the hidden costs that amounted to a whopping $5000. So much for the $300 Africa Kenya vacation tour. In an instant her dreams of a super cheap Kenya tour evaporated. Lets face it, it cant be that cheap to travel half way round the world to Africa without a sponsorship program!!

All Inclusive Tour Operator Tricks-How To Beat Them

The best way to beat this marketing trick is to compare, compare and compare prices, then bargain as best as you can. Of course your bargaining should also bear in mind that a low end cheap tour might not be what you want. And again, very cheap prices for all inclusive tour might mean that you are being accommodated in equally cheap places. It helps to know the average cost of accommodation, park entry and average transport in a safari.

This way your Kenya tour will not turn into a low end dirt cheap and uncomfortable adventure. In my work I have had visitors who bargained so hard that on arrival they felt they could have spent a little more to enjoy the comforts of the truly magical safari park lodges in Kenya. Believe me it helps to do your research well and know when you are being ripped off.

All Inclusive Best Kenya Tour Safaris

Some of the common Kenya all inclusive tour packages highlight one or more of the many Kenya tour attractions, parks and landmarks. Below is a list of some of the all inclusive Africa Kenya tour packages on offer either as a single attraction safari or a combination of more than two. these include: Africa Kenya all inclusive animal tour, Africa Kenya all inclusive water safari tour, Africa Kenya all inclusive family tour.

Do the math-Yourself!

The best way to get a favorably priced all inclusive Kenya tour is to firstly research on the actual prices of the separate components of your itinerary. When you are done you can now compare prices of the different all inclusive Africa Kenya tour packages. This will be easy to compare which is the most favorable price with your original non discounted gross price. That is you establish the ceiling amount of the sum of all components of your safari. I know its hard work, but well worth it. You will be surprised at how much you know of the destination even before you set foot there.

You may need to bear in mind that cheap is also expensive at times. Otherwise; buy your self a very adventurous Kenya tour vacation in East Africa.