Online travel sites are also starting to offer insurance but it rarely covers all of a trip and there are still fees involved to change everything. Online reservation software can make the difference in travel agency growth or decline. Travel companies work on small margins and efficient online reservation software is the lifeblood of travel companies. Online travel agents might ask themselves whether it is worth displaying such advertisements.

Indian travel agents also take care of various other factors like travel guide books and timetables, sale of in-house insurance, car rentals and the services of an on-site Bureau de change. They also help in the foreign currency exchange. India is blessed with enormous breathtaking scenic beauty, which makes it one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. From snow-topped mountain ranges to Emerald Green Ocean, vast wilderness areas to thrilling adventure zones, India has got it all.

Travel agents have access to the latest information on hotels, flights and destinations that a client doesn’t have access to. This knowledge is invaluable. It is therefore essential for travel-related websites to offer useful, pertinent and easy-to-find information alongside a booking facility if appropriate. The Internet can be used to fully research a destination, book all aspects of the holiday including travel and communicate others who have the same ideas or have been through similar experiences. Visits by residents of Great Britain accounted for virtually all of this decrease, falling by almost 16,000 (7%) to 208,300. Meanwhile, visits by residents of Other Europe and North America recorded slight increases to 149,500 and 45,200 respectively. Visitors enjoy an almost infinite number of options covering every type of cuisine imaginable. Dubai hotels offer some of the highest quality meals to be found.

Ask friends for recommendations — eventually someone will offer a glowing recommendation of a travel agent. Remember that different agents will have different expertise. Ask your travel agent about the nitty-gritty details of your trip, including airport connections, bus and taxi services, tipping, foreign currency conversion, and safety concerns such as government-issued travel advisories and warnings. Most importantly, get a phone number that you can use for after-hours emergencies (at the airport early Sunday morning after your wedding, for instance) and on your trip (preferably toll-free or collect if calling from outside the country).

Supplier membership includes companies that provide and sell travel related products and services used by or sold by travel agents. Our goal is to drive more business to you through our agent members who have valuable specialty training and expertise in your target market. It is important that these agents have a resource to find and utilize all suppliers that sell products and services within their specialized area. Suppliers who compete with agents by offering online sales can find themselves in a thorny relationship. Many operators also believe their products are too complicated to be booked online, or that travellers need someone to talk them through visas, insurance and other requirements.

Kevin Cotton is the author of this article. TravelAgents2U.com helps you search and compare holidays, flights and hotels. Find your local travel agent in Philadelphia plus info on PA travel agents. You have full permission to reprint this article provided this paragraph and links are kept.

Group Transportation Tips:

1. Private or Public:  It’s easy to figure out what would be the primary goal here.  One will save money, and the other is more convenient.  This is the first question to tackle and one that will depend on the audience.

• Private: If your booking transportation for a group of executives, well then you might want to go with the private transportation.  These would include limos, private shuttle or buses, coach, taxis, or even planes or other types of needs depending on the clientele.  We would recommend a few here but there are so many and depending on your area there would be specialty services designated in that area.  For example, some airports only allow certain taxis or shuttles to pick up in their loading zones, so it’s always good to check to make sure the one you select is okay to pickup and drop-off.
• On the other hand, if your booking a group going to the airport and they are on a budget, then you might want to use the public outlets.  These would include public buses, shuttles, and other forms of transportation like trains, or subways.  One of the larger nationwide airport services is Airport Bus, and they can accommodate a large number on short notice, but it’s because they are already running 24 hours a day.  If your coming in last minute and need to get a group to or from the airport, this would be the first call I would make.  The other options here would include Super Shuttle, where they can accommodate groups via multiple passenger vans and coordinated rates and times.

2. Considerations and Extra Charges:  This bring ups an interesting subject for some groups traveling from outside the US.  Not every country has the same gratuity views and are not always sure on options work best for them.  The key here is to find out every additional charge and in today’s economy there are lots of extra charges.  If you don’t know, ask.  You’ll be much happier knowing upfront versus at the end.  For example, limo services typcially have gratuities between 25 – 40 %, whereas some public bus services are not even allowed to accept tips.  Private coaches will probably charge for gas, plus time, as well as gratuity for the driver, and if you are traveling overnight, then a room for the driver is also expected.  This means that you must take into account each of these additional charges before making your decision.

3. Support:  This crucial for any group, as if one thing goes wrong, there are a lot of people that are effected.  The best consideration is to go with a company that is reputable and has plenty of back-up options in case something get thrown off.  For example, a group booked two shuttles for a 5am pickup, but then extra people show up and they need an extra van at the last minute.  It would be nice to have one company that can support these needs and get an extra van there to get everyone to their destination on-time.

These considerations, as well as individual needs of any group, will help making sure that the right plans have been made for reserving transportation for groups.

Anaheim Group Travel Options:

1. Group Travel Location: Take into consideration what your activities are going to be and what is going to be convenient in getting around to those locations.  Depending on what activities are planned, there are some good options to help fill those needs and provide some great benefits as well.

Typically, the resort area around Disneyland is busy on the weekend, thus with the increased demand comes higher prices.  It’s a no-brainier that prices would be higher on the weekend versus the weekday next to tourist area, but what may not be well-known is just down the street from the Disneyland resort area are some really nice corporate areas.  These locations are typically busy during the weekdays and drop their prices on the weekend.  This means that is you are able to go a little farther out of the resort area, you will get better values and prices on the weekend, versus staying right next to the parks.  The benefits include free shuttles to the park, free shuttles to the airport, free breakfast, and more.  Plus, the places in the corporate areas are often quite on the weekends and so there will be less crowds.  However, if you are traveling on the weekdays, then it’s often a better value to stay nears a tourist area rather than the corporate area.

2. Group Travel Amenities: There are lots of amenities that hotels can offer today, but groups can often get additional benefits if they ask.  Some of these benefits include a private dining area for group meals, special pricing on services, discounts at local attractions, and preferred selection of rooms.

There are few times where a group can also ask for a rebate based on number of rooms occupied at a certain rate.  This often works for sports teams, non-profit groups, and other associations that have the ability to book large numbers of rooms and want to provide something back to the organizer for overhead.

3. Group Travel Transportation: This can often be tricky for groups as they are often too big for normal transportation, and some time too small for large transportation.  The answer here is to find a reliable source and to stick with it.  For example, there are many taxi vans in service so the best thing is to find a good driver and then keep using the same one and make a schedule with them so they know what the needs are of the group.  Often, they will be able to assist in finding more transportation if needed, as well as provide good bulk rates for various trips.  The other alternative is to rent a private van or passenger vehicles, but there would need to be a licensed class b driver, so this option is often a last resort.

For assistance with any group travel needs please feel free to contact our professional group travel service and one of our reps will be glad to help you.

Orange County’s Top Attractions:

1. Disneyland Resort – Including Disneyland, California Adventure, & Downtown Disney:  This is pretty much one of the premiere attractions in the world and you’ve got it all in one place.  Disneyland is one of the country’s icon parks and in recent years the additions of California Adventure and Downtown Disney have made it all the more better.  Downtown Disney is home to places like the House of Blues, Build-A-Bear, World of Disney, and more.
2. Knott’s Berry Farm – Including Knott’s and Soak City: Knott’s is the first theme park in the country still has many of the old themes and attractions still around.  However, the last owned family theme park in the country sold out a few years back and with Cedar Fair running it, they’ve build it into one of the best ride and fun parks around.  You can get big roller coasters and as well Camp Snoopy all in one place.  Great for families, teenagers, and couples.
3. Discovery Science Center: This is a true gem in Orange County and has been drawing crowds both locally and from out-of-towners for years.  With interactive attractions like Dino Quest and hands-on features like their new Science of Hockey that’s sponsored by the Anaheim Ducks and the NHL means you’ll leave not only entertained but full of knowledge.
4. Balboa Fun Zone and Newport Pier: What would a trip to the OC be without a visit to one of the most famous and beautiful beaches in the country.  At the fun zone you’ll be able to ride a Ferris wheel, take an auto ferry, and enjoy ice cream walking the boardwalk.  There are lots of great restaurants, stores, and night spots, as well as the nice clean beach.  One of the best beaches anywhere and a great place to visit.
5. The Block: This is not only a shopping area, but you can experience everything that the OC has to offer in one place.  Stop by the Vans store and see the live skateboarding going on in their huge arena, or go by Dave & Busters, the movies, bowling, and more.  With all of this you almost forget you are at an outdoor mall with some of the best shopping and eating around.  Plus, the nightlife is hip and entertaining and there are lots of spots to stop in and meet some new friends.
6. Irvine Spectrum: Another premiere shopping area complete with movies, restaurants, and more.  Plus, they have a huge Ferris wheel that stands several hundred feet off the ground and is worth a ride.
7. Sportstown: When in season, the local sports are very hot.  We have both Angel Stadium for the Angels Baseball, as well as the Honda Center for Ducks Hockey.  Both are great teams that normally make the playoffs so catch a game whenever possible.  You will leave thinking that it was one of the best sports experiencing you’ve seen.
8. Ripley’s Believe it or Not: A great attraction that can fill the day with some weird things.  Known for having some rare and unusual artifacts it’s easy to see why people love to believe it.
9. San Juan Mission: One of the oldest missions in the country and a great place to visit.  There are seasonal events that are world famous, but no matter what time of the year you go it’s quite beautiful.
10. Park Palace: Great family place with everything from miniature golf to batting cages.  You’ll be able to spend the day and keep the whole family happy and having lots of fun in the process.

Group Travel Tips – Each group is unique so no one way is always right 100% of the time and the individual group needs would differ from one vendor to the next.

1. Know your group: This may sound strange but it’s very imporant to know exactly what your group needs are, what each person’s expectation are, and what elements in the group need individual consideration and which items can be group wide decisions. This one step will help a lot in communication of schedule and itenaries, cut back on confusion, and make the vendors that group is dealing with much more confortable. This would be everything from knowing who is going to pay for the confirmation, at what dates are payments needed, who the contact person is the for the group as well as each individual account, and what each accounts personal needs are such as smoking or non.

2. Plan ahead: Sounds easy, but it often becomes of the sticking points with group. The reason is that many people start to plan ahead, but then get caught up in details rather than the big picture. Most vendors want some sort of confirmation upfront, and this could either be a deposit or guarantee, and planning ahead isn’t just making calls, but also getting confirmation on what dates rates would be available, what numbers would need to be meet in order to get discount breaks, and any extra options for advanced booking. All of these things can make or break a group’s deal and by planning far enough ahead will give the group time to make a decision without losing the details of what they had due to time deadlines.

3. Confirm, re-comfirm, and confirm again: I know this may sound tedious and a little over done, but it’s important to know what you are getting and when you are getting it. I’ve seen many times where a group thinks they are getting one thing, but the vendor changed it to something else and never confirmed it with the group and when the group shows up they are shocked. If they had confirm again they would have been informed about the changes so it’s important for the group to be on top of their account and not leaving it up to the vendor to be managing it for them.

4. Have a professional do it: If you are not in the business of planning group trips, then it might be a good idea to use a professional travel agent or group travel planner. They are very knowledgeable about the process, beneits, and procedures for booking group travel and will get the most possible for the group. Many travel agents don’t charge for group travel planning so it’s good to consults a travel professional when making large number of travel arrangnements. Often, a good group travel agent will get some comps, additional amenities, or a deeper discounted rate for the group over what the individuals would have gotten on their own.

In short, it’s good to plan, prepare, and consult an expert when planning a group trip. Remember, each group is unique and things that a sports team traveling would need may be different than what a reunion group traveling would need. With all of the various types of group travel, from sports teams to reunions, convention housing to corporate travel, groups have a special need and those requirements should be met to satisfaction. OC Travel provides group travel planning and would be happy to assist with any group trips that you might be planning.