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Thursday April 18, 2019

Editor’s Note — TRO wants to remind its Travelgram readers the articles presented here are meant to assist you in remaining informed and prepared to discuss travel news of the day with clients.


Destinations

6 Places Travel Experts Are Heading This Summer
When your job is to plan other people’s vacations, you probably have a pretty impressive travel bucket list of your own. HuffPost reached out to travel experts and professional trip planners to get the scoop on where they’re personally vacationing this summer and why. Travel consultants often get perks and discounts when they travel, but it’s…

Witchcraft still practiced in Italian village
Piedmont might be famous for its wine, white truffles and lavish castle, but there's far more to this idyllic region of Italy than meets the eyes. Around 80 kilometers southeast of Turin in the High Langhe hills can be found a relatively unknown hamlet with a history -- and present -- steeped in black magic. With a population of just 230, Paroldo is a maze…

36 Hours in Mendocino County
Ninety miles north of San Francisco, Mendocino County is just faraway enough to have narrowly escaped the Bay Area’s radical transformation during the tech boom years. In contrast to other formerly quiet Northern California backwaters, Mendocino maintains its rural identity and eccentricities, including its longstanding status as one of the country’s…

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Tours and Activities

Costa Rica's 'Crocodile Bridge' is an unlikely tourist attraction
Along the busy main highway between the capital of San Jose and the surfer-friendly beach town of Jaco is Costa Rica's most unusual tourist attraction. On an otherwise unremarkable stretch of road, about 75 miles (121 km) west of San Jose's airport and just a few miles from Carara National Park, an unlikely travel curiosity has sprung up. Despite the…

Pride beyond parades around the US
In June, New York City will host WorldPride and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, known as the commencement of the modern LGBTQ rights movement. New York expects several million people to turn out for Pride this year, and cities all over the United States will hoist their rainbow flags. As the LGBTQIA community has evolved…

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Cruise

5 Things You Should Never Do on a Cruise
In my six years of sailing the seven seas, I've met all kinds of new friends and interesting folks. But I've also met the problem passengers: the rude ones, the greedy ones, and the always-late ones. Don't be like them. Here are five cruising pet peeves and no-nos to avoid, so you can make sure you're a crew…

Princess Cruises to Homeport in Tahiti in 2020
Princess Cruises will homeport in Tahiti in 2020, the first time the line has sailed from Papeete since 2015. Princess Cruises’ will offer a series of roundtrip cruises around the idyllic islands of French Polynesia on Pacific Princess. The Tahiti and French Polynesia cruises open for sale on 17 April 2019. Five 10-night cruises will sail round-trip from Papeete…

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Transportation

830+ flights delayed, 190+ canceled ahead of busy Easter, Passover travel weekend
More than 830 flights have been delayed and more than 190 flights have been canceled into and out of the U.S. Thursday morning, amid severe weather warnings ahead of the busy Easter and Passover travel weekend. The U.S. city with the most cancellations is Dallas, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware, with 91 flights cancelled so far…

Frontier Airlines Expands Kids Fly Free Promotion
Summer can be an expensive time of year to travel, especially with the family. Those pricey plane tickets (and additional baggage and in-flight fees) for you and the kids can add up. But Frontier Airlines is offering some opportunities for families to fly together for cheap through their ongoing Kids Fly Free promotion. The airline has added new dates…

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Lodging

This Luxury Hotel Brand Is Looking for Storytellers to Travel the World and Create Art
In a time when travel seems to be more about grabbing the perfect shot of your street food, letting it get cold before eating it, and never actually taking the time connect with the person who made it or the history behind it, it can be easy to lose sight of the true point of travel: forming a connection with the place. Luxury hotel brand Four Seasons wants…

Sandals Resorts Is Giving Away Free Trips to Teachers, Nurses, Mothers, and Military Members Every Day in May
The month of May is packed with celebrations that range from Mother’s Day to National Nurses Day, Teacher Appreciation Week, and National Military Appreciation Month. That’s why Sandals Resorts has decided to give away a free trip to teachers, nurses, military members, and mothers who go above and beyond every day through the month of May.…

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Other and Odd

13 travel bloggers on their very favorite travel gadgets
There are a lot of different travel gadgets out there, and it’s hard to know if what you’re getting is going to be useful or just end up collecting dust somewhere in your closet. When you’re hopping around from country to country, it’s important to travel light and only pack the essentials. Travel gadgets are something we cover often. We’ve broken down the…

Three Women on What They’ve Learned From Starting Their Own Travel Businesses
“Traveling is so much more than just vacationing,” says Deidre Mathis, the 32-year-old owner of Wanderstay Houston, the first black-owned hostel in the U.S. “For me, it is literally a way of life.” So what happens when you take all that passion, and turn it into a full-time job? We spoke to Mathis, along with Sara Banks of retro-luggage brand SteamLine…

Traveling to Cuba From the U.S. Is About to Get More Complicated
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump and his administration announced it will be imposing restrictions for Americans traveling to Cuba. "The Department of the Treasury will implement further regulatory changes to restrict non-family travel to Cuba," national security adviser John Bolton said Wednesday. “These new measures will help steer Americans…

Today in History

The Republic of Ireland Act
Ireland, oppressed by Great Britain for most of its political existence, was historically gripped by poverty and successive waves of emigration from its shores, largely to the United States. However, by the 1990's Ireland had become one of the strongest and fastest…

Luxury Travel Tips

Who is your Competition?
by Dan Chappelle
Thursday April 18, 2019

I recently moderated an adviser panel at the Travel Agent Forum in Las Vegas. In my closing remarks, I mentioned to the audience that before they started advertising, they needed to be able to answer this simple question: “Why should a prospect buy from me?” I suggested that they look around, because each person in the room was their competition and those who can answer the question will win.

After the session concluded, two of the four panelists made it a point to tell me that they didn’t consider the people in the room to be their competition. Well, I asked, who is? They both made it clear they were competing with Costco, Vacations to Go, and other agencies – but not those travel agents in…

  — Travel Research Online
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Mike's Morning Missives

‘Thank-You’ Doesn’t Mean Having to Say You’re Sorry

As sales and marketing advice goes, this may very well be up there with the best of it. I was reminded of this natural phenomenon this week, and I could not find my way to my computer keyboard fast enough to share it with whoever is out there listening. This is a BIGGIE. Tune in.

I ended a recent tele-class with what I consider to be some sage advice. To me, what I am about to suggest is both logical and extraordinarily simple. It is effective and incredibly apropos. It does not cost a red cent and the results are extremely powerful.

The truth is however, that nobody can do what I am about to suggest without feeling uncomfortable to some degree. This last sentence, in and…

  — Travel Research Online
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Upcoming Training Opportunities


Cosmopolitan Buenos Aires & Argentina's Patagonia With Aerolineas Argentinas And Borello Travel & Tours

Cosmopolitan Buenos Aires & Argentina's Patagonia With Aerolineas Argentinas And Borello Travel & Tours

Wednesday, May 1, 2019 at 1 pm EDT/10 am PDT

The largest airline in South America, AR offers convenient connections to/from 37 domestic destinations in Argentina and 22 International destinations, including our daily non-stop flights from New York’s JFK and MIAMI, as well as code share flights from ATL with Delta Airlines. We’re proud to be the recipients, once again, of the 2019 Traveler's Choice Awards by TripAdvisor for “Best Major Airline Latin America.”

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If Only I’d Known – Why you should explore the Central North Island, New Zealand

If Only I’d Known – Why you should explore the Central North Island, New Zealand

Tuesday, April 23, 2019 at 1 pm EDT/10 am PDT

Come and explore New Zealand’s Central North Island and discover the enticing combination of unusual and captivating landscapes and experiences on an amazing road trip.

Register Now ➠


Learn about Portugal and TAP Air Portugal

Learn about Portugal and TAP Air Portugal

Thursday, April 18, 2019 at 3 pm EDT/12 pm PDT

TAP is Portugal's leading airline and has been a member of the global airline Star Alliance since 2005. Flying since 1945, the 74-year old TAP today finds itself in the top 10 global airlines in terms of growth.

Register Now ➠







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