Travel is My Life; Work and Pleasure

Most of my friends in the travel business have decided strategically to approach the mass markets; isn’t that the old fart of the Venture Capitals (”Go get the mass users…”)

Myself, I realized that I will not be one of those lucky ones making the millions from the online travel, so i focus on niche markets which are profitable from day one; keep it simple, keep it focused, it might be small; but it is profitable.

Take an example from Honeymoon; its a simple window shopping site with one main purpose; channel users who are searching for honeymoon to call a professional who will make a sale.

I just opened a new niche, focusing on Philippine market for labor.  I had to learn how they think, learn who operates the market, learn about their buying habits, and social life.

Since I have the back end - Patra Travel, with agents who are experts, moreover, the financial means; its important to look for niche markets who will grow the off line main stream business.

Airlines have realized that travel agents are their best point of sale; reliable, knowledgeable, most of all; loyal.

In the current situation when economy has an enormous impact on air travel, I noticed that airlines are courting after travel agents; those same airlines who betrayed the agents point of sale and diminished their commission completely are now crawling door to door trying to promote their products.

I walked into my office this morning, finding a funny looking man and woman; dressed up in an old European fashion outfits, singing and dancing as if they are in the Moulin Rouge.

I felt sorry for them; they probably didn’t sign up for this job when they started working for the airline - but I guess in rough times its better become a pompom girl serving chocolates than open the newspaper and look for a new job.

Will American Airlines come as cheer leaders?   “Ouch”;  What will Lufthansa wear?

I hope tomorrow morning I’ll come in and the Lido girls will be acting as Air France staff…

Knowing the Air France staff; I hope they will NOTcome topless…

You’ll never guess that ear plugs are back in fashion;

More and more travelers are buying ear plugs for long haul flights; large groups and children are a pain when you have a full working day is a head of you having flown a red eye or an 11 hours flight across the Atlantic.

I found it useful - cheap, simple, light to pack :).  MensWay ship them worldwide.

Remember; its a small tip, a small “gadget” which can enable you a 10 hours sleep while your next seat traveler has an infant who is teething, though; it might not help you if the infant next to you is full of poo…

GRAB A BLANKET !!!

Airlines have been cutting on extras; and blankets are accessories which seems easy to be eliminated…

That been said; airlines are pumping more cold into the aircraft; in order to reduce passengers mobility - safety moreover, easier life for the crew.

Flights are getting chilly, grab grab grab… or freeze your ass!

I have been saying it for many years, now the so called “Travel Leaders” are saying it too: Travel Agent have a great advantage over the online service.

Advantage Travel Centres Colin O’neill says; “customers are looking for safety, security and reassurance which they can when booking with an Advantage Travel Agent”.

Hey dude, you forgot the main point !!!  Professional Agent.

Travel Agent is a profession, and you need to find a professional to deal with, its not the security; customers have SSL for that… what they lack is knowledge and someone who sees the wider picture not the buck making of the online system.  Yes, yes, trust me on that most online systems display biased results which base their results on income; like in all online marketing results; e.g. Google search results.

I personally know a few amazing agents (some even work with me), though, I know some stupid ones too.

When you are stuck in the middle of nowhere you need to know the basics; Emergency numbers !

I dont like to post long tables - but guys, cut and paste the countries you visit most, and send this list to your friends, its vital info, specially when you dont speak the language, or worse; where there is no tele-systems…

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