Our Travel Protector is easy to use Travel Insurance

“The site is easy to use and everything needed is covered in the travel insurance policies. We love it!”  Laurie Varney, Warwick Valley Travel, Warwick, NY.

 “You can navigate through the site very easily and you don’t waste a lot of time.” Marsha Gapinski, Green River Lines, Peru, IL.

“I like the insurance policy and there are absolutely no challenges using the site.” Trish Mercer, Georgia Travel Experts, Columbus, GA.

“It’s easy to find all information; for groups, it’s very easy to add names.” Julia Terwilleger, Dupaco Community Credit Union, Asbury, IA.

 Our Travel Protector has excellent pricing and performance

“Covers all the needs of the traveler, and claims are paid in a timely fashion.” Maurice Shimonishi, MSS Travel Perks, Honolulu, HI.

 “I really like the net rates for groups; claims processing is handled in a very timely fashion.” Cindy Whitwell, PBNB Crown Club, Pine Bluff, AR.

“The insurance plans are very well priced and you can provide the insurance as a subscriber to InSite – no other requirements. Great!” Peggy Thompson, Roadrunners, Sullivan, MO.

“Our Travel Protector has served us well.  It’s good for the consumer and the rates are very favorable.”  Jack Smiley, The Smiley Group, Preston, CT.

If you haven’t started using this unique travel insurance yet, we encourage you to take a look at the new website by visiting www.OurTravelProtector.com today – and see for yourself!

The Adventure Tourism Development Index ATDI, now in its third year, offers a ranking of countries around the world based on principles of sustainable adventure tourism and is calculated through a combination of expert survey data and quantitative data gathered from international indices.

“When we first developed the technical method for scoring countries in 2008, we didn’t know how it would be received,” said Kristin Lamoureux, visiting assistant professor of tourism and hospitality management. “Three years later, countries are using the Index to argue for sustainable tourism over less favorable types of tourism development.”

The top 10 developed and developing countries are as follows:Developed Countries: Switzerland, Iceland, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Norway, Finland and Austria.

Developing Countries: Israel, Slovak Republic, Chile, Estonia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Jordan, Romania and Latvia.

via Study Reveals that Israel, Slovak Republic, and Chile Are Among Countries with Highest Adventure Tourism Potential | Adventure Travel News.

Responsible bus operators frustrated and concerned about the long-term effects the recent spate of illegal motorcoach mercenary crashes could have on their companies now have available to them a special toolkit designed to help them prepare for, navigate, and ultimately emerge triumphant from the situation with the new “Crisis Management In A Box” developed by The Media Consultant Group.

“As a bus operator, you may become the face of the industry when something bad happens,” Media Consultant Group President & CEO Eron Shosteck writes in the introduction of the new 20-page step-by-step guide. “Use the attention as a chance to show how much your company is doing for safety. Define your business in your terms. Refuse to let it be defined in distorted terms by those who know little about it.”

The Media Consultant Group’s “Crisis Management In A Box” toolkit is designed to be the right tool at the right time to empower operators with the strategies they need. “Crisis Management In A Box” tactics include how to approach direct crises vs. indirect crises, how and when to engage the media, a 100-question checklist operators should have the answers for within reach at all times, how to turn ambushes into opportunities to showcase your company’s operations, and tips to help operators combat bus safety distortions to protect their companies’ reputations and reassure their customers.

“The current crisis regarding the perception of bus safety is so widespread and overheated that every operator is likely to be affected if they do not take some kind of corrective action,” Shosteck explains in the Media Consultant Group report. “There is no performance metric to measure the possible effects that the erosion of consumer confidence in bus travel could ultimately have. Left unaddressed, however, it could damage the bottom line of bus operators throughout North America irreparably.”

Shosteck authored the step-by-step crisis management guide in response to calls he received from operators requesting it. It also includes information for companies on the importance of building media relationships to establish clear lines of communication.

The Media Consultant Group is also offering on-site media training, crisis mitigation exercises and mock press drills in response to operator requests.

For more information, visit http://www.mediaconsultantgroup.com/products.

ABA and the Ontario Motor Coach Association will hold the first ever OMCA/ABA Tour Operator Summit, a two-day event that brings together bus and tour operator members from both associations with suppliers from around the continent, March 30-31 at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, NY, near Syracuse.

Participants can attend educational seminars taught by professional speakers who cover a wide range of topics including: border crossing issues, social networking, U.S. and Canadian liability issues, GroupConnect, changing demographics and operator safety.  There will also be an operator-to-operator networking session and a mini-trade show.

As an aspiring group travel organizer, you have to familiarize your self with the internet and the business process that goes along with it. Coordinating is about effective communication. You must have great people and speaking skills. As a coordinator, you will be the middle man between the group of travelers and the companies you may employ during the trip.

Group travel organizers get incentives and hefty commissions from companies like, hotels, resorts, transportation, restaurants, and tour guides. It all depends on the itinerary. Typically, the larger the group you organize, the more profits you can gain.

You negotiate with destination representatives and give your guarantees. With proficient organization and management, group travel organizers can bring a “win-win-win” situation to everyone; travelers having a worthwhile trip experience, companies gaining revenues, and of course, you also enjoy the trip while getting paid!

Now, let me share the steps on how to start this very enjoyable and highly profitable group excursion.

1. Choose a market first. You cannot organize a trip without an audience in mind. You have to determine what group of people the trip is intended for. Is it for CEOs, senior citizens, or a bunch of college kids? By knowing to whom the trip is for, you can make relevant plans.

Once you have chosen a niche, you will have to find out what kind of tours or programs are preferred by your audience. Will it be sight-seeing, an adventure tour, or just plain fun? The destination and activities you are going to organize must be suitable to the desires of your target audience. Research on what type of itinerary your niche customarily requires.

3. Decide on the location and plan the tour. Research and correspondence is vital in this juncture. You have to establish connections and conduct successful negotiations. Be sure to have clear agreements and always focus on your group’s satisfaction and goals without compromising you profitability potentials. This is like shopping. Find a balance between budget, comfort, and pleasurable experience for your target clients.

4. Doing step 3 can give you a clear idea on how to price the trip for your audience. Contemplate whether is reasonable. The trip must be appealingly persuasive so you can have more patrons. Normally, you will have to juggle steps 3 and 4 to make your planned trip the best deal for everyone involved.

5. Marketing. Create ways to endorse your trip to your market. If your designed trip is for college groups, go to schools and universities to market your stuff.

Make an effort to have the largest audience as much as possible. More travelers means more profits. But it could also bring more difficulty in terms of management. The best way is to determine beforehand the amount of travelers you can capably handle. Always keep in mind that everyone on the trip is, to some degree, your responsibility.

This exhibition features masterpieces from the founding cultures of Western civilization and will include more than 70 works from the Louvre’s unparalleled Egyptian, Near Eastern and Greco-Roman antiquities collections. Showcasing works dating from the third millennium BC through the third century AD, the exhibition will examine the rise of the museum and its collections of antiquities under Napoleon, the discoveries and decipherment of hieroglyphics and cuneiform and the Louvre’s leading role in excavating the cradle of civilization at the end of the 19th century and during the 20th century. A special installation will showcase the colossal, ten-foot-long “Tiber”—one of the largest sculptures in the Louvre’s collections. The statue, which has not left the museum since it was acquired in 1803, personifies the Tiber River, Rome’s main trade artery. rnrn“The Eye of Josephine,” on view through May 18, 2008, will reassemble more than 60 masterworks from the collection of Greco-Roman and Egyptian antiquities that were installed by the Empress Josephine Bonaparte at Malmaison, her residence located on the outskirts of Paris. In 1801 Ferdinand IV, King of Naples, gave Napoleon Bonaparte a collection of antiquities unearthed at Herculaneum and Pompeii as a peace offering, which Napoleon in turn gave to his wife, Josephine.

The exhibition, which will reunite Josephine’s antiquities for the first time since their dispersal among the Louvre’s various collections in 1814, will feature fragments of frescoes, bronzes, marbles, an extensive group of Greek vases and a small number of Egyptian sculptures. rnrnContact: Two big exhibits are coming out today in Atlanta’s renowned High Museum: Inspiring Impressionism, a survey of Old Masters from Monet to Rubens, and The Louvre and the Ancient World, the second installment of the phenomenal partnership between the High and the Louvre.rnrnThe Impressionist exhibit lasts only until Jan. 13 but is still a great activity for your people when they’re having a free day, and the $12 (senior citizen) ticket price includes a free audio guide. The Louvre exhibit still has some time for planning, running through September 2008. rnrnFor more information, click the button or go to