by John Frenaye
Monday July 13, 2015

Recently, Tripology ceased operations. Tripology was a lead generation program for travel professionals and was arguably the most successful of lead generation services. But why did it fail? What went wrong?

Those answers are best left to the accountants, lawyers, and management; but in my opinion, I am not sure any lead generation service or program can work.

On paper, they seem great. After all, it worked wonderfully for Match.com and all of the dating and hook-up sites. Why not travel? It’s a simple concept really: put in some info about yourself, your desires, and travel professionals will come to your virtual door. Makes sense, right? But the key difference is that with dating, you are never quite sure where to look and need their expertise. In…

I remember this like it happened yesterday. Yes, even seasoned travelers like myself have a bag full of embarrassing war stories.

I forgot my passport while traveling to Toronto. Although this was not a life or death scenario, it did highlight the propensity for squared away individuals like myself to fall prey to the human element of stupidity.

I blamed nobody but myself for this time consuming and somewhat expensive faux pas. But, if I had a travel agent who was not frightened to remind me to pack my socks, tie, tooth brush, and my Passport, I would have been writing a different message…

by Richard Earls
Sunday July 12, 2015

I'm currently engaged in a study of travel agency websites. Indulge me for a moment and consider the merit of my strongly held belief: consumers don't need another place to buy travel. Consumers have an almost unlimited access to travel product. They can buy direct from suppliers, from other travel agents, from monster-sized online sites, direct from suppliers, and from organizations and clubs like AARP or Costco.

Travel, travel everywhere. Most travel agents will overtly agree with the idea they do not sell travel. However, too often their web sites betray another self-image. On the home page of many travel agency web sites, dozens of supplier logos flash at the viewer like the reels on a slot machine. Most of the text is about suppliers, supplier properties and features.…

Arvin Shah, Owner and President of Sky Bird Travel & Tours, came to the USA in 1969 on a student visa.  He graduated from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan with a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Computer Science. After college, Arvin started Sky Bird Travel in 1976. Sky Bird’s first office was a small space in downtown Detroit.  From these humble beginnings, Sky Bird has grown to become one of the largest national airline consolidators in the USA.  Along with their headquarters in Detroit, Sky Bird has branch offices located in Atlanta, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, with international offices in Toronto and…