Friday

Facebook Offers Free Ads to Small Businesses

Facebook today announced a new program aimed at helping small businesses retain existing customers, build awareness of their brands and reach new customers among the social network's 800 million users.

Usage of online social networking sites like Facebook is growing. In July, more than 213 million Americans were active on the Internet, according to media research firm comScore. And the second most visited site for the month was Facebook.

Facebook's own data suggest that more than half of its 800 million active users have made a connection to a small business. That amounts to about 700 million connections between existing and would-be customers and local businesses, adds Facebook.

UPDATED:
Facebook has confirmed how business owners can access the free ad offer, according to several reports. Businesses interested in receiving the $50 freebie will need to first take out an ad on Facebook.

Like pay-per-click ads on search engines, when a consumer clicks on your Facebook ad, the advertiser (you) are asked to pay a set rate for that click -- anywhere from 5 cents to 25 cents. Facebook, starting in January, will give you $50 worth of those clicks for free. Note that the freebie will be awarded to owners on a first-come, first-served basis up to 200,000 businesses

Wednesday

How to Find Honeymoon Business

Bridal Shows are a great way for you to find honeymoon business. This is a great time of year to seek out the Bridal Shows that are happening in your local area. Many Bridal shows are held in the fall months or in the first quarter of the new year. Sandals and Beaches Resorts are the perfect Luxury Included รข Vacations to highlight at these shows.
Bridal Show Check-list

· Contact your local Chamber of Commerce to find out what Bridal Show events will be in your area.

· Secure a booth at the Bridal Show

· Order brochures and displays from Sandals Resorts, which are available either by ordering online in our travel agent portal at www.sandals.com/tas or by calling Inside Sales Department at 1-800-48-SPECIAL

· Collect leads at the Bridal Show yourself! Don’t wait for the show to give you the list of the show attendees. In many cases, you will not receive their attendee list for quite some time and many of the Brides will have already booked their honeymoon. There are many ways for you to get their contact information before you leave the show. One way is to put together a raffle prize, such as a basket filled with inexpensive honeymoon or beach items. Make the basket look fun and attractive! The show attendees contact information can be used as their “Raffle Ticket”.

· Send the show attendees a follow-up letter. Let them know that you are available to them for a personal consultation to discuss their very important honeymoon. Remember … they saw a lot of venders at the show. Remind them who you are and how you can help them!

· Contact the Sandals local Business Development Manager to set up a date for a Caribbean Night Event to follow-up your Bridal Show leads. This event should be held within 1-3 weeks of the Bridal Show for the best results. A list of local Business Development Managers and their territories is available in the travel agent area of the Sandals website.

· Attend a half- day workshop in your area, so that you’ll be well informed about Sandals, Beaches and Grand Pineapple Resorts. If a workshop is not available in your area, contact your local BDM for a personal resort update training.

If you have any questions or if you would like to get some ideas on how to pursue this recession proof honeymoon business, please don’t hesitate to contact me for assistance.

Joy Fogarty
Training and Business Development Associate
Unique Vacations l Worldwide Representative of
Sandals Resorts l Beaches Resorts l Grand Pineapple Resorts
Phone: 803-649-6568
Email: jfogarty@uvi.sandals.com


Now is the perfect time to Learn How To Become a Travel Agent.
Learn how to become a travel agent and open your own online travel agency. Earn extra income and Free Travel Benifites. http://www.homebasedtravelagents.org/ or http://www.aarchostagency.com/

Monday

Carnivals New Toobox

Carnival Cruise Lines has introduced a new "Travel Partner Toolbox," designed to provide new online tools and features for agents, and create some fun along the way. Go to http://www.goccl.com/ Remember you must use FireFox to access website

Wednesday

Tune in and be entered to win a travel prize!

Join us for a very special live online Family Travel CONNECTiON on October 5th (11am Pacific).

Listen to our panel of industry experts as they offer up their best tips to help you build your family travel client base and drive family travel bookings. And, in addition to the exciting discussion, the easy to navigate site allows you to quickly browse special offers, agent incentives, videos & slideshows and more. Join the discussion and get all your questions answered in a live Q&A session.

Discussion topics will include:

  1. The Growing Multigenerational Market
  2. Emerging Trends and Products
  3. Exotic Destinations - off the beaten path
  4. Niche Sales Opportunities: Reunions, Groups, Grandtravel
Register today and be entered to win a great travel prize!

Mark your calendar! Click on the link below and register now.

www.tawfamilytravelconnection.com

Now is the perfect time to Learn How To Become a Travel Agent.
Learn how to become a travel agent and open your own online travel agency. Earn extra income and Free Travel Benifites. http://www.homebasedtravelagents.org/ or http://www.aarchostagency.com/

Disney Travel Agent News

Always available at your fingertips, the “Quote or Book” button on http://www.disneytravelagents.com/ is the quickest way to get a quote or book your Client’s next Disney cruise vacation. However, if you do need to call for assistance, remember to use the designated Travel Agent phone number 800-511-1333. This will help ensure that your call is serviced in the most efficient and direct way possible.

Saturday

Travel Bound

Travel Bound has over 35,000 hotel properties in 130 countries, plus sightseeing and transfers. The website is www.booktravelbound.com and is very easy to use. The Agent ID for What A Trip agents to access the Travel Bound website is 21245. Agents will also need your IATAN and their email address.

Travel Bound only sells to travel agents and also has a call centre which can be reached at 1 800 808 9542. The FIT groups department will customize groups of 10 or more people. We also offer many properties in  the USA and have a special agent rewards program for domestic bookings which you can sign up for.

Since What A Trip is a member of Vacation.com, the starting commission on hotels, sightseeing and transfers will be 13%. Commissions to agents are paid promptly two weeks after the client travels.
 .

Wednesday

For Baby boomers Travel is Their Top Dream

An AARP national telephone survey of 29,000 babyboomers recently asked people to describe their “top dream.”Not Surprisingly, it was to travel. Two out of five older adults said that vacation and travel was their top dream, ranked above hobbies and interests (15 percent); kids, grandkids, family and friends (13 percent); faith and spirituality (6 percent); good health (6 percent); and career, job and work (5 percent).

A survey by the New York-based Focalyst found that more than 81 million older adults who were planning to travel in the next year planned to spend a total of $126 billion. This economic potential does not go unnoticed by the travel industry.

More than 100 million Americans today are age 45 or older, their households accounting for 91 percent of America’s net worth. This group represents the largest, fastest growing, richest consumer market on the planet, accounting for half of Earth’s consumer spending.

Research of older adults has resulted in the shattering of some stereotypes. Boomers are the wealthiest generation in history, and even though only 9 percent are truly affluent – defined as having pretax incomes of $150,000 or more if working, or $100,000 or more if retired – this 9 percent will transform travel as we know it.

Americans have become the top international tourists abroad. In about half of all international traveling, Americans end up in Western Europe and of these, one in five go to Britain, and equally to France and Germany

Tuesday

Growing Your Church Group Travel Bookings

Agents! Don't Miss the Only Event Dedicated to Growing Your
Church Group Travel Bookings

  • Full Day Conference Gives You the Tools and Information You Need to Expand Your Faith Travel Bookings
  • Network and Build Relationships at the Two-Day Expo Showcasing the Leading Travel Companies Who
    Support Faith Travelers and Understand the Unique Needs of the Groups You Do Business With
  • Individualized Appointments Allow You to Maximize Your Time
  • Dedicated 3-Hour Workshop Especially Designed for Travel Agents -- Whether you are an experienced agent
    who specializes in faith-based travel or you are looking to expand into this lucrative market segment, the
    Faith Travel Conference & Expo will deliver specialized content made for you, including:
    • Planning a Catholic, Protestant or Jewish Tour - Understand the Difference and What is Important to Each Faith
    • Learn to Determine the Needs and Interests of Your Faith Based Leaders and How to Step In and Help
    • Learn How to Plan and Organize a Fellowship or Pilgrimage Travel Program - the Difference and Needs of Both
    • Beyond the Mission Trip ... Communicating the Importance of the "Add-on" to Church Leadership
    • Tips on Reaching the Right Person and Building a Trusting Relationship
    • Specific Strategies to Help Your Church Group with Fundraising
    • Best Approach to Marketing Yourself and Services Within the Church Community - Pitfalls to Avoid
Register for the Conference & Expo  $49 until 9/23Discount Code: TAS
*Bonus: Receive A Copy of the Religious Planning Travel Guide When you Register.

2-for-1 Offer Bring Your Church Leader With You and Receive

Two Registrations for the Price of One


Click Here to Inquire

Friday

Free Fiji Webinar

Register now and join us at Virtual Fiji 2011. This exciting event takes place September 14th & 15th starting at 1pm EST and features the information you need to know to increase your profits selling this magical destination.

Each day begins at 1pm eastern with educational and actionable webinars at 2pm. Visit the exhibit hall for a highly focused tradeshow offering you the opportunity to interact with leading suppliers. This is a unique opportunity to engage in conversation with suppliers and other agents, peruse the latest marketing materials and explore all that Fiji has to offer.

Don't delay, reserve your spot by registering for free today!

Bahama Travel Agent FAM Trip

Vision Airlines FAM...
Grand Bahama Island

Come! Join us for a GRAND Bahama Island Experience on one of our mega fams to introduce the new Vision Airlines' service to Grand Bahama Island starting November 3rd, 2011. Gateways include the East Coast, the Midwestern States and Florida.

Stay at the newly re-invented Grand Lucayan, a Radisson Resort Property, and find out more about the other resorts, amenities and activities that Grand Bahama Island has to offer.


The new Vision Airlines' flights will make flying to The Bahamas easy, convenient and affordable, with fares starting as low as $39* each-way from Ft. Lauderdale and as low as $99* each way from the other cities.

Let us show you first-hand what Grand Bahama Island has to offer as a leading vacation destination. This trip will be educational, entertaining and relaxing. Reserve your spot now for an investment of $49 and grow your Bahamas business.

Fam dates are as follows:


• From Raleigh/Durham (RDU): September 27th - 28th, 2011.

• From Baltimore/Washington (BWI): October 4th - 5th, 2011.

• From Louisville (SDF): October 12th - 13th, 2011.

• From Richmond (RIC): October 26th - 27th, 2011.

Click here to view sample itinery.


Please note:

• The cost is $49.00/travel agent.

• Space is limited so please register today, by following these easy steps: - Choose your origin city
- View sample itinerary
- Complete registration form
- Press submit button

• Make checks payable to: The Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board

Mail to: The Bahamas Tourist Office
1200 South Pine Island Road, Suite 750
Plantation, FL. 33324
Attention: Jennifer Gardiner
Telephone: (954) 236-9292 Fax: (954) 236-9282
Email: dwatson@bahamas.com

Click here to register.

Thursday

Cunard’s New Email Teaser Video Is Customizable

Feel Famous. Sail Cunard.  Cunard has created a 30-second “Feel Famous” teaser video that home based travel  agents can email to clients to give them a taste of the luxury cruise liner company. Home based travel Agents can customize the video by inserting their contact information and personal messaging.

The video is available in Cunard’s video library for home based travel agents at OneSourceCruises.com Other new marketing tools from Cunard include: a DVD titled “Legendary Liners, Unforgettable Voyages” and Feel Famous postcards that agents can personalize. An updated series of condensed overview flyers also has been issued.

Now is the perfect time to Learn How To Become a Travel Agent.
Learn how to become a travel agent and open your own online travel agency. Earn extra income and Free Travel Benifites. http://www.HomeBasedTravelAgents.org or http://www.AARChostagency.com

YouTube Video for Home-Based Travel Agents Made Easy

It's Easy to set up
Any home-based travel agent with a basic understanding of how to sign up for something online shouldn’t need more than two hours to create a YouTube channel and select out his or her first eight to 10 video favorites.

“There’s a very easy-to-use menu bar at the top of the channel that allows you to set everything up, including background colors, fonts, arrange the order of your videos, etc.”
Pick the tours and cruises lines you want to feature. Make sure you’re not just willy-nilly searching YouTube for content.”

It's a Powerful marketing tool
Once you’ve created your YouTube channel and amassed your video favorites, those videos become part of your marketing material.

Because the videos are sent from your YouTube channel, which you’ve branded with your logo, photo and contact information, you keep your clients within your sphere of influence. “You’re not sending them to a supplier’s website where they might book directly. You’re keeping them with you. You can forward a video to someone no matter where they are in the country or the world, and it can be after-hours that they then look at it.”

Improved Your Websites SEO

A significant perk that comes with having a YouTube channel is improved search engine optimization (SEO) on Google. YouTube is owned by Google, so any presence on YouTube increases the likelihood that your agency will show up on a Google search.

“If you enter the tags of the videos that are your favorites correctly, with the description of the videos, and you enter your name and your company’s name, the more likely you are to show up within Google – and that’s huge.”

Fine-tuning your YouTube channel.
Once your YouTube channel is up, how often you change it and the content you use is up to you.

A few ideas:
• Add a video weekly or monthly.
• Pick out travel products you want to highlight on a seasonal basis and change your entire channel just a few times a year.
• Update the channel to impress an important client. “Say you have a client planning a big family trip, you may want to rearrange your channel just for that client, so they can all see the tours and properties in your proposal for the itinerary.”
• To highlight several niches or destinations, you may want to create more than one YouTube channel, each dedicated to a specific niche, such as adventure travel, or a destination, such as Africa.

No Legal Concerns.
If you’re worried about intellectual property rights and legal issues, don’t be. All you’re doing is making someone else’s video a favorite of yours. You’re not stealing it; you’re not suggesting that you created it. You’re just highlighting it on your channel.

“YouTube is a social media site. Anybody who posts their video on YouTube is opening themselves up to sharing,”.

Your Own Virtual Travel Agency Lobby
Traditionally, agents in retail settings used video, along with brochures and catalogs, to give clients sitting in their lobbies visual images of what to expect in a destination, on a particular cruise or tour, or at a certain property.

“It used to be that you could walk into a travel agency and sit down and you would see all of the brochures and catalogues that exemplified the tour operators and properties they believed in and wanted people to experience.”

Today, few agents have a physical lobby. Developing your own YouTube channel is a way to create a virtual lobby, regardless of whether a travel seller works from home or in a storefront or office – and regardless of whether they’re comfortable making their own videos.

“We know there are people out there at 10 o’clock at night searching for travel ideas. Why not have them find you? With your virtual lobby on YouTube, there’s a chance they’ll find you, learn about you and really be inspired.”

Now is the perfect time to Learn How To Become a Travel Agent.
Learn how to become a travel agent and open your own online travel agency. Earn extra income and Free Travel Benifites. http://www.HomeBasedTravelAgents.org or http://www.AARChostagency.com

Wednesday

Disney Travel Agent News

Adventures by Disney 2012 Brochure Available Online
The wait is over. The new Adventures by Disney® 2012 brochure is now available to view online. Inside, you’ll discover an award-winning lineup of family friendly group vacations – including unforgettable adventures to Greece, Northern France and Egypt.

Now is a good time to familiarize yourself with highlights of each itinerary and destination. Beginning next week, printed copies of the brochure will be available to order. Keep watching Disney Travel News for more details!

Last Chance to View Virtual Event

Now’s the time to invite your Clients on an adventure! There are only a few days left for your Clients to view a special 2012 Adventures by Disney® virtual event. This on-demand presentation features an in-depth look at two new 2012 destinations – Greece and Northern France. It also showcases immersive experiences and Disney differences that make these guided family vacations so unique.

The virtual event ends Tuesday, Sept. 13, so you’ll want to send a message today. There’s a specially designed email template available through Disney Online Post Office that you can use to invite your Clients to attend.

Now is the perfect time to Learn How To Become a Travel Agent. 
 Learn how to become a travel agent and open your own online travel agency. Earn extra income and Free Travel Benifites. http://www.homebasedtravelagents.org or http://www.AARChostagency.com

Tuesday

Vacation Agent Expo

Brought to you by the publishers of VacationAgent magazine, the FREE ONLINE VacationAgent Expo is your opportunity to connect with some of the leading suppliers in the travel industry to get the information you need to drive your business.

VacationAgent Expo combines the content you love in an online, easy to use, interactive format so you can experience the newest products and services from the convenience of your desktop. Talk LIVE with representatives from destinations, suppliers, cruise lines, tour operators and more!

Register now to attend our event that will feature:
• New product launches
• Ship inspections
• New and updated properties
• Destination Tours
• Packages

...and much more!

Register today to be eligible to win prizes from participating suppliers.

Save the Dates: Tuesday, October 25th & Wednesday, October 26th

For more information, visit us online at www.VacationAgentExpo.com