Are you looking to take an Adventure Vacation in Asia?

Intrepid Travel Announces New Thailand Adventure Trip

BOULDER, Colo., March 27, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Intrepid Travel offers over 70 cultural adventure trips throughout Thailand. New for 2008, Intrepid introduces the “Treasures of Thailand.”

Combining the best of the north and south, this is the definitive Thailand adventure trip. Travel from the clamor of the capital to the serenity of the dense sweltering rainforests. Explore the soothing Buddhist ruins or relax on one of the sun-drenched islands. Ride an elephant in Lampang, tour temples in Bangkok, bargain-hunt in Chiang Mai, then swim, snorkel or kick back on the divine beaches of the southern coast.

read full article in Fox Business

Passports or special ID to be required for all U.S.-Canada travel from June 2009

American and Canadian citizens entering the United States through land or sea borders must have a passport or other special federally approved ID starting June 1, 2009. The new identification requirements will affect Washingtonians driving home from a Vancouver, B.C., weekend trip or taking ferries back from Vancouver Island.The U.S. State Department and Department of Homeland Security announced the new rule today. It’s the final phase in requiring more standardized and secure border-crossing ID between the U.S. and Canada. All air travelers between the U.S. and Canada already must have a passport.  

Department of Homeland Security:

For details on the new passport requirement, see www.dhs.gov/xnews/(see this listings under March 27) U.S. Passport office: For details on obtaining a U.S. passport or a passport card, www.travel.state.gov/passportWashington enhanced driver’s license: www.dol.wa.gov/about/news/priorities/edl.htmlKristin Jackson Read full article from The Seattle Times

5 travel traps lurking in the fine print

Your cruise ship may not be seaworthy. Your airline is not responsible for your checked luggage and if something is stolen from your hotel room the hotel may not cover your losses. You must read the fine print!

Read full article from cnn.com

Spring break is prime time for travel scams

You need to protect yourself on spring break — and, no, we’re not talking about avoiding sunburn, excessive partying or, shall we say, reckless encounters. The Ohio attorney general’s office says consumers planning spring vacations — or any trips, for that matter — should be wary of scams.

Year after year, the agency says, many travelers, especially college students, fall victim to the lure of too-good-to-be-true offers, including “free” trips, “bargain” airfares and “special” accommodations

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Knapsack ‘personal travel organizer’ released

Check out this great new program that can be used to plan your travel. The latest softwware is making Travel easier to plan and document.

TinyPlanet on Wednesday introduced Knapsack 1.0, a “personal travel organizer” for Mac OS X v10.5. The software costs $39.95, and a 30-day demo is available for download.

Knapsack includes tools to help you plan, organize and catalog your travel experience. You can view a world map and stick pins on it to mark the places you’ve been. Clicking on a pin lets you see postcards from that location; clicking on the postcard opens up a Google map of that place in the world.Read Full Article from Macworld

Kenya tourism booms in 2007 amid worldwide travel surge

Kenya’s tourism industry performed exceptionally well in 2007, a year that Africa registered arrivals of 900 million — a six per cent growth.

According to the World Tourism Organization bulletin, World Tourism Barometer, Africa sustained its 2006 growth, and has now averaged 7 per cent growth a year since 2000.

“World tourism enjoyed its fourth consecutive year of growth in 2007, well above the long-term forecast of 4.1 per cent; surprisingly, it even exceeded the 5.5 per cent increases recorded in 2005 and 2006,” says the report.

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US Ranks NO. 7 In world Wide Travel

The United States is the seventh-most competitive country in the world in the travel and tourism market, down two slots from last year, according to a report from Booz Allen Hamilton.

Although the U.S. falls behind six countries — Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Australia, Spain and Great Britain — it ranks first for business environment and infrastructure and second for natural resources because of its protected wildlife and number of World Heritage sites, cultural and natural sites maintained by the international World Heritage Programme and administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

Read full article in The Business Review

Top online travel agent says profit up 66% in 2007

Just another clue about Online travel Bookings Internationally. Not only has the internet taken over the Travel Industry in the US, but take a look at what kind of money is being made in China’s Travel Market. When many sectors of the global economy are moving at a snails pace, the Online Travel Industry is flourishing.

These are the 2007 earnings that were just posted in China View.

Ctrip.com International Ltd, a Chinese online travel operator, has posted a net profit of 398 million yuan (55 million U.S. dollars) in 2007, up 66 percent overa year earlier.

    In the fourth quarter, net profit of the Nasdaq-listed firm more than doubled to 135 million yuan.     For full year 2007, business revenue rose more than 50 percent to 1.3 billion yuan, 53 percent of which came from hotel reservation service. It contributed 677 million yuan, Ctrip said.     Business revenue of air ticket booking reached 503 million yuan, accounting for 39 percent of the total, up 72 percent from 2006.     Diluted earnings per share were 5.84 yuan in 2007.     The firm expected its net revenue to grow 35 percent in 2008.

Ease In Cuban Travel May Hinge on Election

Now that Castro has released his power over Cuba it appears certain that Travel Restrictions will allow American’s to visit to the Island. Cuba’s economy will be greatly enhanced by American tourists who are eager to flood the Country for the first time.

I suspect there will be a concerted effort by the large Hotel Chains and Airlines to cash in on the soon to be open Travel Industry of Cuba.

catch the full article in the L.A Times

How to Cut Business Travel Expenses

There is a great article about reducing your travel expenses in this economic crunch we are going through. We are dedicated to helping everybody find Travel Specials, Provide Travel info and bring you the best Travel Tips. This article posted in the Seattle Times is geared to Reducing your Travel, particularly Business Travel.

It is a must read for those businessmen and women who are on a tight Travel Expense Budget!

read article from Seattle Times