travel – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

Live The Charmed Life

I first came across DeeAnne White on Twitter @LiveCharmed. What! An American Tweeting about cricket? Enough to make anyone sit up and take notice! I subscribe to her blog Live The Charmed Life too which, like her input on Twitter is a touch of class. There are few blogs to which I subscribe but this one is always fun! I couldn’t find a really good picture of DeeAnne so there’s Watergate Bay in Cornwall which she features on one of her recent blog posts! This is what she says about herself:

“My name is DeeAnne White, and I’m a girl adventurer, traveller, aspiring expatriate, and lover of cricket, golf, wine, Jimmy Choos and life. I began Live the Charmed Life to share the ways I’ve built a life I love, because somehow I’ve become the person others come to with those sorts of questions. I’m the girl many call if they want to plan a trip to London, get the name of a fantastic restaurant in NYC or Las Vegas, pick the perfect bottle of wine, find out the score of the Laker game, throw a memorable backyard party, or get a perspective from behind rose colored glasses.

In all honesty, I’m an ordinary girl who thoroughly enjoys the brilliance I find in others, who is ridiculously curious, and who’s never once thought anything was impossible. I’ve had many, MANY, bumps in the road, but my strength has been in finding the fun regardless of circumstance, taking leaps of faith even when I was terrified, and rebuilding after the inevitable storms roll past.

I’ll be writing about my current adventure in which I travel the world in high heels, redesign my career, follow the sport of cricket and possibly break 90 on the golf course. Heck, I may even write about the misadventure called my love life.

I hope you’re entertained. I hope you’re engaged. Most importantly, I hope you’re inspired to begin your own adventure!”

Ordinary girl? Mmmm – I think not!

3
DEC

blog, travel, Twitter

Forecast 2010

Here’s a dose of reality this Wednesday morning courtesy of Travel Weekly

“The financial crisis is continuing to damage the travel industry with the number of global arrivals this year to be worse than originally predicted, according to the World Travel Market (WTM) Global Trends Report. The report, produced by Euromonitor International, revealed that global arrivals are expected to decline by 8% by the end of the year, while flight and hotel sales are expected to be down by 14% and 16% respectively.

Worse yet, a full recovery for tourism is not expected until 2013. Presenting the results of the report at the WTM Forecast Forum, BBC journalist Thalia Pellegrini said: “The global financial crisis is taking its toll on the industry – falling expenditure, lack of credit and rising unemployment caused a slump in confidence and demand.” She added that while the swine flu epidemic had been contributed to the global tourism decline, demand would continue to be inhibited by low consumer confidence and rising unemployment.

Euromonitor International global travel and tourism manager Caroline Bremner said the UK’s Air Passenger Duty will affect recovery and be a “major inhibitor for growth” as this is “making the UK appear uncompetitive”. However, the recession had already opened up a new market in the North America market called the ‘funemployed’ – increasing numbers of cash-poor and time-rich people who are deciding to use their redundancy to finance travel. While in Africa the ‘Obama effect’ is driving the growth in “roots tourism” especially from the US, which has a high number of African American citizens.

In the UK, the effect of the recession has been to drive the hotel market to look at building pop-up hotels as demand for good-value accommodation increases. The report also revealed that travel sales online are expected to grow by 4% whereas the total travel market is down 1%. Bremner added: “This also due to the fact consumers are booking later.”

Zambia needs to act to remain competetive too! I guess most of the “roots tourism” mentioned will head for West Africa.

The picture? Mafia Island, Tanzania. An hotelier friend on the Island, recently had a guest complaint that their beach was mud! If so, from that picture, take me to the mud! lol!

11
NOV

Africa, hotels, Tanzania, tourism, travel, trends, Zambia

The Brits On Holiday!

Check this list of the top ten things the British don’t like about hotels when they’re on holiday:

Top 10 hotel gripes:

1. Lack of space and private facilities

2. Price – especially when there’s more than two of you

3. Astronomical mini bar prices

4. Cleaners ‘tidying up’ possessions when they should only be making the bed

5. Being able to hear the TV, screaming children and ‘nookie’ in the room next door

6. Having to get washed and dressed for breakfast (and by a certain hour)

7. Cleaners coming in unannounced

8. Knowing the best food is gone or has been sitting ‘warming’ for a long time if you turn up late for breakfast or the buffet dinner

9. People who ‘reserve’ sun loungers

10. Chintz

I’d love to see a list of hoteliers’ top ten moans about the Brits when they’re on holiday!

23
OCT

guests, hotels, travel, uk

Review Sites

This from Tnooz and posted by Kevin May UK on 28 September 2009

There is a dilemma facing many travel companies when they decide that implementing online user reviews is one of the best ways to improve their content and trigger some user interaction.
European tour operating giant Thomas Cook Group’s Direct Holidays division is the latest in a seemingly endless line to have found itself with such a problem – create a review platform from scratch, borrow reviews from a friendly affiliate or white label an existing service?

In this case, despite the opportunity to borrow a large number of hotel reviews from the main thomascook.com site, Direct Holidays has decided to build its own service. So far, so good – there are plenty, probably hundreds of travel sites on the web with their own user review system. But where Direct has deviated away from the norm, perhaps, is in its decision to host the reviews on a totally new domain, with its own brand.

Clearly in its infancy, The Big Picture Direct boasts 500 reviews from customers across its portfolio of destinations and includes ratings according to cleanliness, food, hotel service, location, room comfort and price value. A Thomas Cook Group spokeswoman says Direct has a distinct strategy of its own and therefore wanted to create a service “unique” to the brand, rather than borrow reviews from the mothership or throw in TripAdvisor content in the same way arch rival Thomson did in 2007.

The formation of a new and separate brand for reviews is an intriguing move – and one that would concern some in the SEO community given that the unique content associated with user reviews is, existing protocol says, best placed on the main website. Maybe what is being planned for the site in the coming months, as managing director Steve Barrass explains, throws a brighter light on the strategy.

The Big Picture Direct will be “further personalised to offer features such as an online chat facility, giving customers the opportunity to catch up with friends they made while away or ask any burning questions that travel brochures and traditional review sites don’t cover”. That sounds more akin to plans for a Lite social network, rather than a straightforward review site.”
There’s no doubt is there that Client reviews on line are shaking up the whole tourism and hospitality industries!

7
OCT

reviews, tourism, travel, trends, TripAdvisor

Hills Of Africa Travel

I found Hills of Africa first on Twitter where they are very active, informative, interesting and fun too! This is what they offer:

“For many people, bringing the whole family on vacation can sometimes mean fewer destination choices and conflicting desires on where to travel. Since there are so many family-oriented accommodations to choose from, it almost seems less stressful to choose a popular family vacation destination than to have to research unique places to take your family that are both safe and exciting.

Perhaps you stress about the safety and convenience factors of traveling internationally. Maybe you only feel safe going to trusted places you have heard about from friends or family. All of these reasons that lead to your stress are justifiable concerns. But what if there were a place you could bring the entire family that would introduce them to . . .

• An exotic world of adventure.
• Inspirational cultures.
• Unspoiled wildernesses.
• A safe traveling experience.
• Exceptional cuisine.
• Highly-acclaimed accommodations with superior service, and comfortable ambiances.
• A place less frequented by tourists, allowing you to get a real taste for the culture of the particular destination without having an overly westernized experience.

If all the above reasons provide solutions and ease to your concerns, then an African family safari is the perfect trip for you and your family. As one of the very few places in the world where you can experience unspoiled wilderness as it was from the beginning, Africa is an eye-opening continent that educates, inspires, and leaves a lasting impression on you and your family for the rest of your life.

An African safari vacation isn’t just for couples or retirees who are looking to travel the world. A trip to Africa can be a very unique and rewarding family experience. As a native of Zimbabwe, I have traveled throughout Africa as well as a wide spectrum of destinations around the world, and nothing compares to Africa’s unique and friendly spirit. Visiting and researching dozens upon dozens of accommodations across the southern countries of Africa, my team and I provide clients with only the best accommodations in Africa.

Now a resident of the United States, I frequently travel to Africa with my family and believe that the next best thing to living in Africa is sharing it with your family. Experience the magic of Africa with your family. Let Hills of Africa Travel create a detailed itinerary, tailored around your every individual preference. Contact us today at 1.800.940.9344. We’re looking forward to making your dreams come true . . .”

There you are then, and don’t forget to stay at Chanters Lodge in Livingstone while you’re about it!

28
SEP

Africa, Chanters, tourism, travel, victoriafalls, wildlife, Zambia, Zimbabwe

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