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Performance Tours for Educational Travel Groups
January 5th, 2009 by Lauren Thompson, under Travel and Leisure. No Comments
For the high school or junior high school band, orchestra, jazz ensemble or choir, an educational field trip is even more desirable if it includes a public performance for an audience. There are several components that must come together for a great performance tour. Selection of an experienced educational travel company is key to the performance tour’s success. There must be a performance venue set-up and the educational travel group must have permission to travel to and set up at the venue well in advance. The rest of the time the student tour group will be engaged in seeing some of the sights A good educational travel consultant will know exactly where to bring the student group.
Size of Performance Tour Groups
Compared to other student travel groups, the performance tours can be almost four times larger. For example, a normal size for a performance tour group is 80-100 or even as many as 200 participants, whereas the average high school travel tour is comprised of about 40-50 students. Large performance tour groups require one tour guide on each bus. Though some educational travel companies only provide one tour guide for approximately three to four busses, my company standards require one guide per bus.
Traveling by Plane with Musical Instruments
The educational tour company must have a list of instruments in order to make certain they all make it to the chosen destination. Students participating in the travel tour should provide the weight and dimensions of each instrument to the educational tour company and note oversized cases. The educational travel consultant will coordinate where the musical instruments need to be delivered at the airport, usually through cargo.
Desirable Skills and Abilities for Educational Travel Consultants on Performance Tours
A student tour group on performance tour should select the educational travel company carefully. It is highly desirable for the educational travel consultant to be experienced at bringing high school, junior high and middle school choirs, concert bands, orchestras, jazz ensembles, and more on performance tour.
There are several key functions a good tour director will execute on a performance tour and these include: directing the bus driver to park the bus at the proper location for unloading, dropping off a large student travel group, and finding the key person who works at the performance venue for collaboration. Specific on site functions include: coordinating the set up of the performance group, an assessment of the room allocated, electrical, instrument, amplifier, and microphone placement, and the position of keyboards and larger instruments on stage. If the staff of the educational travel consultant’s company possesses these skills and is cross-trained for marching bands, the company is ideal for any performance tour group. Educational travel consultants train professional staff specifically for performance tours and marching bands. Other companies need to provide this in order for performance tours to go smoothly, too.
Student travel groups on performance tour have different objectives, needs, and challenges than educational travel groups on tour for academic growth and enrichment. Although traveling with musical instruments is a concern, it is only one of the challenges a tour director may face on performance tour.
The best idea for any school group is to retain an educational travel consultant with experience in working with choirs, concert bands and orchestras, jazz ensembles and other types of musical performance groups that can be found in middle, junior high, and high school environments. By retaining seasoned educational tour professionals, the performance tour is bound to be a smashing success that educational tour groups can look forward to year after year.
Tips to Help You Save Money on Your Vacation Hotel
January 4th, 2009 by Lauren Thompson, under Travel and Leisure. No Comments
With the economic crisis looming over heads every day it seems like less and less people are willing to take their vacations, and while it is smart to take care of your finances it doesn’t mean you have to give up your vacations to do so. There are new developments in helping someone have a great vacation without breaking their bank account.
The first step in helping your vacation costs is to use the Internet to your advantage. Many websites are now offering a place to look for deals without having to go any farther than the comfort of your home. You can open your favorite search engine and quickly find many websites that allow you to use their database in finding a place to stay during your vacation stay. Some websites even offer traveling packages that will combine your airfare with your hotel stay, helping you save money that you can use for other things for your trip. If you plan on booking your hotel online you can also find promotional coupon codes that will also help you save money. One way to find these is by joining a travel message board. Most are free to join, and members are there to offer tips, advice and goodies - including coupon codes, where to find the best and cheapest deals, and hot spots. You can even read their reviews for consideration.
Even with all the help you can find online, there are still a few other things you can do to help save money on your vacation. One is to book your vacation in the off-season of the year, or even styaing in a hotel during the week. Most people like to book their hotel stays during the weekend, and hotels like to take advantage of that by raising their prices. If you are willing to do without some amenities that most popular hotel chains like to offer you might be able to find some luck by booking with an independent hotel.
This also will help if you don’t mind staying a little farther out than your actual vacation destination. Don’t hesitate in talking with your family and friends. You might be surprised in finding a great deal of information about a place you haven’t thought of before. Using the hotel managers to your advantage by approaching them with the best of intentions might also help you save even more money than you would have expected. They are there to willing to help guide you in you use the right approach. They might even give you a few pointers towards a better deal!
Many people feel shy or worried that they won’t get the best out of their vacation, but with a little research you can end up with more bang for your buck. Having a great vacation doesn’t mean you have to deal out a bunch of money. By cutting some unnessecaries, you’ll end up giving yourself even more options so that you can feel better and enjoy your vacation.
Value Luxury Hotels
January 3rd, 2009 by Lauren Thompson, under Travel and Leisure. No Comments
Are you bored? Do you need a change in life? Then all you need is a good long vacation in a luxury hotel. Travel to exotic locations that you’ve never been to just to get rid of your boredom. Stay in the most exquisite hotels and do the things you have never done in life.
A stay in one of the luxury hotels will change your life completely. Tease your self with the most comfortable beds. Treat your body to soothing professional spas. Let your taste buds go wild with ecstasy with the best dishes in town.
Taste the best wine to go along wit your mouth watering dishes. Apart from all this if you are an adrenaline junkie there are several out door activities like deep sea diving, bungee jumping, rock climbing, quad racing, zorbing. If this isn’t enough we recommend a quick lap or lazy afternoon at the swimming pool just to relax yourself.
The steam rooms and the jacuzzi will help you to recover from any mental stress your going through. Most hotels are equipped with state of the art gyms to cater to the fitness freak. Travel around the city or towns and meet more people or take a guided city tour which can be arranged by the hotel itself. And if you are not interested with any of the above, good hotels also provide you wit the best sea or city views which might just take your breath away. As long as nightlife is concerned, bars and pubs at fancy locations are usually open throughout the night just to get you in the groove. All this and more just to make your stay more memorable.
If you want all of this packed in your vacation, it is time you got off that lazy couch and start packing. Waiting for you is a week long vacation at a luxury hotel of your choice with thrills and laughs. The world is waiting for you.
Score Dirt Cheap Tickets to New York
January 3rd, 2009 by Lauren Thompson, under Travel and Leisure. No Comments
The weak U.S. dollar has made it very easy for European travelers to find some great deals on airfare to New York City - arguably one of the best tourist destinations on the planet. You can get cheap airline tickets to New York from London, Paris and almost every major city in Europe, making this a perfect time to finally make that trip to New York City.
Shopping, restaurants and theater are just a few of the things that make New York an awesome tourist destination. Many people have dreams of one day visiting the Big Apple and with the dirt cheap airline tickets available now you can make your dream come true.
Airlines are competing with each other to rake in the Euros and pounds from Europe’s travelers and they have their sights set on New York’s tourist passengers. Combine this competition with a dollar that hasn’t been this weak in decades and you’ve got the perfect storm for Europe’s tourism crowd.
Follow these five tips to get a cheap ticket to New York and have the holiday of your life.
1. Don’t travel during the peak seasons of summer and Christmas. You’ll find the best ticket prices from February until April and again from September until mid-November. Take advantage of these off peak times for the cheaper airline tickets available.
2. Besides avoiding peak seasons avoid the peak days of the week for travel. Airfare is very different on different days of the week. Early morning and late night flights are also cheaper as they are less traveled. Keep both these facts in mind when looking for dirt cheap airline tickets to the Big Apple.
3. Plan you trip and book tickets at least two weeks in advance. Many times you’ll find that tickets purchased in advance will be cheaper. The airlines regularly raise their prices beginning 2-3 weeks prior to the flight. By booking several months in advance you can secure your tickets at the very lowest prices.
4. Look into the different NYC airports to find bargain tickets. New York has three International airports, La Guardia, Newark and JFK, and the prices to each can be quite different. If you don’t have a reason to fly into a specific airport you should definitely research the price differences between the three. You could end up saving a couple hundred Euro in the process.
5. Watch ticket prices to determine the trends. Even if you’ve already booked your ticket you should keep an eye on the prices as some travel agents will credit you the difference should a price decrease after you’ve purchased. You could knock an additional 10% off already cheap airline tickets this way.
If you’ve always dreamed of visiting New York then there’s no better time than now. The dollar isn’t likely to continue declining forever and oil prices will only increase the ticket prices. Take your high priced Euros and pounds and take the trip of a lifetime because ticket prices won’t stay this dirt cheap forever.
How To Minimize Stress During World Travel and Tours
December 30th, 2008 by Lauren Thompson, under Travel and Leisure. No Comments
With world travel the very first thing you can do to reduce your stress levels is to have a travel agent you can trust. This is because you have no idea of all the rules and regulations that are going to come up during your world tours. Having an agent that you trust is a great source of stress reduction. This is because you do not have to worry about all the little details and the infinite amount of paperwork and changes that come up. A good travel agent can advise of things like your passports, visas, shots and immunizations, as well as providing tips on local customs and culture so that you can fit in more easily when you arrive.
There are a number of travel sites out there and the most popular ones deal with getting you the cheapest flights and hotels. This is great and wonderful for what they do and they are good at it. They however will not make sure that all the little details are taken care of or provide the personal touch that other sites and agencies can. I have found that world-travel-tour.com is one of those sites that does a good job of keeping their eye on all the small details.
World travel these days can be a very scary thing filled with all kinds of stress because of the events in the news. A good agent is aware of all those things and will do everything to make sure that you are safe. Your world tour will be enjoyable and relaxing when you have the assistance of a knowledgeable agent. Here are some other things to consider while on your world tour.
Make sure you have your schedule set and that you did allow yourself some “me time” in all the hustle and bustle of the trip that is something that can be easily forgotten. Keep your schedule realistic, these tour spots have been there for thousands of years and they will be there when you get to come back. Make sure you have a list of your medications and doctors so that if something should happen you can get proper treatment.
Bring a good book to read since the flights are long and you will have plenty of time to read and sleep. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep before you head out on your flight. Even if your world travel is for business, schedule yourself some time for yourself to enjoy the new location you are in, instead of just trying to cram in back to back meetings and appointments. You will be able to enjoy being in the place you’re at for the meeting and be well rested and be able to work better in the end.
Relax and enjoy your world tour and find all the secrets the world has to offer. it will be a good start to finding what the secrets are. The secret after all is that this world travel stuff really does not have to be filled with stress and doubt. If you want that, then go to work, world travel is about stress free time for you.