Destinations
36 Hours in Parma, Italy
This riverside city may be synonymous with fine food — Parma ham, Parmesan — but it also satisfies appetites for art, music and history…
— New York Times
City guide: What to see, eat and do in New York City
In the city that never sleeps, shopping is as popular with locals as the three Ds: drinking, dining and dating. If you want to shop like a true New Yorker, avoid paying retail prices whenever possible and make the most of end-of-season and Black Friday sales, citywide the day after thanksgiving, when sale prices can net savings of up to 80 per cent…
— Escape
Tours and Activities
On the trail of Roald Dahl in Great Missenden
You might not have heard of Great Missenden. It’s a quaint little village tucked away in Buckinghamshire’s Chiltern Hills, which has managed to retain a quiet and unassuming feel, despite for decades having been home to one of the country’s best-loved writers…
— The Independent
Why I answered a job ad to be a ninja
Hundreds of people have applied and auditioned for the job of being a ninja as part of a campaign to promote tourism in Japan ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics…
— BBC Travel
A break for you and your wallet in Central Park
A visit to New York City, especially with kids in tow, is a notoriously expensive outing. You can splurge on show tickets or admissions to museums and attractions, but there are also landmarks and activities completely free of charge. Central Park offers an abundance of them…
— The Boston Globe
Cruise
Fred Olsen Cruise Lines Launches Little Skippers Kids Club - Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines
Fred Olsen Cruise Lines has launched Little Skippers, a brand-new kids' club onboard its fleet of four ships. Little Skippers will operate during peak holiday season and provide parents and guardians with the opportunity to leave children aged five to 11 in the care of qualified children’s hosts. Little Skippers will be kept entertained with a range of activities, including arts and crafts sessions, deck games, treasure hunts, quizzes, cookie and pizza making in the Galley, games evenings and swimming classes, among others…
— CruiseCritic.com
Could this be the world's most eco-friendly superyacht?
Today’s superyachts boast an ever-growing list of amenities. Over the past year, designs have included swimming pools with waterfalls, shape-shifting exteriors that add more space, and features that allow passengers to be unrecognizable from nearby yachts…
— Fox Travel News
Transportation
Yes, that Boeing 777 is painted like C-3PO from Star Wars
Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) will paint one of its Boeing 777 widebody jets in the likeness of Star Wars character C-3PO. The jet featuring the fussy droid will become the fourth Star Wars-themed plane to fly for Japan’s biggest airline. Those already flying for ANA include…
— USA Today
Inside the airline cabins of the future
Air travel photos from the 1960s show smartly dressed, champagne-sipping passengers in spacious airliner cabins. Contrast that with today's cramped seats and overcrowded airports and it looks like our flying experiences are getting steadily worse…
— CNN
Air Canada Will Let You Crowdfund Your Plane Ticket
Lots of us dream about travel, even if we can't afford it right now: we make vision boards, bookmark articles, and play the "Where would you go if you won the lottery?" game with friends. But now, Air Canada is trying to turn travel dreams into realities with its new program, Embarq, a Kickstarter or Indiegogo-style crowdfunding site that lets people raise money for airfare by asking friends and family to make donations toward the cost…
— Condé Nast Traveler
Lodging
The Sanctum Inle Resort: A monastic getaway in Myanmar
Myanmar: the land of gawk. At each turn, another remarkable temple, another thousand gilded pagodas rising out of the low jungle, another can-you-believe-you’re-seeing-this-better-take-another-thousand-photos moment. Rangoon’s Shwedagon Pagoda, the crumbled ancient capitals strewn along the Irrawaddy River, the deserted pristine beaches of Ngapali, the ghost empire of Bagan – it’s all awe-inducing…
— Globe and Mail
Trump Hotels Might Be Taking A "Yuge" Hit From The Donald's Campaign
Donald Trump has solicited an onslaught of attention as a Republican presidential candidate and now the presumptive nominee. But before the 2016 election cycle he was most notable for his eponymous hotel properties. And so we couldn’t help but wonder if and how all this attention impacted his business interests. Are bookings up or down? And how does that compare to the market overall?…
— The Huffington Post
Other and Odd
How to make sure your holiday is financially protected
The collapse of Low Cost Holidays a few days ago was, I’m sure, a shock to the 140,000 odd people who had booked with them, or were actually on holiday with them at the time. But should it have been? After all, holiday companies have been collapsing on a regular basis since the package holiday was invented. Remember the names? Clarksons and Horizon in the 1970s; Intasun in the 1990s; and XL Leisure in 2008, which left 85,000 British holidaymakers stranded abroad…
— Telegraph (London)
Why Carry Your Suitcase When You Can Attach it to Your Bottom?
There’s a gadget on the market that will help travelers become 21st century Renaissance Men at the airport. This contraption makes it possible to walk, talk on the phone, drink a coffee, and drag a suitcase all at the same time…
— Travel Leisure
Today in History
The First solo flight around the world
With a co-pilot, Wiley Post had already flown around the world, setting a record in eight days, 15 hours, and 51 minutes. Now, he wanted to accomplish the same feat solo. Using a newly developed autopilot and one of the first radio compasses, Wiley took off on July 15th and returned 7 days, 19 hours later on July 22nd to a hero's welcome…
— Travel Research Online
Agent Perspectives
Be empowered, be free!
by Marti Litwin
Friday July 22, 2016
 To empower is "to have the authority or power to do something” and also "to make someone stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and claiming their rights." That one word really carries a lot of weight! Empowerment can come from yourself, your boss, and even your client when they give you the authority to make travel related decisions on their behalf. To be empowered is to be confident! As you can see empowerment could come from others, but most importantly it must come from yourself.
If you think in terms of work-related tasks, there is a lengthy list of "to do" items that you have authority over. Clients do give you a lot of authority to plan their time and spend their money, and…
— Travel Research Online
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Reading Between the Lines
TRO and The Travel Institute Scholarship Program
TRO believes ongoing training is important to the health of the travel professional. Therefore, we have partnered with The Travel Institute to assist travel agents to earn their Certified Travel Associate designation. TRO will be awarding a $100 scholarship to at least one attendee of TRO webinars each webinar. If you want to be considered for the scholarship you need only to register here:
http://www.thetravelinstitute.com/troscholarship/
…and then attend TRO’s webinars. Winners will be selected and notified immediately after each webinar!
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“Shared thinking is stronger than solo thinking.”
