Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Experience a lot of wilderness

As rated for the past travelers rate who went to Australia and had their Australia travel visa for spending holidays around Australia is high and great percentage of visitors, contributing for the country. Many of the travelers and visitors that went in the country is extremely challenging their self to go out wild in many ways and many places.


One of this is getting wild experience on beaches. Which is definitely another reason of having a high percentage of visitors, travelers or also countryman's that really enjoys here. Having the great sceneries here is the one that attracts visitors to come in here. For the travelers that seeking for information's about the country's must see beaches, in this corner of the country you can check out beaches. Here are them:
South East Coast (Sydney) – Central East (Brisbrane/Gold Coast)
North East Coast (Cairns & Great Barrier Reef Islands)
South West (Perth)
North West (Exmouth, Ningaloo Reef, Broome, Kimberley)
The country really has it seemingly great beaches weather in not an exactly warm beach, an all year hot beach and fine temperature beach.
 
Another wild experience here is the theme park craze. Many of Australian have a lot of experience in theme park here in our country. They are mostly families and kids do love having a bonding in a theme park. For the travelers to have a great view of this, Here a list of great theme parks for them. Along Queensland, the Gold Coast have its great theme parks such as Sea World, Movie World and Wet'n'Wild Water World all owned by Warner Village Theme park which is joint owned by Warner Bros and Village Roadshow, and another popular theme park along Gold Coast is the Dreamworld, for it has a lot of rides and must see shows out there namely World of wildlife, Worlds at night, World of skills, World of thrill rides, World of family fun, World of shows, world of wiggles and World of nickelodeon. Its best to have an experience in one of the theme park here more often for the travelers who wants thrilling experiences.
And the most thrilling, and definitely the wildest experience is the Kangaroo island experience. One of the most admired island that the visitors or travelers enjoyed most to visit on, is the South Australian Island, namely “Kangaroo Island”.
Whats great in visiting Kangaroo island?
For the wild travel seeker, You can live in a wild for a day or not only for a day because, there are a lots of accommodation you can choose out there weather a lodge and retreats, hotel or motels, hostel and a lot more. Getting back to Kangaroo island, it is thought as the Australia's great scenic treasure because of the preservation of its wonder and the animals that lives there.
A lot of island animals that lives in Kangaroo island that really attracts the visitors. Kangaroo's, Tammar Wallabies, Seals, Heath Goannas, Echidnas, Little Penguin's Koalas and a lot more animals is one one of the main attraction in this island. There's a lot more to see in Kangaroo island because it is said to be the second largest island in South Australia system of islands after Tasmania. A lot and a lot more sites to discover the country Australia. Definitely the coolest place a traveler can go.


Reference sites:
http://www.bugbog.com/beaches/australia_beaches/australia_beaches.html
http://goaustralia.about.com/od/discoveraustralia/a/themeparks.htm
http://www.dreamworld.com.au/
http://www.tourkangarooisland.com.au/

Image References
http://www.bugbog.com/images/galleries/australia-pictures/australia-kangaroos.jpg
http://local.my247.com.au/247venue_images/7594-2007326-dreamworld1.jpg
http://www.ourbrisbane.com/files/imagecache/200x200/attached_pictures/300x300_roller_coaster.jpg
http://carladaltoncelebrations.com.au/files/images/GoldCoastBeach1.png



Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Client segmentation for tour guides – business travelers

As a tour guide, especially foreign-language tour guides, you are meeting travelers with various needs. Business travelers belong to a specific group. Their main purpose of the trip is on business e.g. a company visit, business cooperation, market investigation etc … Sightseeing can make up part of the trip but is secondary in importance.

So how can you design an ideal sightseeing tour for business travelers?

Be accommodating to their business needs. Business travelers usually have a short time in one destination. The free time for sightseeing is often their holiday time. Are they expecting an evening tour? Do they want some local exploration between business meetings? It is helpful to know their available time and pick-up/ending locations. Thus a tour guide can provide the itinerary most accommodating to the work plan.

Be flexible with the schedule. Business trips are not as flexible as a vacation visit. For a vacationer all the time belongs to them personally. For business travelers there may be a temporary meeting, an extra plant visit or a dinner with partners... The clients would appreciate you as the tour guide being flexible with the schedules. Of course the guide cannot always stand by. Flexibility works only when both parties are available. It reduces full cancellation in some cases.

Maximize the experience to personal interest. As the tour time is limited, you can not show business travelers everything in the destination. Sometimes, you may not even cover the most famous spots. Ask your clients about their personal interest. Let them choose the places they would like to visit, and help you make a customized sightseeing tour itinerary. This will maximize the trip experience. Some people are frequent travelers to one destination. They could have known part of the city very well, e.g. area nearby the local office. It is necessary to ask in advance, avoiding duplicate visit.

Get prepared with some industry-related queries. Business travelers may be interested to get some industry information from different people. This time, from you as a local guide. You are not expected to be an expert in the industry. However, if you know your clients’ area before meeting, it is recommended to read some relevant news or search for some industry background. This will contribute to your communication with clients during the trip.

What is your tour guiding experience with business travelers?

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

How to promote sightseeing tours via video

Using video to promote sightseeing tours is not as hard as one might think. Thanks to the developments in camera and internet technologies people are used to watching and sharing videos online. A travel video can be more vivid than static photos. Tour guides should take advantage of such modern technologies to promote various sightseeing tours via video and build client trust to book them.

See tour guide with video

1. Choose a tool to record the video.

A video camera can provide high quality movies, but it is not a must. One consideration with video camera is the file size. The bigger the video file is the faster your internet connection is required to save it. No one wants to spend a whole day uploading one video, right? Cameras are widely available. Most cameras nowadays have a video option and the quality is pretty ok. Many mobile phones also have a camera tool. Some computers have built-in cameras which you can use directly. Remember the purpose is to promote your unique sightseeing tours or show your personality and English fluency to potential clients. Blurred images create nothing but negative impression. Choose any recording tool that is convenient and fit for the purpose of your sightseeing tour promotion.

2. Select the best background and thing to say in the video
What will help your clients confirm the tour and increase client bookings for you? Again, do not forget the purpose of your videos. This is not destination promotion but to promote your tour service. The clients will be more confident when they see and hear you directly. You can show your favorite part in the destination where travelers can’t find in any guide books. The most famous or impressive scenic spots may also work with you doing the introduction. It is easy to identify the sightseeing tour location when you present by the most famous views.

3. Some editing work may increase the promotional effect.

For example, add a subtitle to tell where you are or who you are, edit video length to present the key information, reduce noise in the background to complete a higher quality presentation … Microsoft system has windows movie maker for easy editing. Ulead VideoStudio software is also a good choice for beginners. Short videos less than 3 minutes are good. Also put the best content or most important messages at the begging. Because, 1) the file is not too large to upload onto the internet, 2) leave more sightseeing tour introduction to your actual meet with clients, 3) internet surfers may not be interested enough to complete the whole video, or their website connection is too slow to load.

4. viral your videos
You can upload your video to platforms like YouTube, DailyMotion, MetaCafe… Share your video link among friends or networking sites like FaceBook. Tell more people via social media sites e.g. Digg, StumbleUpon. Promote through tour guide websites like OurExplorer, where video presentation is allowed.

Think creatively! Videos allow the tour guide to present sightseeing tours in a vivid way and motivate a client to booking your tour services.
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Monday, July 12, 2010

A Visit To Uluru

As you might have already known by know, there are a lot of interesting site to see in Australia. This one is the biggest reason why a lot of Australian travel visa holders would want to get back here as often as they can. And once they do, there are still a lot more for them to see here.

Probably one of the most popular of these sites is Uluru, near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Also know as Ayers Rock, this familiar attraction is a massive sandstone formation that sticks out of the in the plains of the Kata-Tjuta National park. It rises to more than three hundred and forty meters and is nine kilometers around.

australia travel visa

The rocks was initially named in honor of then Chief Secretary Henry Ayers. In the 1990's, as part of the growing recognition of Aboriginal rites, the rock was renamed Uluru by the government, the local Aboriginal term for the area. Eventual, both terms have become of common use, and the whole place is now know officially as Uluru/Ayers rock.

So what is there to see here? If you thing that Uluru is just a large boring piece of, well, a rock, then you are definitely mistaken. In fact, even from afar, the rock is actually a spectacular sight to see. You will definitely love watching it as it seemingly changes color as the day goes on.

However, the real beauty of the rock begins to shine as you get nearer to it. Here you sill see that it is actually a far cry from what some think as a barren rock face. At the base of the rock, there are a large number of animals that have made it their home. You will also find countless other animals, such as kangaroos, that roam freely around the adjacent areas.

But what will definitely interest you even more is the fact that the rock is actually a sacred area for the local aboriginal people. Here you will get to see and experience the local culture, as the local people themselves will be the ones to guide you. You will also definitely like the Dreamtime stories that these people would tell about the rock. One that you should not try though is attempting to climb the rock, as the local people a strictly against it, besides the fact that it is quite dangerous.

And if you tired from your trip in the rock, there are actually a lot of establishments that you can head to around the area. These range from campsites to hotels, so you will be able to find place to stay in that suits your taste.

Image Source:
http://solarcar.engin.umich.edu/blogold/uploaded_images/Uluru-with-sign-791147.jpg

Tour Guide Survey with Jose in Acapulco



1. What is the best thing you like being a tour guide?

The best thing be a tour guide is to have the opportunity to meet people from other countries and tell them about the history and customs of our people.

2. What is your most memorable moment in guiding so far?

The most memorable moment well there are many ones, I had great experiences when we had big groups of tourist coming and we didn’t stop doing tours all day long for six months.

3. What is most challenging for you in this career? Have you coped with it?

It’s a challenge to take the same tourist to different tours and still they enjoy them.

4. What is your favorite place/thing that you want to show your travel clients?

My favorite place is the cliff divers show, the tehuacalco archeological ruins and the museum of san diego fort.

5. What if you were not a tour guide? What do you imagine yourself to be?

I don’t know my first job was a taxi driver at the age of 18 years old and I loved the experience.

See more on tour guide Jose in Acapulco

Thursday, July 8, 2010

OurExplorer started a Tour Guide Photo Contest!



Have you got some memorable travel experiences with your local tour guides?
Did you take fun pictures of your guide during your overseas trip?

OurExplorer present you a great opportunity now to win 5 free private tour guides for your next overseas trips - you can activate them anytime.

Join Tour Guide Photo Contest 2010 – OurExplorer Now!
Submit a photo of you with your tour guide or just the tour guide on his/her own. Put in a phrase what best describes your tour guide in the photo.
Example = “my best tour guide”, “my funniest tour guide”, “my most clever tour guide”...

The deadline is 31st August 2010. Waiting for your great photos!

With a private tour guide, you can have an authentic yet customized adventure overseas. OurExplorer has now over 2,100 local tour guides in 140 countries.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Win client bookings - Critical Information

When you create your tour guide profile on OurExplorer.com, you have input a lot of information e.g self introduction, tour guide license, tour guide services, sightseeing tours... This is all necessary information to let clients know you and trust you. The more information, the more trust you will build up with potential travel clients but do you know which elements are critical to win a final client booking?

From OurExplorer client feedback, they usually choose the tour guides with a personal photo, highest "tours booked" number and some positive ratings/reviews given. As we know, most important elements shall be put at the top position of the page. You can see that tour guide photo and tours booked are displayed above the fold of the webpages. Moreover, a most recent client review has been presented directly following the tour guide self introduction. Thus, visitors don’t need to scroll down to the bottom of the page reading important client testimonials. In most cases, web surfers do not finish all the page contents to the very end of the page. That’s why we design the tour guide profile layout as you see now.

What can a tour guide do with these fields to win more client bookings?

A happy smiling photo is best to give a good first impression to your clients. You can display a welcoming smile photo like tour guide Diana in Athens, or a cheerful photo of you with happy clients like Nairobi tour guide Paul. It is also fun to display you in your working environment. See Kasane tour guide Clive playing with the elephant.

"Tours booked" numbers and client reviews are closely related to each other. The more bookings a tour guide receives, the more client reviews after the sightseeing tour is completed. When a tour date and terms are agreed, ask the clients to confirm by booking at your profile webpage. When the tour is finished, ask your client to rate your service on OurExplorer.

The clients also have more confidence in booking a tour guide with a license and video presentation. A scan of your tour guide license/certificate builds more trust. What can be better than a brief video of you taliking passionately about your job? It adds great value because clients like to see and hear the tour guide. With a live video, tour guides can present their character and language skills. See Istanbul tour guide Nesrin and Bangkok tour guide Choojai .

If you are a tour guide, do you agree with the critical elements mentioned above? Any tips to better present yourself for more client bookings?