JetBlue Continues to Differentiate its Brand

With the simple tagline of "If you wouldn't take it on the ground, don't take it in the air", JetBlue has been attempting to differentiate itself from its competitors. The ads which are clearly YouTube-ready are simple and challenge some of the unpopular airline policies which many travellers complain about - simply by transferring them to the random chore of taking a NY taxi or buying a soda. It really makes you think about what we put up with in the air, and JetBlue is positioning itself as the clever and reasonable alternative to the other airlines, in a fun way, using the amusing and totally relatable reactions of real people caught on hidden camera.

Having never travelled on Jet Blue, I really cannot speak to their service but their ads are classic and the Asian guy in the taxi ads is brilliant. My winner today!

Village to Village: Doing Right by Animals and Our Brand

My BFF is part of a great initiative in Tobago, which is aimed at reducing the stray animal population in the sister isle of Tobago, and promote animal welfare on the island.
It is always such a big thing for me more as a Trini, and not so much as a huge, gooey dog lover myself (I cannot see a dog and pass it straight), to travel and see animals treated well - I mean beyond the normal boundaries of animal wellness. lol. I love my cousin's neighbour's dog, a West Highland White Terrier named Womble, who is such a little star and is so loved and so spoilt by his owners. My own mongrels get the sort of love and care that Trinidad terriers aka pot hounds aka mongrels rarely get here because of their inferior status in the Trini dog world. Yet so many animals do not get to enjoy this type of love and comfort, but are forced to make it on their own on the streets, diseased, hungry and dying. Mongrel or not, I really cannot stand to see an animal mistreated or abandoned. They give such unconditional love and such joy to so many, that the ones who are left out on the street through owner abandonment, lack of proper spaying practices or just neglect really tug at heart strings (unless they try to bite me as I work out in the village).

So the Village-to-Village programme is really aimed at addressing some of these concerns, primarily the spaying and neutering of animals to reduce the large number of strays on the streets and highways, who become roadkill, or are abused by evil human beings. The aim is to neuter between 65%-75% of stray, and owned doggies and kitties in Tobago and increase awareness of such techniques among the local population. The great thing about the programme is that it addresses the problem in the rural communities, where one may not have access to veterinary care and where pet owners or concerned residents just cannot afford or will find it impractical to spay or neuter their animals. The programme makes such a service available, at no cost, and is managed by veterinarians and persons very much experienced and committed to the cause.

Additionally,

Stray and unrestrained dogs and cats especially in Tobago negatively impact the tourism industry. The ...health status of a destination's stray animal population directly affects the image of the destination as a tourism product. While the local population is often accustomed to the sight of suffering or dead animals, international visitors often react negatively. (Furthermore) Tobago's stray dog population is evident on coastal recreational beaches and throughout the villages along the coast.

Not the best thing for the tourism product or the island's marketing potential is it? Additionally, I recognise that those visit our shores are coming from places where the dog, for example is King or Queen. Walk through Paris and you will see couture stores for pets, with couture outfits and accessories. I have sat on many a train in London with a big slobbering love of a dog taking a trip into the city with his owner. These are the people who come down to Tobago for rest and relaxation. Europeans especially really care for their animals in a way that many locals are not accustomed to. Pet friendly hotels, restuarants etc are just part of the larger picture of excellent animal care and treatment in many countries and are part of an animal friendly tourism product. It would certainly augur well for our brand to work towards improving our image where animal care and treatment are concerned, if even we just simply take better care of our pet population.

There will be two rural outreach clinics to spay and neuter approximately 150 animals in Charlotteville and Bacolet, Tobago from Sept 3-5, 2010.

Volunteers are welcome to be part of this awesome initiative for all aspects of the clinic, including clerical staff, vets, vet techs and assistants and anyone with experience in handling animals or a real passion for lending assistance. And if you want to donate items like paper towels, bleach, pet collars, blankets, disinfectant, garbage bags or buckets, please step up to the plate and do it! To volunteer, donate funds or items to the cause, please contact any of the following:

Dr Paul Crooks 1-868-688-8281
Dr Kevern Sawh 1-868-678-8023
Dr Adana Mahase 1-868-689-1586
TTSPCA - 1-868-639-2567

How Social Media has changed the way we travel

So I talked a lot about travel this week so thought I would just end the week with a travel round up.

Social media has changed the way we travel, in more ways than one. You can plan your trip using social media, meeting new people in the process, use it to enhance your tourist/explorer/adventurer experience and on the back-end, when things go awry, you can turn to your new media tools to rescue you from various levels of hell.

But it's also changed the way we travel on a basic level. We now have a larger audience at our fingertips with which some of us may want to share our experiences with, be it through photos or a blog, and be it with closest friends and families or the voyeurs of the cyberverse. Though we cannot pack our best friends in our bags and take them with us, through our images and our words, they are right there with us, no longer after the fact, but in the heat of the moment. The simple touch of a button on a phone, or on a Netbook has made MY experience, OUR experience, and that is something we did not have 5-10 years ago. Tweets and real time status updates (and BBMs) are the new check-in phone calls, without the static and long distance charges. Videos and digital images are the new living albums. And out of the newness are born photographers, videographers and authors of life - those who may not be published or recognised in the mainstream, but whose words and visuals mean a lot to someone out there, for one reason or another, creating an audience unique to them. No need to worry about spelling (unless I am reading it of course cause yes, I am anal about it!) or bad lighting (unless you are anal about it).

Social media affords us a window to our lives and the lives of others. The only thing you really have to do is decide if you want that window and how wide you're willing to open it.



Photo credits: Me

Social Media is Hot over Iceland Ash

The immediacy and community of social media benefitted many of the millions of stranded travellers across Europe and the world. Sitting around in an airport is never fun. I have had my share of long layovers and having access to other people rather than running amok in a terminal was really a Godsend. I was never as unfortunate (knock on wood) as the "victims" of the Icelandic ash vs flightplans, but I can well imagine how having a channel to the outside world, to tips and help would lend to maintaining one's sanity in the face of uncertainty, especially after several days.

The Survival Guide page was one such page created on Facebook, where already over 1600 persons have been offering tips, advice and using the space for frustrated discussion.

Not only was it an opportunity for travellers to connect with each other and share their experiences and gripes, but it also afforded many of them the opportunity to find accomodation and support from others. On Twitter, hashtags like #getmehome, #putmeup and #stranded have provided tweeters with dozens of links to available hotel rooms, guest rooms, people willing to put up the stranded in a spare room of their private homes, etc.

The uncertainty lately with flightplans, with strikes and acts of God have made it even more important for social media to play bigger roles in the tourism and hospitality industry. Their crisis management plans not only kicked into high gear but also took to the cyberverse in a big way. Communication in this instance needed to be immediate and ongoing, with so many people being affected and taken completely by surprise. Not knowing when you're going to be seeing your home, your dog, your 2.5 kids because you're stuck in a foreign country can only exacerbate an already tenuous scenario. Twitter sites from airlines and hotels lit up like flash bulbs when news of the ash cloud stopping flights first dropped. Tweets and DMs have been going back and forth between airline representatives and passengers, as one can imagine. Despite not being stranded anywhere myself, I still took time to tweet @British_Airways yesterday on something related to the ash and their tweeters are on the ball, though it must be an extremely tough time for them all at the moment - passengers and airlines alike.

This Facebook group is just one of many which was formed within hours of the closure of European airspace to offer solace to passengers stranded miles from home in New Zealand.

There have also been a number of people who have used the opportunity to blog about their experience, from sitting in an airport terminal, to looking for more comfortable accomodation, trying to reach family in other cities, and the long, convuluted journeys home. Nadia El-Awady chronicled her Icelandic ash "adventures" in her blog, Inner Workings of my Mind. There are many more and which would be excellent reading, I am sure.

The silver lining in this ash cloud is that we are reminded that community still exists and though we use social media everyday for idle chatter or for business/marketing, we only fully appreciate how powerful social media communities really are in times of crisis. The help which many of the stranded have been able to get simply by logging on to Facebook or Twitter or Roadsharing via their laptops or their mobile phones, is testament to how important social media has become in our daily lives and how it can connect us to people we never imagined we would need to be connected to. Had this happened back in the 90's or maybe even 3-5 years ago, when social networking had not yet gripped our senses, I can only guess that the chaos experienced by those left behind would have been multiplied by 10,000. Here's hoping everyone gets back home safely in coming days and weeks.

Here is a really cool story about a webcam wedding which happened as a result of the bride and groom being stranded. Congrats to them. Ahh...technology. Isn't it great?

Best Job Ever!!

No, not mine. But can I tell you how much I love these "Best Job Ever" promotions that have been popping up more often lately? They appeal to the littlest hobo in me and besides that, it's a great marketing strategy. How else to get people talking about your brand but to offer them an experience of a lifetime? The most recent BJE is the what CNN referred to as the Honeymoon Tester.

"Wanted: Luxury-loving couples available to globetrot for six months and get paid to test out the most romantic wedding and honeymoon destinations around the world....

...The winners will be asked to blog about their experiences a few times a week "when they can get out of the hammock after sipping a glass of champagne," Meleady said, and write for The Irish Times once a month.They will also be paid 20,000 euros (about $27,000). Hopefuls have until April 7 to apply for the "horrendous assignment" -- as the company teasingly calls it -- which starts mid-May."

This promo was born after the success of the BJE promo put on by Tourism Queensland, which was won by a lucky chap called Ben Southall, who has spent the last few months in isolated bliss, blogging about the wonders of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.

Both promos use social media heavily, with applicants being asked to create short videos introducing themselves and saying why they should be chosen. Then there is voting and online mania, and when the winner is selected there is blogging and photo taking and all that great promotional stuff - from the awesome minds and mouths of people NOT directly associated with the promoters. Because let's face it, tourism boards and travel agents are paid to sell and yes, the couples in this case will be paid for their "labour", but who better to sell to couples, than a happy couple? It's not rocket science but the promotions make it all the more exciting and attractive.

And there are others like 67 Days of Smiles, and even a winery got involved with the "Really Goode Job". What I love about it, and I think most people would love this aspect, is that you get real reviews from real people. It could be anyone. It could be a housewife, a student, your neighbour. It could be you. It is not someone with a marketing degree or someone with years of experience peddling hospitality, and selling dreams. It's the average Joe and Jane. It really changes the way we learn about travel destinations and emphasises the shift from destination websites with canned content, to social networking and user generated content. And as a traveller myself, I appreciate getting the traveller perspective over the canned stuff, and we already talked about my love for Tripadvisor and other such user sites. Not to mention, these promotions give the organisers brilliant marketing exposure. The couples have to promote Ireland and their videos are just the first step. The promotion brings a new audience of people who may never have considered Ireland as a honeymoon destination before. And paying a couple $27,000 vs paying an ad agency God knows how much to sell the destination - you don't need to be a math whiz to know that one is more cost-effective than the other. But it's not even about the money. The creativity of the couples and the personal accounts from the winners are worth their weight in publicity gold.

Hey, if I had seen these early enough, it could have been me! Shucks! Oh well...

This is one of the applicants' videos. I thought it was cute.



Check out the Ultimate Job in Ireland site and vote for your favourite couple.

Pedalling CSR to the masses

I heard about a great initiative this morning. The Crowne Plaza in Denmark is giving guests the chance to cycle their way to a free meal. The hotel has installed "two exercise bicycles hooked up to generators, so that when people start pedaling, they can produce some electrcity."

"Anyone producing 10 watt hours of electricity or more for the hotel will be given a locally produced complimentary meal encouraging guests to not only get fit but also reduce their carbon footprint and save electricity and money"

This is one of the most interesting initiatives I have heard about in a long time and I think it's great. Great innovation in corporate social responsibility. Not only can guests be encouraged to get fit, but it also directly links them and their actions to green issues and actively involves them in environmentally responsible activities. Though there are quite a few hotels which have green initiatives, how many of their guests actually support these? For example, show of hands, now:  Do you read the cards behind your bathroom door about the hotel's recycle/re-use policy when it comes to towels? How many of you actually know that a towel on the rack means you plan to use it again, and a towel on the floor or in the tub means that you would like fresh towels?

But, on the flip side,  how many of you actually take the time to hang your towel, and then the housekeeper changes it anyway? I cannot tell you how many times I have hung my towel up, with plans to use it again, and come back to my room and there are fresh towels waiting for me. I mean, sure we love fresh towels, but I don't change my towels at home after one use, and clearly there is no understanding or buy-in of the policy from staff.

And some people take vacation to the max. It's almost as though they go on vacation and their "green-ness", if they had any in the first place, goes on vacation too. Guests go out and leave the hotel room like a virtual disco ball, with all the lights on, the tv or radio on.

I like the innovation of this new green initiative. In the interview, the spokesperson for the hotel mentioned that the actual energy generated from the cycling does not really cover the cost of the meal, so the hotel in effect is not saving any money. But the impact it leaves is invaluable. I mean, it's fantastic for the hotel's CSR brand and shows they are willing to go the extra mile to do their part in reducing their carbon footprint. It also gives them something unique and creative to market, and for green-minded guests, it's a great selling proposition. It serves as an opportunity to sensitise guests to environmental issues. Guests can understand how much human energy it takes to power up a light bulb, or how their indifference can affect not only operations costs, but the environment. And the initiative gives these guests the chance to make a tangible contribution to conservation, totally independent of hotel staff who may not support or who may have no clue as to policies and initiatives (shame on you, housekeeping!)

I would probably be one of those who would take a go on the "power" bikes (once I am properly padded cause biking is not fun on the bum), because I usually try to work out on vacation anyway, and I know someone is going to take my towel against my wishes. The free meal is really to me, a bonus. So good job, Crowne Plaza!

What's the best green initiative you have come across on your business or pleasure hotel stays?

What type of podcasts do you love listening to?

I spent the first part of my morning editing a podcast (the rest of the day has been a virtual blur). But I don't download what I have painstakingly sliced and diced onto my MP3 player. I have other interests besides work, thank you very much.

MP3 players have not only changed the way we experience music, but also the way we travel and sightsee. The podcast. A serious traveller's best friend. There are shopping trips and there are trips that are made for the trepid explorer, the historian, the connoisseur, the adventurer. Travel podcasts are my favourite type of podcasts because travel is one of my favorite activities and they can really breathe life into a trip. Guide books and maps are cool, but sometimes when your head is stuck down the bad end of a guide book, you can miss the life, the action around you.

You can either "listen up" before you head to your destination by downloading podcasts from fellow travellers about their experiences in a city or from tourism sites. Or you can get free audio guides that walk you through your destination when you get there. The best part about my last European vacation was that I could explore the mastery, the architecture and history at my own pace and not be tied down to a tour guide or shackled to a band of confused looking tourists. The audio guide was awesome, and was vibrant and comprehensive and the history lover in me was fulfilled.

As I plan for another big vacation this year, I look forward to cramming my MP3 player with as many cool podcasts as possible and listening up on all the tips and tricks needed to have an enjoyable stay. I just downloaded one from here, though perhaps I should be on the airline sites first before getting too caught up in the experience! This - also very cool and these as well. And if you're a solo traveller, or just someone who really wants to enjoy the experience, without the hassle and expense, there has to be a free podcast out there to meet your needs!

So I ask again, what type of podcasts do you enjoy?

Photo credit: www.telegraph.co.uk

Vacation: When social media is not work! Or is it?

Vacation is a time to relax, or a time to seek out adventure. It’s a way to let go of your stress and live out your fantasies. That is, if the stress and pain of planning the vacation doesn’t kill you first. - Mashable

Aint that the truth? It's vacation planning time again. Now, I am an organiser. An anal organiser. A paranoid, anal organiser! I think when planning a trip, one HAS to be organised especially if you're trying to stick to a budget. It is near impossible to save on hotels, tours, activities etc if you don't plan and research. The trip itself is not supposed to be military style, but having an idea what you're gonna do, and when is essential. And as a single female traveller, planning takes on added importance, for reasons of safety and comfort.

But for me it is maddening cause I know what I want and what I don't want. The internet gives you choice and it also can give you so much information that it can be an overload on the senses. I usually cross reference when planning, with my main info resources being

Tripadvisor (my #1 guide!)
Frommer's (great for getting a prelim list of hotels and restaurants)
Lonely Planet
WikiTravel (I love wikitravel!)

I think I can now add Twitter and Facebook to the mix. I like that Twitter allows me to compile all my travel tweeters in a list so now when I am ready to get on the road to relaxation, I can simply go to my list and start tweeting/DMing my questions, without having to go through all the noise. And I follow my favourite hotel chains on Facebook for news on the all important specials/discounts! There are also sites like Travel Chums, where you can talk to other travellers who may have visited your travel spot already and can provide info, or who are going on a trip soon. If you so desire, you can hook up with a travel buddy who is going to the same place at the same time you are. I am still, even in this age of social networks and tweetups and the like, a bit paranoid about meeting up with cyber people in a foreign country, especially as Super Solo Traveller. (S on my chest!) But many people do use them, to meet new friends, have a guide to take one around the place, go out with, and whatever else they want to do.

And most important about social media sites for planning trips is the user generated content. Hotel marketers for example are being paid to show the hotel in its best light, so websites are usually gems of fabulousness. White sheets, luxurious looking rooms, smiley staff. Looks good, doesn't it? But then before you commit yourself to the place, you visit Tripadvisor and read something like this:

I could not even stay there! Checked in, went to the room after riding in the smallest,nastiest elevator ever, looked at the room and bathroom and RAN out! People doing drugs everywhere! All you can hear is banging on the walls and people screaming at each other! The room was GROSS, the bathroom was even worse! Nothing was even close to clean! Complete SMUT HOLE!!! I have never never seen a hotel like this! It needs to be condemned! NOW!!! DO NOT NOT NOT STAY HERE!!!

A real traveller review. This greatly aids my decisions, though at the same time, it greatly adds to my stress. If generally the comments are negative, then I move on, but sometimes they can be 50/50 and you're stuck wondering what if...

But the feedback from travellers on these social networking sites is invaluable, believe me. After weeks of driving myself crazy I got feedback like this which sealed the deal on which hotel I would eventually pass over my Euros to.

We were all completely happy with our stay, especially with the breakfast! We spent a day visiting the palace at Versailles (I think you would have to dedicate at least one day to this), as well as the Louvre. Right across the street from the hotel is a good restaurant. As far as the hotel though, if you want to get a relaxing night of sleep, I would book a room not facing the street, because it can be a little noisy with all the people out front. The rooms were not large, but comfortable. I hope this information helps! Have a great trip!

I did ask for a room not facing the street though I can sleep through anything, and I did dedicate an entire day for Versailles, and I am glad I did. But, I love the range of choice which the internet has allowed me for making important travel decisions. I can honestly say I have not had a bad travel experience yet after all my research and planning. I know where to find info and use my discretion to make choices which suit my budget and my expectations. I can ask my fellow travellers for suggestions and vice versa. I am such a social animal, it kills me.
 
Now if only the internet could help me with the all consuming, and clearly impossible task of packing light!

Death of a Dream Salesman

Last week, while enjoying some much needed retail therapy, I happened to pass by an office - stark, empty, totally void of life, except for the one solitary human life form behind the desk, playing around on a mobile phone, clearly trying to stay conscious in the face of no customers. I was tempted to walk through the door and watch her eyes light up like a million fireworks but I decided that would be fantastically cruel, so I walked past. I kinda felt bad for her though. Then I saw an article on Yahoo this morning about the Top 9 shrinking jobs and guess who was at #7. My girl in the empty office.

7. Travel Agents


The internet now makes it possible for the public to schedule their own trips. While there are still many travel agents, incentives once offered by airlines, hotels and car rental companies make the occupation less profitable. Today's travel agents often book long or complicated trips, while the weekend getaway or quick business travel is scheduled individually online.

The same thing ran through my mind as I passed by the empty office last week because honestly, with the world at our fingertips now, who still uses travel agents? I do feel bad about it cause I have the most lovely travel agent but usually when she sees me now, it is because I just wanted to say hello, and not so much to give her business. I mean, I have not used a travel agent in a long time and I travel at least twice a year (work responsibilities and money limitations have kept me in bondage).

But how easy it is to log in to British Airways or Caribbean Airlines and book your ticket to freedom, scour through TripAdvisor and Frommer's looking for hotels, tours, experiences? Once you have a pc, an internet connection and maybe a printer, if your experience does not include mobile ticketing, you're set. Quite frankly I don't have the time to run down to a travel agent's office and getting to my beloved agent on a weekday is near impossible cause it then means having to leave work early, speed down the highway, negotiate a parking spot and beat it to her office before she closes. WHY? When I can simply look for a cheap flight online, book it, get my eticket, without leaving my desk!

And there are so many online promotions that lie outside the travel agency, who once upon a time, would rule the specials. I guess maybe the older folks, would be loyal to travel agents. Despite everything I tell her, my mother still uses our travel agent. The relationships that we have built with the people linger and still, they see the travel agent as that link in the event anything goes wrong or they need a quick change.

Now if they start using the social media tools available to give their businesses a much needed boost, then that's another story. For example, some travel agents operate solely out of their offices with no web presence whatsoever, like my girl mentioned before. FAIL. Others have websites but they aren't updated regularly enough to keep the savvy traveller interested. FAIL. Some don't understand that many people are on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and that these are great ways to offer specials and drive traffic to your website. FAIL. With airlines and hotels increasingly using social media to get closer to customers, without the middle man (that's you Mr Travel Agent), travel agents need to start getting creative about how they keep this business and keep you interested in using them, as opposed to going to the source. The travel agents still, in my estimation, have a strong customer service element on their side, which they need to use to their advantage while going 2.0.

Like anyone else, travel agents need to get with it because gone are the days when I would come sit in your office and open a travel magazine, close my eyes and randomly choose a destination. With so much information and resources out there, travel agents can no longer be content to sit in an empty office, hoping and praying that someone walks in. They have to make me want to walk in - be it through their physical office door or through the sexy virtual landscape that I encourage them all to develop if they intend to survive.

Missing: The Trini Hotspot

I mentioned before that I was a loyal fan of Tripadvisor, cause they have helped me plan many a vacation (cause you know I love to travel) and avoid many a hellhole hotel, save money on entertainment and has offered great suggestions on things to do. So of course, I get their weekly emails about new cities, bargains etc. And darn it, I want to work for Tripadvisor one day. I am a loyalist.

I got an email this week which said "Top 10 February Hotspots". If you are Trini, you kinda know where this is going. I did a print screen, so excuse the quality of the image below, but these are the Top 10 February hotspots.

When I first looked at it, Thailand looked a bit like Trinidad and I was pleased for a millisecond. But seriously, who's responsible for this? I shared a great video a couple weeks ago, done by British Airways about our Carnival - fab publicity from an international airline. True they are promoting their airline, but half of promoting your airline, is promoting the destinations and they did a bang up job promoting the islands, with OUR Carnival. So, I just want to know if the powers that be are maximising the tools out there to get US out there.

Cause "hot" here can mean hot - temperature or hot - lots of action. Can someone convince me that Toronto, Canada beats Port of Spain, Trinidad on both versions of "hot"? Seriously??? February 2010? Carnival time? 35 degree celsius weather? I mean, this is a plug right here - for free!

This may just be one case of the missing Carnival, and maybe we are hot on every other list (somehow my confidence of this is very low) but I felt I needed to share. Are we still only doing trade shows, taking bottles of Angostura Bitters as tokens? Are we not realising that tourism is global and changing rapidly in the face of all this new communications technology? Are we monitoring what people are saying about us on sites like Tripadvisor, or Frommers? Are we still just peddling brochures or have we gone social, using those tools out there that travellers like myself rely on? How many of the travellers we want are at trade shows??? They're on the internet, scouring sites like Tripadvisor, Travelocity.

I was trying to email Tripadvisor about this, but I have a day job and someone else somewhere, I don't know who, is getting paid to do just this type of thing and sadly, is not doing it.

5QRPD5RCUS7D

Bad guy of the day: The Dreaded Airline

I love travelling. I may not always have the time or the money (more of the latter than the former) to visit the places I want to visit, but I do pretty okay. So obviously I follow a few twitter feeds related to travel. Noone likes being stuck in an airport for hours waiting for flights, or being kept on hold indefinitely as one tries to get information about delays or cancellations. Airlines get a lot of bad ju-ju vibes for sometimes bad service, often totally out of their hands, but the hard blow of this can be softened by proper communication with passengers. I can be sitting in an airport, with my laptop and getting details about my flight without having to join a throng of disgruntled, weary passengers at the counter. That's hot.

I love what British Airways are doing with their tweets right now. With the weather over in Europe being as bad as it is and flights being delayed and cancelled, it's great for travellers to log in to Twitter and get some current info or assistance. And they do answer. I asked about fare sales between POS and LGW once and got a prompt response. It was not necessarily the answer I wanted (lol) but I got an answer nonetheless and appreciated the prompt attention to my query.

American Airlines, in light of security changes due to the recent botched bomb attempt,and weather issues in the US as well, has also been doing  a pretty good job at keeping customers in the know. As is Virgin Atlantic.

And the list goes on. I would love to see Caribbean Airlines doing a bit more. I am a rather loyal Caribbean Airlines customer. Some people may scoff at this and yes, they do have their moments but I have had my moments with other airlines as well. Their service has really improved over the past couple years, and unless another airline is significantly cheaper than CA, I would usually book with them once they fly to where I want to go. Thus their tweets or lackthereof are a bit disappointing cause I would be all up on that. I do get their e-newsletter and see their ads in the paper but still, they are missing out on a great opportunity to really engage their passengers, get some feedback on what we want to see from them and offer me some great fares, specials (freeness? lol).  They have 442 followers, who right now are following...well...nothing.

Oh... to be the tweeter for an airline. Or just a travel tweeter or blogger. Yes, I think everyone know this is a dream of mine. Travelling and getting paid to write about it! Sigh. In a perfect world!

Will talk about hotels another time.

What's next for travellers?

On December 25, 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab decided that he would take a walk on the wild side and attempt to blow himself and the rest of the passengers on that flight to Detroit to smithereens.

This is scary, yes, but what is scarier is the fact that we have to now endure MORE ridiculous security checks at the world's airports because of these nutters. When they came up with the liquid restrictions in carry-ons, my life was changed forever. My toiletries bag was usually my hand luggage. I had invested quite a bit of money in having a hip looking bag to load my dressing table into, and now with 90% of the stuff inside this bag being liquid-based, my travelling joys were over.

Then we were forced to partially disrobe in front of strangers and risk foot disease and fashion emergencies so we could be scanned for God knows what. Gone were the days one could wear cute lacey sandals or even flip flops, for now, you had to put your shoes in a dirty grey bin and your feet on ice cold, bacteria-infested floors. And if you're smart and wear socks, good luck if they stayed white after this atrocious exercise.

And to the men and maybe some women who previously forgot the old motherly advice of always wearing good underwear when going out, well, take that belt off, kids and hope your pants don't fall down and reveal the holey drawers you thought you could hide from the world.

Now, the Christmas bomber dude has gone a step further and transformed a normal, ordinary pair of boxers into an incendiary device, making life even more grotesque for the tired, annoyed, overworked, desperately-in-need of vacation traveller.

So no pee breaks within an hour of landing. No getting up at all. I wonder, what will they do if I REALLY have to go? Will the flight attendants body slam me to the floor and cuff me? If I need a stick of gum from my purse in the overhead locker, will I have to put my hand up and ask teacher for a pass? For the men and women whose laptops and PDAs are like a third palm, will they start cold sweating now that there is to be no lap action within an hour of landing? Will they themselves become terrorists as they endure withdrawal from keyboards and iPods?

And most importantly, will we now need to invest in good underwear so that when the inevitable happens - the ultimate disrobing, maybe in a back room, maybe in the public line, who knows! -  to check our drawers for explosives, we would not embarass ourselves and our mothers? AND...will Victoria's Secrets have more and more sales to offset this new development?

Thanks a lot Mr Man with the long, silly name, and thanks a lot TSA.

Tale of Two Tour Companies

"He who has a thing to sell and goes and whispers in a well is not so apt to get the dollars as he who climbs a tree and hollers." - Author Unknown

In the service industry, poor marketing is as treacherous as bad service. If the people you are trying to reach do not know what you have on sale, what you have to offer, then how will they know to use your service over someone else's - a service that may not necessarily be better than yours, but is marketed better.

Case in point: my vacation.

So when I am on vacation, as opposed to quick trips, I love seeing the place. I love tours. But not all tour companies are the same and you have to really do your research to get the best bang for your buck. I did 3 tours while on vacacy, two with Apples Company, and which were easy to select and I will discuss later. The other took some doing and much googling  but I managed to find it and booked it with the Bananas Company. I really wanted to do this tour so despite a total lack of web presence on the Bananas company, I booked it anyway.

So the Banana Company tour started off okay, with a greeter meeting me at my hotel and accompanying me to the tour bus. While on the bus, the driver indicated that there were 2 tours that day and Group 1 would stay with him and Group 2 would transfer to another bus. It was then I realised there was no Group 3 mention, which should have included me. Okay, so... scary. I indicated to the driver that he seemed to have forgotten Group 3. He did not know about Group 3 - the group of one apparently. Okay...so... poor communication. Things were now on a slippery slope with this tour. He told me he would get more information when he dropped off Group 2.

Anyway, eventually I met my "guide" and he told me he had to pick someone up and he would get me in 10 minutes. Half hour later, I am still working on my not-needed tan in the sun, waiting for my "guide". When he eventually gets back, and I get into the Escalade (not the tour bus, but I was not complaining) we get to talking and he apologises profusely for being late and offers me another tour free of charge. However, this tour was the one I had planned for the next day with Apples, and which was already paid for. This led to a discussion - a bit of a bad minded one - about the competition, Apples and how they were out to get his company. He asked me why I did not choose his company for my tour and I told him honestly I had never heard of his company and in none of my searches did the company ever show up, whereas Apples was all over the place. And not only were they everywhere, but they got awesome reviews on travel sites like Tripadvisor, by which I swear when planning many a vacation. To my horror, homie asks:

"What is Tripadvisor?"

This is where I was gravely alarmed! How could you be running a service in THIS particular industry and not know what Tripadvisor was? Or Fodor's? Or Frommer's? Or Lonely Planet? I was aghast that this dude did not know any of these and how they could impact the success of his business. I don't make a travel move without consulting fellow travellers on these sites. To make it worse, brace yourself, their website is not functional. You heard me. They have a website but they don't really use it, update it, market their business using it. So I had to ask, "How on earth do you expect people to know you?" I think I was so overcome by shock that I did not hear the answer, but he was blaming Apple's underhand tactics for his business' lack of immense success. I listened to what he was saying but really did not want to hear. He claimed Apples' management gave $5 discounts to customers if they would give a review of the tour. Now I dunno about most of you, but if the tour was horrendous, it would take more than $5 to get me to glorify it. I found the Bananas company's tour through sheer persistence and even then, they operated via a third party website and not their own corporate site.

Needless to say, I gave the guy some tips - basic tips like

• revamp your website - I mean, seriously??
• love traveller-driven sites, like Tripadvisor
• network with travellers via social media
• create a mailing list using email addresses collected during bookings to stay in touch with travellers, share promotions etc so they can pass on to their friends etc (subject to a subscription, of course. Noone likes spam!)

What was scary was that this outfit was run by people under 30! Apples on the other hand was being managed by two 40-somethings. So don't let anyone tell you that technology is youth driven. Apples' website is fantastic. It is updated daily, has an awesome chat feature which facilitated my questions about the 2 tours I booked with them, has information about the company, the staff. I mean, I knew about my driver before I met him.

And to add insult to injury, Bananas' tour sucked. Let me clarify. The tour itself was fantastic because I had a really fantastic guide - ME. This "tour" with Bananas involved them picking me up LATE from the drop point, dropping me off at the place and telling me, someone will be back in 3 hours to pick you back up. Three hours later, I was baking in the sun again, and having to use my expensive roaming to call and argue with the office staff cause I was seeing an afternoon of shopping slipping away as I sat there for over an hour waiting. In the sun! So of course when I get into the Escalade (the saving point of this whole experience) I told him that my review would not be stellar. I felt bad cause he was a nice guy and he apologised again, but on top of poor marketing, the service was not awesome. So what was I supposed to do? And he did not even offer me $5 to lie! lol

Apples' two tours though, were fantastic, and not self-guided. The driver was polite, knowledgeable, EARLY. I had mentioned to the customer service rep  on their online chat service, that I would be taking the tour on my birthday while making my booking a week before, and as soon as they picked me up at the hotel, they were waiting for me with cake and singing. The service was amazing and any allegations of paying customers $5 had to be a lie cause I would not have taken their $5. Their service spoke volumes and they deserved every single positive review they got on Tripadvisor.

So on top of a fab wesbite and great social networking, add super great service and after service. Apples came out a huge winner and got a great review from me to add to a slew of glowing reviews from fellow travellers. Bananas...well, I wish them well.

The Single Female Traveller: Some Tips

So vacation is in the air. I am an infamous solo traveller. Not because I am anti-social or anything but clearly I have different interests to my closest friends, not to mention a whole different lifestyle. So while I can, on a vaps, book a plane ticket and jet off to Miami for the weekend, cause I have no chick, no child to worry about. some of my other friends would need to do some planning in order to do so. And apparently this makes me an Alpha-Female. Who comes up with these terms? A man, nah?

In any event, I am not alone. Women the world over travel alone, and if their mothers are anything like mine, they are nagged from the moment the idea of another solo vacation is broached until the plane touches down on their home soil once more.

How could you travel alone? Is that safe? You don't even know the place.

Yes. It never ends. But as a solo pro, these are the tips that work for me

1. Let the family know WHERE you going and HOW to find you. Leave all the details with them - flight information, hotel information, hotel number, when you check in, send the hotel room number etc. Make sure people back home always know where you're going and how you're getting there.

2. Don't trust the warm smiles of hotel staff. I am sorry. Hotel staff are great and friendly and all, but they aren't really to be trusted. I don't know you so you bet my luggage remains locked and I always try to book a room where I know there is a room safe, or at least access to a safe somewhere. This leads me to my next point ...

3. Don't put your cheapness over your safety and peace of mind. This is the problem I am having trying to go where I really wanna go, but I am going over my budget and if I am going over my very tight budget, I just won't compromise. I have seen a whole heap of cheapo hotels that would do nicely on paper when it comes to the dollars and cents, but not when it comes to solo female traveller SENSE. Don't do cheap if the place is not secure, if the location is seedy, if the reviews point to shady staff or shady neighbourhood characters. If you are going to save money on one thing when planning a vacation, it's NOT THIS. Find a proper hotel, in a good busy area - in my case, I tend to stick with chain hotels, so I am a well known Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott patron. Small Seas Inn and that type of local, unchartered waters stuff is not my bag. Ladies, there are predators out there, so don't take chances.

4. Know you area. In fact, RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH. I was anal when planning my trip to Paris. I wanted to know where the bus stops were, where to get a train, what restaurants were nearby. Don't take this type of stuff for granted. Know where the nearest police station, hospital and your local embassy or high commission are. Don't just arrive and be like a headless chicken in a strange city. Please. Be responsible now.

5. Travel safely. I don't take night flights if I am travelling to a country where I know noone or noone I know is there to pick me up. Don't stay out late if you're alone - travel by taxi, bus, train etc late at night, in a place you don't know - not too smart. On my recent trip to NY, did I dare try the subway? No. I am not THAT adventurous. Also, take registered taxis. While they may not be called "PH" in other parts of the world, there will always be someone looking to hustle a trip without proper cause.

6. Flattery will get you nowhere, buddy. And yes, vacations are supposed to be fun and you let go of your inhibitions and you live by "What happens in Vegas (or wherever), stays in Vegas (or wherever)". But not because the cute native on the sidewalk, looks nice, smells nice, talks nice mean he's nice. Just smile, nod and keep moving. There are a lot of wolves out there and you're the prey!

7. Bridge the language barrier. If you don't know the language where you are, besides learning some key phrases, try to take group tours where you are not as exposed to the local criminal elements. But we spoke about trying to learn the language already, right?

8. Check in with the home peeps regularly. Roaming is expensive and so are calls from hotel rooms but send a text or an email and do the occasional phone call to the people back home to let them know you are okay. It will not kill you to make that 30 second phone call, because if that doesn't kill you, then the worried mother sitting back home, wringing her hands over the whereabouts of her girl chile, will.

9. Try to card it, and not cash it. This is a given for anyone travelling. Take small amounts of cash for emergencies, but generally I use my credit card when on the lam. And let your bank know you will be travelling as well, because you don't want when you try paying for the nice dress your card is cancelled because your bank noticed "irregular activity". They do this. I always call my bank before and let them know my dates so I can shop in peace. Also, keep your bank's emergency card numbers in case your card is lost or stolen so they can then cancel said card...this is the time to have it cancelled. Not when you trying to pay for stuff.

10. Low Fat Dressing for the salad. And while we want to look nice and seck-see, you have to have some sense about your dress code. Don't take the bling with you, ladies. Oh gosh. Try not to draw too much attention to yourselves. Yes, we want to look hot, but we don't want to be the hot target either.

11. Guard your valuables and be mindful of your surroundings. I always think the man walking behind me is a thief, even at home. So much so that one time as I grabbed my purse tighter, the man said to me in passing "Darling, I doh want your purse you know." I did not know that for sure. Don't be laissez-faire with the valuables - the purse, the netbooks, the cameras. And look around you and check out your fellow pedestrians and travellers. You might be the hot tourist attraction of the moment. You and your bag of goodies.

These are just a few tips and as I nixed my Spanish speaking vacation for an English speaking one, shared with family this time around (aka free, thus freeing up funds for my Italian speaking vacation next year...woot!), I thought I would still share my solo pro knowledge with the world.

C'est vrai! You're rude.

I started learning Italian last year when I had planned to vacation in Venice. Plans changed and my eventual 2008 belated vacation was an English-speaking one, but even then, as the old saying goes "Some people just don't understand English." This is true in daily life cause clearly what I say and what others hear are completely different. Like when I say yesterday, "This is needed urgently", the other person hears "It's not urgent. You can idle all day and have me wait for it until I ask for the thousandth time."

But I digress. I wanted to know enough Italian to get by and not make a fool of myself and also to be polite and not looked at with derision.

A couple people in the past few months asked me for some tips for their Parisien vacations, and I always tell them, Please please please, try to speak the people's language, if even a little.

The French are known to be a bit snobby, though in my experience, it was not necessarily so. But hear me out. If English speakers came to your French-speaking city and expected and demanded you speak English, which may not even be your second language, but maybe your third or fourth, you would not be a little annoyed as well? I mean, I think the Americans are the worst with this, because the world revolves around the land mass that is the USA. One American on a tour even remarked that the place was so "European", as if it were expected to be more American perhaps. But seriously, I don't blame the French for being a little uppity when someone comes into a cafe or a shop and goes "English? You speak English?" I find it a bit rude and people don't think about how this may come across. It is disrespectful and I would not blame anyone who pretended their perfectly good English were nonexistent in response to this rudeness.

I read in my guidebooks and found for myself, that when you attempted to speak French, often failing miserably, they made the effort to be polite and speak in English. The people can be extremely personable (they were to me). I went up to them and spoke to them in French, albeit not so good French, and recognising my shortcomings, they helped me out in English. It's a win-win. They say communication is two-way and indeed it is. But many people always want it their way or no way. I did not meet many people in Paris who did not speak English, but if they look at YOU with a blank stare and say "Non. Ne parles pas anglais", then ask yourself, "Is it me" and then say "Oui. C'est moi."

It's the same way Trinis, notoriously rapid speakers, know to slow it down when speaking to non-Trinis, and though we laugh at tourists trying to pronounce words like "macco", "farse", "lime" and "jammette" (yes!), we appreciate them trying, don't we? This is not that much different. So my advice to anyone heading to a foreign locale for vacation is, learn some basics and help yourself and respect others.

• Hello/Goodbye
• Good Morning/afternoon/evening/night
• My (language) is not that good. Can you help me? Do you speak English?
• Please/Thank You
• Where are the hot boys?

Essentials I tell you. Essentials! In the meantime, December 2009 will likely be a stay at home vacation where English is spoken or nothing is said at all. My Italian lessons will resume in 2010 as I hopefully prepare for Rome. Ciao!

Communication in transit

And as we talk communication, let's talk about basic transferral of basic information which somehow always goes unheeded.

Passengers seated in Rows 1-5 may now approach the gate for boarding.

This in my estimation, is a maximum of 30 persons, right? So why do over 80 people gang up on the poor gate attendant with boarding passes in hand? Do they think that by getting to the gate, the attendant will say, "Oh, you're in Row 28...poor you. Go ahead!" I encounter this no-obedience phenomenon every single time I travel. Will your seat vaporise if you don't get to it ASAP? Does someone else take your seat in 16F if somehow you don't get to it first? I can never truly understand what the fuss is to get on the plane first? Is there some sort of prize one gets for beating everyone to the finish?

I sit idly by while all these people stand foolishly at the gate, after the attendant shoos them to the side, and wait my turn. I have always found my seat in the place it's supposed to be and on the off chance I find someone in my seat, I kindly inform them that I usually choose that particular seat for a reason so kindly move.

I do have my limits.