TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor.com is a free travel guide and research website that offers reviews and information to help plan a vacation.

Users research potential locales and attractions to visit, and hotels to book, primarily by browsing the thousands of reviews posted on the website each week by other travelers. TripAdvisor is an example of Consumer Generated Media.

Description

TripAdvisor.com is a travel information website, covering more than 270,000 hotels and attractions^[1] in over 30,000 destinations worldwide. It features hotel, attraction, and restaurant reviews written by travelers; a wiki for users to provide facts and tips on destinations, similar in concept to a travel guidebook; "goLists", where users list what to see or what to do, somewhat like travel itineraries; interactive maps based on the Google Maps engine; and "TripAdvisor Forums", an active traveler message board area. Each of these are described under "Major products" below.

With more than 10 million reviews and opinions^[2] and nearly 30 million unique visitors a month, TripAdvisor is also the largest travel community on the web.^[3]

The site has been criticised for allowing users to publish fraudulent reviews. In response, they claim that all reviews are moderated by their staff, and they have algorithms to detect abuse.^[4]

History

TripAdvisor was founded in February 2000, and was purchased by InterActive Corporation in 2004. Original financing was obtained from Flagship Ventures, the Bollard Group, and private investors. TripAdvisor is now part of the Expedia, Inc. family of travel companies.

Business model

TripAdvisor, free to consumers, is supported by an advertising model. Clients include most major online travel agencies, including Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, Hotwire, Priceline, Travelocity and many travel suppliers, such as InterContinental, Hyatt, and American Airlines.^{[citation needed]}

Major products

• Hotel/Attraction/Restaurant reviews: In many ways the foundation of TripAdvisor, TripAdvisor has reviews and opinions on over 270,000 hotels, attractions, and restaurants. The hotel, restaurant, and attraction rankings found throughout the site are based largely on these reviews.

• Travel wiki: A wiki (based on a clusterized version of XWiki) in which users can add information on destinations as a way to aid potential visitors. Topics include transportation, activities and dining guides.

• goLists: Lists of places and activities compiled by users and usually on travel "themes", e.g.,, ten must-see attractions, stops on a walking tour, or ideas for a rainy day.

• TripAdvisor maps: A hotel map mashup combining TripAdvisor's hotel popularity index with Google Maps.

• TripAdvisor Forums: Message boards where travelers ask and answer thousands of destination and interest based travel-related questions every day. There are forums for individual destinations, air travel, cruising, and family travel.

• Other resources: Links to additional travel information and reviews available on other websites (e.g., newspaper, magazine, and travel guidebook websites).

Impact on the hotel industry

A 2007 survey of the hotel and restaurant industry in Europe^[5] concluded that 80% of UK consumers are now researching online before booking a hotel and that half of them said they have refrained from booking a hotel as a direct result of a negative review on websites such as TripAdvisor.

In Popular Culture

Australian comedy Kath and Kim referenced the user reviews from TripAdvisor of a hotel they were visiting in the first episode of the fourth season.

In the NBC series, The Office, Dwight describes TripAdvisor as the "life blood of the agro-tourism industry."

TrekAmerica

TrekAmerica is a travel operator and provider of small-group tours in North America covering the USA, Canada, Alaska and Mexico. Its adventure holidays take the traveller to the big cities, National Parks, remote beaches and other locations off the tourist routes. TrekAmerica was founded in the UK in 1971 and initially staffed with largely British tour leaders. Today, TrekAmerica's group leaders are mainly American.

Travellerspoint

Travellerspoint is a social networking site for people who want to learn from or share experiences with other travellers. Members of the site participate through forums, blogs, photo galleries and a wiki travel guide.

Major Features

• Forums: Members discuss their travel experiences in several several destination and topic related forums.

• Travel Guide: A custom built wiki in which users can edit destination information to help assist potential visitors.

• Blogs: An integrated blogging system allowing users to post content to their own Travellerspoint subdomain.

• Photography: Users upload photos of their trips. The best photos are manually featured and displayed throughout the site.

• Travel Maps: A mapping system that allows users to plot their trip's itinerary on a world map. It is interlinked with the photos and blogs. A user's map integrates their photography and blog entries through geotagging. In March 2007, Travellerspoint travel maps were nominated in the category of Best Use of Social Media for the Travolution Awards.^[1]

• Travel Helpers: An early addition to the Travellerspoint set of services was a Travel Helper system, which allowed members to sign up as travel helpers for any number of countries. There are currently over 3000 travel helpers.^[2]

External Reviews

Travellerspoint has been mentioned and recommended by BBC World, ^[3] The Guardian,^[4] USA Today,^[5] The Washington Post,^[6] The Sydney Morning Herald,^[7], The Age^[8] and the MX^[9]. In 2004, it was named the "Best Online-Only Agency" by Travelmole in their annual Travel & Tourism Web Awards, winning out over Travelocity and Opodo.^[10]

TravBuddy.com

travbuddy.com is a social networking Web site specializing in connecting travellers. The site was created by brothers Eric Bjorndahl and David Bjorndahl and launched in 2005 by TravBuddy LLC, a privately owned company. The site's early innovations include the use of the Google Maps API as part of the site's graphical interface.

The site allows users to find travel buddies, create travel based blogs, upload travel photos and to review bars, restaurants, hotels and attractions.

As of August 2007, the site has nearly 1,000,000 registered contributors.^[1].

As of August 2007, the site provided free access to over 12,000 blogs, 9,000 travel reviews, and 300,000 travel photos.^[2]

Since its launch, the site has been featured in several TV, print, and online news sources, including the NBC Nightly News, ZDnet.com, ABC News, KABC Radio, the Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Indianapolis Star, the Herald Tribune, the Palos Verdes Peninsula News, and Web User UK

TransAmerica Trail

The TransAmerica Bicycle Trail is a 4,247.5 mile (6836 km) long transcontinental bicycle touring route which crosses ten American states from Astoria, Oregon to Yorktown, Virginia.^[1] The TransAmerica Trail was established for the Adventure Cycling Association's celebration of the U.S. bicentennial in 1976.^[2] At that time, the organization and route were called Bikecentennial, a name many still associate with the TransAm Trail.^[3] The TransAmerica Trail is still the most used route crossing America. It offers everything expected in a transcontinental crossing. The route encounters all kinds of scenery and terrain, including ocean coastline, lush forests, high desert, mountain passes, snow-capped peaks, sweeping vistas, expansive plains, fertile farmlands, rolling hills, and wide rivers. Largely avoiding urban areas, the route passes through small, out-of-the-way towns

The TransAmerica Bicycle Trail

Grand parks along the TransAm include Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, among the best in the United States. Because the route has been ridden by cyclists for years, many cafes, restaurants and overnight accommodations have journals of entries written by cross-country riders from previous years, providing riders with a cyclist's history of the route.

The TransAmerica Trail takes about three months. It can be ridden from May through September. Snow can occur at any time in the Rocky Mountains, and the highest pass on the route is more than 11,500 feet. Although the prevailing weather patterns are from west to east, local wind patterns are more dependent on the passing pressure systems and local terrain, so riders can expect a fair share of tailwinds and headwinds regardless of which direction they ride.

Astoria, Oregon, with the hills of a miniature San Francisco, is the official start. The view from the Astoria Column is considered worth the uphill pedal. Stretches of beaches, outstanding state parks, steep ascents and descents, and great seafood abound during the first days before the route turns inland to the Willamette River Valley. Eugene, Oregon, is the largest city along the route, with about 140,000 residents. Other sizable cities along the way are Missoula, Montana; Pueblo, Colorado; Carbondale, Illinois; and Charlottesville, Virginia. The route skirts around Hutchinson, KS; Roanoke, VA; and Richmond, VA. The lush, green western side of the Cascade Mountains is a contrast to the dry terrain after McKenzie Pass. The road over McKenzie Pass cuts through an ancient lava field and offers spectacular views of the Three Sisters and other snow-capped volcanic peaks of the Cascade Mountains. Central and eastern Oregon is made up of dry, mountainous terrain and demands riders carry extra water. The National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center is outside Baker City, and after completing a trip crossing the country, riders have no trouble relating to the experiences of the early pioneers.

Idaho offers a ride along the Salmon River, and Native American historic sites. The route then follows the winding, scenic Lochsa River for the longest ascent of the trip (around 70 miles). The route climbs up and over Lolo Pass, enters Montana, and soon reaches the spur into Missoula, Montana. Missoula, a college town, houses Adventure Cycling headquarters. Beautiful panoramas and mountain passes are features of the route in Montana.

The views in Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming are incomparable. Towns such as Dubois and Lander are a reminder that the route is in the West, with their historic architecture and western-style cooking. Lamont is an oasis in the windy, desolate Great Divide Basin.

The scenery quickly changes from dry, high desert to alpine as the route reaches Kremmling, Colorado. Breckenridge, Colorado is a good place for a layover day. From there, the route begins a long climb to crest the Continental Divide at Hoosier Pass, 11,542 feet, up among snow-covered peaks. As the route leaves the Rockies, Royal Gorge Park offers a layover day, for the Arkansas River bridge or a helicopter ride over or a raft trip through the gorge. Pueblo, Colorado offers bike shops and places to eat and is the halfway point. It's the largest city until Carbondale, Illinois.

Things start to dry out in the eastern part of Colorado and western Kansas. Carrying extra water is a good idea here -- this is hot, barren country. Right around Haswell, Colorado, riders see the last hazy glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. Riders might have to do some early morning and early evening riding to escape the midday heat. The flat-as-a-pool-table terrain of the Great Plains will change quickly into the roller-coaster riding on the Ozark Plateau of Missouri.

The route crosses the Mississippi River at Chester, Illinois, and heads into Carbondale, a college town. A ferry takes riders across the Ohio River into Kentucky. Kentucky offers rolling white-fenced farms and woodlands until reaching Berea, the gateway to the Appalachian Mountains. A loop south of the route will take riders to see Mammoth Cave National Park, the longest cave system in the world. Past Berea comes the ascents and descents of the Appalachians, and part of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. The mountains turn to rolling hills and then flat riding through lush plantations and farmlands. The last stretch of the route is rich in the history of the American Revolution, with Colonial Williamsburg as the highlight. Yorktown, Virginia, situated on the Chesapeake Bay, is the route's end.

Terrain

Some stretches of the western portion of the route follow large river valleys and can be generally flat, but expect some climbing almost every day between Astoria, Oregon, and Pueblo, Colorado. The passes throughout the Rocky Mountains are generally long but not terribly steep. The descents from these passes are, of course, a blast. Most of Kansas is beautifully flat. Missouri through the Ozarks and eastern Kentucky through the Appalachian Mountains offers short, steep climbs. The Virginia portion of the route, surprisingly, has more total elevation gain than any other state.

Logistics

Camping choices vary between small private campgrounds, city parks, state and national parks, national forests, and the occasional back yard. The northern Oregon coast is a heavily traveled tourist route and is flush with camping and services. From Oregon eastward through Kansas, services are limited mainly to towns. Carrying extra water in the West is recommended. Camping options improve in the Rocky Mountains, but travellers face long stretches between accommodations and services. Options increase near tourist areas such as Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. Camping in city parks is the norm through Kansas and Missouri. Food, water, and overnight accommodations are abundant from Missouri to Virginia.

States on the TransAmerica Trail Bicycle Route

1. Oregon
2. Idaho
3. Montana
4. Wyoming
5. Colorado
6. Kansas
7. Missouri
8. Illinois
9. Kentucky
10. Virginia

Rural crafts

Rural crafts refers to the traditional crafts production that is carried on, simply for everyday practical use, in the agricultural countryside. Once widespread and commonplace, the survival of some rural crafts is now in doubt.

Not being generally produced for sale, they do not fall under the description of handicraft. Not being produced as a hobby, they do not qualify as arts and crafts. Not (until very recently) being produced by a dedicated full-time worker, but rather being part of a general repertoire of skills, they have not been produced for sale by an artisan class of makers. The exceptions to the latter would be the wheelwrights, saddle-makers and blacksmiths.

Examples of rural crafts would be:

• Basket making (for carrying)
• Basket trap making (for catching animals, e.g.: eels)
• Hurdle making
• Hay crib making
• Spinning yarn
• Hedge laying
• Charcoal burning
• Dry stone walling
• Cob walling
• Thatching
• Pond making
• Coracle making
• Boundary marker making (e.g.: stone cairns)

A wide variety of joinery construction in wood was also practiced, from tool-making through gate-making and wheel-making, to full-scale barn building. Some add skills such as beekeeping and path laying to the list of rural crafts. In coastal areas, there are additional crafts associated with the sea; such as net making for fishing, and small boat making.

Rural crafts will tend to vary in their styles from place to place, and will thus often contribute strongly to a sense of place.

Offering training courses in, and demonstrations of, rural crafts is now becoming a viable job in some parts of the British Isles, and thus contributing to the development of tourism. Artists such as Andy Goldsworthy are also exploring the artistic possibilities of applying rural crafts techniques to the making of outdoor sculptural art.

The rural crafts are to be distinguished from the pseudo-primitive "rustic" handicraft goods often seen in rural gift shops.

Ride the Ducks

Ride the Ducks is a duck tour operator, and an eponymous tourist attraction in US cities such as Baltimore, Branson, Memphis and Philadelphia. It makes use of amphibious vehicles ("ducks") to provide tours of cities by boat and by land. Several such services have sprung up in recent years in other major cities including Boston, Portland, and Toronto.

The actual vehicle is based on the famous WWII DUKW amphibious design (see post-war use). Today, the company builds its vehicles from the ground up to incorporate advances in marine design and safety.

Ride the Ducks supported rescue and evacuation efforts in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. They volunteered equipment, crew, and other resources in order to help evacuate residents of the hardest-hit areas. The volunteering team was deemed "invaluable" by those involved in the rescue effort, as the ducks were able to safely access areas inaccessible by other means.

Pomme d'Or

The Pomme d'Or (French for golden apple) is a prize for excellence in the tourism industry awarded by FIJET, the European association of professional travel writers and journalists. It's awarded yearly to an organization, location or person for recognising superior efforts in promoting and raising the level of tourism.

List of recipients

• 1971 - Italy, Sicily
• 1971 - Belgium, Bokrijk
• 1971 - The Netherlands, De Efteling
• 1972 - Yugoslavia, Sveti Stefan
• 1972 - Hungary, Estergone
• 1972 - Ireland, "horse carriage excursions/holidays"
• 1973 - France, Thoiry-en-Yvelines
• 1973 - Belgium, Arthur Haulot (General Commissioner of Tourism)
• 1974 - United Kingdom, York
• 1975 - Romania, Bukovina
• 1976 - Germany, Rothenburg
• 1978 - Yugoslavia, Sarajevo
• 1979 - Bulgaria, Rila
• 1980 - France, Pézenas
• 1981 - Spain, Robert Lonati (Secretary General of World Tourist Organisation - WTO)
• 1982 - Russia, Suzdal
• 1983 - Finland, Turku
• 1984 - Turkey, Antalya
• 1985 - Spain, Palos de la Fontera
• 1986 - Poland, Kraków
• 1987 - Cyprus, Nicosia
• 1988 - Portugal, Funchal/Madeira
• 1988 - Greece, Mont Pelion
• 1990 - Colombia, Cartagena de Indias
• 1991 - Tunisia, Utinah
• 1993 - Belgium, Antwerpen
• 1994 - Egypt, South Sinai
• 1995 - Cuba, Santiago de Cuba
• 1996 - Spain, Caceres
• 1996 - Dubrovnik, Croatia
• 1997 - Russia, Moscow and Jury Lushkov (Mayor of Moscow)
• 2000 - Belgium, Mol Lake District
• 2001 - Lebanon, City of Tyr
• 2002 - Egypt, Sharm el Sheikh
• 2003 - Turkey, Nemrut Dag
• 2004 - Czech Republic, Brno
• 2005 - Croatia, Split

Podguide

A podguide is an enhanced audio tour podcast. It is a single audio file where each chapter displays a picture and a number of what to look at at a certain stopover. The numbers correspond to the numbers on a map that can be downloaded via the link incorporated into the artwork of the chapters in the podguide. Podguides are in the m4a format and can only be listened to through iTunes or an iPod. It is like a soundseeing tour but with pictures and a map, so users can take the tour themselves.

Nature center

A nature center is an organization with a visitor center designed to educate people about nature and the environment. Usually located within a protected open space, nature centers often have trails through their property. Some are located within a state or city park, and some have special gardens or an arboretum. Their properties can be characterized as nature preserves and wildlife sanctuaries. Nature centers generally display small live animals, such as reptiles, rodents, insects, or fish, or preserved mounted animals or animal parts. There are often museum exhibits and displays or signs about natural history and most offer educational programs to the general public, as well as to school groups. Many nature centers have summer camp and after-school programs.

Many nature centers allow free admission, but collect voluntary donations in order to keep them running. They usually rely on support from dedicated volunteers.

Environmental education centers usually differ from nature centers in that they offer education programs by appointment only, although casual visitors can walk on their grounds.

List of notable nature centers

California

• Galster Park Nature Center (Irwindale)
• Rancho Del Oso Nature and History Center (California)

Connecticut

• Earthplace (Westport)
• New Canaan Nature Center (New Canaan)

Georgia

• Chattahoochee Nature Center (Roswell)

Massachusetts

• Camp Nihan (Saugus)

Minnesota

• Lee and Rose Warner Nature Center (Marine on St. Croix)
• Springbrook Nature Center (Fridley)
• River Bend Nature Center (Faribault)

New Jersey

• Tenafly Nature Center (Tenafly)

New Mexico

• Pajarito Environmental Education Center (New Mexico)

New York

• Emma Treadwell Thacher Nature Center (Voorheesville)
• Stony Kill Farm (Fishkill)
• Theodore Roosevelt Nature Center at Jones Beach State Park (Wantagh)

Ohio

• Nature Center at Shaker Lakes (Shaker Heights)

Tennessee

• Discovery Center at Murfree Spring (Murfreesboro)
• Lichterman Nature Center (Memphis)
• Owl's Hill Nature Center (Brentwood)

[edit] Texas

• Riverside Nature Center (Kerrville)

London pass

The London Pass is a plastic card including a computer chip which entitles the holder to enter a number of tourist attractions in and around the London region without paying the standard entry fee. The London Pass is most popular with international tourists visiting London for a short time and can be purchased for one, two, three and six day durations, with or without travel on London's public transport included.

Criticism

The London Pass receives mixed reviews from tourists who either do or don't believe it offers value for money. The passes cost between £30 and £112 and must be used on consecutive days, offering entry to as many attractions as time allows in the time frame purchased.

Attractions included on the London Pass are:

Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum
Apsley House
Banqueting House
Benjamin Franklin House
Bramah Museum of Tea and Coffee
Britain at War Experience
The Cartoon Museum
Chelsea FC Stadium Tour
Chelsea Physic Garden
Chislehurst Caves
Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery
Curzon Mayfair Cinema
Curzon Soho Cinema
Cutty Sark
Eltham Palace
Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art
Eton College
Fan Museum
Firepower - The Royal Artillery Museum
Florence Nightingale Museum
Foundling Museum
Guards Museum
Hampton Court Palace
Handel House Museum
HMS Belfast
Jason's Canal Boat Trip
Jewel Tower
Jewish Museum (Camden)
Kensington Palace & The Orangery
Kew Bridge Steam Museum
Kew Gardens
London Aquarium
London Bicycle Tour Company
London Canal Museum
London Wetland Centre
London Zoo
Museum in Docklands
Museum of Rugby
National Theatre Backstage Tours
Pollocks Toy Museum
Queen's Gallery
QUEENS Ice & Bowl
Royal Albert Hall
Royal Mews
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
Sherlock Holmes Museum
St Paul's Cathedral
Tower Bridge Exhibition
Tower of London
Vinopolis
Wellington Arch
Wernher Collection at Ranger's House
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum
Wimbledon Tour Experience
Windsor Castle

Each of these attractions has a London Pass machine at the ticket desk

Leakage effect

The leakage effect^[1] is a concept within the study of tourism. The term refers to the way in which revenue created through tourism in LEDCs (Less Economically Developed Countries) can 'leak' back to richer countries. Examples of the way this leakage can occur is through the money paid to tour operators especially in all-inclusive holidays.

Example

"A study of tourism 'leakage' in Thailand estimated that 70% of all money spent by tourists ended up leaving Thailand (via foreign-owned tour operators, airlines, hotels, imported drinks and food, etc.). Estimates for other Third World countries range from 80% in the Caribbean to 40% in India". ^[2]

Leakage effect in the Caribbean

---

"This theory of the 'leakage effect' is very prominent in Caribbean tourism. An example of a Caribbean island where this is evident is Jamaica. According to Missed opportunities in tourism only 50 % of the profits made from tourism stays in the local economy. The other 50 % is leaked outside of the country and benefits foreign economies."

LateRooms

LateRooms is a hotel reservations website used as an online clearing house by hotels for their unsold hotel rooms. Launched in 1999, the site originally started as a simple directory listing hotels but in 2002 moved to enable users to book hotels online (some hotels require a telephone call to LateRooms). In 2006 it lists over 12,000 hotels. The site has featured in the Telegraph, is listed in The Sunday Times Top Travel Sites and was 16th in the Sunday Times/Microsoft sponsored Tech Track league table of the UK's fastest growing private technology companies, 2005.

Geographical Coverage

The majority of hotels listed are located in the UK and Europe although the site does include a growing selection of hotels on other continents. The company is based in Manchester, UK and has offices in Milan, Italy and Barcelona, Spain.

Business Model

Laterooms was bought by First Choice in January 2007 for between £108M and £120M.

Hotels enter their own rates on LateRooms and are supposed to update daily to reflect genuine availability. LateRooms generates revenue by charging the hotels commission for any bookings generated.

A few hotels do not honour the "live availability" undertaking, in effect attempting to use LateRooms as simply an advertising medium. Such hotels will leave a dummy room on show at attractive rates, which is not available to book. However, LateRooms do genuinely seem to deprecate this practice and take steps to prevent it - it is now relatively rare. Such hotels can usually be spotted by having rooms "available" for all nights and all at the same price, while genuine hotels have some nights unavailable and different nights at different rates.

Site Features

The site lists hotels categorised primarily by location. Discounted room rates (ie below 'rack rates') are shown in orange text. Cynics point out that most hotels now sell their rooms at prices lower than their ‘rack’ rates, except to an unwary visitor walking in off the street and simply asking for a room. Although it is true that chain hotels which use Lateroom may be offering the same rates on their own web sites, this is not true for independent hotels, and LateRooms real USP is to show a live (or nearly live) availability for a large number of hotels (all of which meet the customers date/location/facilities requirements) at a single glance. When the user selects a hotel, the full list of available room types for the desired dates is shown.

Search

To narrow down the list of hotels presented, a number of different ‘quick searches’ are available to help users of the site. These filter the lists of hotels to display various specific subsets, for example those offering the largest discounts, cheap hotels, luxury hotels and hotels with disabled facilities for a particular area. An enhanced search on the London Hotels pages of the site enables users to find hotels by nearest tube station, specific London area or London postcode. All rates on LateRooms are quoted on a per room basis and therefore single people will have a wider choice when searching if they don't specify a room size.

Maps

Maps showing the hotel locations are available together with a number of comprehensive city guides for main destinations including London, Paris and Rome.

Hotel Reservations

Although the site specialises in last minute hotel reservations, bookings can be made up to 12 months in advance. Bookings are secured by credit card but payment is made to the hotel on departure. Hotels can be booked online or by phone in English, French, Italian, German or Spanish.

Kuchelain

Kuchelain - during the rise of the tourism and hospitality industry of the Sullivan County Catskill mountain region, there was a large influx of Jewish summer vacationers. Discrimination and Anti-Semitism prevented them from staying at the already established resorts. Many struggling farmers began converting their farmhouses into large boarding houses. Their summer guests were often given kitchen privileges so that the Jewish mothers could prepare meals for their entire families. This popular type of arrangement became known as the "kuchelain," named after its translation, to "cook alone." However, the women were rarely alone in the communal kitchen, which was generally bustling as the center of activity. There were many opportunities to share & compare recipes; boast about whose latkes were the best and whose matzoh balls were the lightest; and gossip & interact about the news of the day.

Issta

Issta Lines Group (established 1956) is one of Israel's oldest and leading travel companies. Issta Lines markets flights, hotels, organized tours, car rental, ski holidays, cruises and a large selection of various travel products. Issta is also a wholesale provider and operates charter flights and package holidays to European and Mediterranean destinations. Issta Lines Group is constructed of a number of travel companies, the main company is Issta, Israel's largest travel brand that holds 49 branches in the country. Issta Lines Group also operates travel agencies in England, Paris and Amsterdam as well as sub-groups and daughter companies. Issta employs 1,100 workers and its 2006 revenue was 1.5 billion nis. (~$350,000,000).

History

Issta is an acronym which stands for Israeli Student Travel Association, a name which reveals its initial purpose: a student exchange organization which began operating at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in 1956. Issta's preliminary aim was providing discounts and benefits specifically crafted for Student Travel. Issta's first commercial step was marketing discounted seats for students in Zim Integrated Shipping Services passenger ships (formerly ZIM Israel Navigation Company). In 1958 Issta began operating as an independent company owned by the Technion Student Body. At the same year Issta leased airplanes for the first time and began marketing remarkably cheaper flights to Athens, Greece. Issta continued functioning as a charter operator and cruise retailer and during the 1960s turned Athens Airport into its hub.

Following the increase of incoming Student Travel and Volunteering in Israel during the 1960s, Issta began providing services for Incoming Tourism: Bus Tours around Israel, hostels, hotels and printed matter. Following a model outlined by the International Student Travel Confederation, Issta signed long-term contracts with various airlines and began marketing specially-priced seats for youth and students in regular flights.

During the 1970s Issta experienced the vicissitudes implied by political and economical upheavals. Yom Kippur War that took place in October 1973 led to a severe crisis in the Israeli travel industry. The war resulted in a complete discontinuation of outgoing tourism which one of its peaks is during the Jewish High Holidays. On the other hand tourists and volunteers stopped arriving in Israel. The 1973 oil crisis led to a steep increase in gas - and therefore in flight tickets - prices. As a result of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus that took place in the summer of 1974 all the air carriers besides El Al Israel Airlines suspended their flights to and from Israel for several weeks.

In the summer of 1978 Issta leased an aircraft from El Al for an entire season and operated student charter flights from Tel Aviv to European destinations. In the summer of 1979 Issta leased a 260-seat aircraft from Capitol Airlines and operated its first trans-Atlantic flight to New York. Later that summer Issta operated 2 weekly flights to New York in an aircraft leased from 'El Al Charter Services Ltd.' (later Sun d'Or International Airlines). Thanks to the Trans-Atlantic flights 1979 was the most profitable year in the history of Issta so far.

In 1985 Issta joined the Israeli Travel Agent Association. Highly profitable winter and summer seasons led the company to a broad expansion. Issta committed to additional flights, extended its branches and hired more employees. In 1987 Issta owned eight branches and employed 120 workers. Its annual revenue reached $9 million and for the first time it granted scholarships for students. In 1989 Issta began launching branches in Israel's suburban and peripheral towns. Computerization of the company began in the late 1980s, a process which was a stepping stone in Issta's radical growth in the following years. Issta Direct Call Centre began operating as an informational telephone line in the beginning of the 1990s and later transformed into a reservation and marketing centre.

In 1995 Issta's gross revenue reached $90 million. The company employed 300 workers in 20 branches. In May 1996 the company was issued in Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. In 1999 Nofesh Yashir call center, that specializes in last minute deals and holiday packages began operating. The Issta Internet travel we

Intourist

Intourist (Russian: Интурист, contraction of иностранный турист, 'foreign tourist') is a Russian travel agency, 66%-owned by Moscow-based holding company Sistema.

Before privatisation in 1992, Intourist was renowned as the official state travel agency of the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1929 by Joseph Stalin and was staffed by NKVD officials. Intourist was responsible for managing the great majority of foreigners' access to, and travel within, the Soviet Union. It grew into one of the largest tourism organisations in the world, with a network embracing banks, hotels, and bureaux de change.

Sistema plans to float shares in Intourist on the London Stock Exchange in 2007.

Intervac

Intervac International is a worldwide organisation that facilitates exchanges of homes ("home exchange" or "house swapping") for vacations. Proponents of this form of travel call it culturally-enriching, comfortable and economic - while promoting international contacts and understanding. Intervac was founded in 1953. It is the longest operating home exchange service. Intervac currently has on average 10,000 members based in 50 countries worldwide.

Hippie trail

The hippie trail is a term used to describe the journeys taken by hippies in the 1960s and 1970s from Europe, overland to and from eastern Asia. One of the key motivations was the desire to travel as cheaply as possible, mainly to extend the length of time away from home, and so journeys were carried out by thumbing (hitchhiking) or cheap, private buses that traveled the route. There were also trains which traveled part of the way, particularly across Eastern Europe, through Turkey and to Tehran or east to Mashhad, Iran, where public or private transportation could be obtained.

Typical route

Such journeys would typically start from countries in western Europe, often the cities of London or Amsterdam. Many from the US took Icelandic Airlines to Luxembourg, and passed through 'key' spots such as Istanbul, Tehran, Herat, Kabul, Peshawar, Lahore with Goa or Kathmandu being the usual destinations. Kathmandu still has a road nicknamed Freak Street in memory of the many thousands of hippies who pass through. An alternative route was from Turkey via Syria, Jordan, and Iraq to Iran and then east. Further travel to southern India, Sri Lanka, and points east to Australia was also undertaken.

The overland suffered from political changes at the end of the 1970s. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the Shah was deposed by an Islamic revolution in Iran. Still, Sundowners and Top Deck pioneered a route through Baluchistan. Top Deck continued its trips throughout the Iran-Iraq war and later conflicts and took its last trip in 1998.

With a loosening of immigration in Iran the route has again become somewhat feasible, although conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and some parts of Pakistan make the route difficult to negotiate.

Guides

The BIT Guide, a stapled-together "A4 bundle" providing information for travellers and updated by those already on the road, warned of pitfalls and places to see and stay. The first BIT Guide was produced by the BIT Information & Help Service in London in 1970. The BIT guide reached its peak under the control of legendary traveller Geoff Crowther, who arrived at BIT in 1972.

The guidebook company Lonely Planet got its birth when its founders published writings from their overland trip, driving from the UK to Australia.

Motivation

Many on the hippie trail were driven by the ideals of 'finding yourself', 'seeking God' and 'communicating with other peoples', ideals fundamental to the hippie movement. The bulk of travelers comprised Western Europeans, North Americans, Australians, and Japanese. Ideas and experiences were exchanged in well known hostels and hotels along the way, such as the Pudding Shop in Istanbul, or the Amir Kabir in Tehran. Many carried a backpack and, while the majority were young, older people and families occasionally travelled the route. A number drove the entire distance.

In the mid-1970s a number of operators attempted to commercialise the route. Some of the more successful at taking paying passengers included Transit Travel, AutoTours, Sundowners and Top Deck.

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HipGuide

HipGuide [1] is a city guide, founded in 1998 by former Accenture consultant Syl Tang. Over 350,000 hipsters, including various celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Jay-Z read it. The internet site also has HipBites, an emailed magazine that reports on what’s new in the way of hotels, bars, restaurants, and shopping in one of its nine flagship cities. Additionally, the magazine often spotlights other more far-flung cities, such as Sydney or Shanghai, and also includes interviews with authors, special deals for readers etc.

One of Yahoo’s and the BBC’s recommended city guides, HipGuide is read by more than a thousand media outlets, amongst them the New York Times, Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, Harper’s Bazaar and the Financial Times. HipGuide also supply original editorial for a variety of media companies, detailing trends, new openings, fashion fads and so on. Tang herself is involved in consulting dozens of product companies interested in enticing a target audience that, like HipGuide readers, will pay to stay one step ahead of the pack. Most notably, she created a plan to help the State of Michigan[2] retain and attract trend-setters as part of their Cool Cities [3]initiative.

Facts and Trivia

• HipGuide is known as the ‘AP’ of trends
• According to Google, HipGuide gets more than 2 million hits per month
• More than 50 celebs have been caught checking out HipGuide
• HipGuide regularly reports on what’s new in New York, London, Paris, Miami, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and LA.
• Syl Tang is a New York-based trend tracker.
• In addition to HipGuide she frequently writes for the Financial Times[4], She has also been a columnist and contributor to Vogue, Forbes, Star Magazine, AM New York, The New York Times and InStyle Magazine.
• Tang appears as herself in the TV series The House of Boateng [5], a show produced by Ben Silverman, who is behind The Office, Ugly Betty and The Tudors.
• Tang was the first American journalist to cover Sass & Bide