TravelResearchOnline.com Blog

OK, so we are not going to talk about pings this time, but it worked for me in the title. But let’s talk about profiles and pages in Facebook. In speaking with many travel professionals, there is still much confusion about the difference between the two. Hopefully I can shed some light on the differences.

Earlier this week, Mike Marchev spoke about not being boring and the importance of being unique—and I agree. I consider myself somewhat conservative. Doing something outlandish or “wild” to create a memorable first impression would likely fail miserably with me. But being unique does not necessarily mean wild and crazy. Here are a few examples.
Business [...]

I need your help and opinions, so please take a moment or two to add your two cents in a comment!
When we are young, we go to the doctor regularly for a checkup. As we get older, and our health begins to stabilize, the visits become less frequent. And when you are much older, sometimes [...]

This column is called “Editorial Musings” and usually I ramble about whatever travel topic pops into my mind and seems timely and appropriate. This week, I want to explore a different angle and pose a broad question and solicit your feedback in the comment section–if you aren’t planning to leave a comment, please stop reading.

First the bad news. We have not recovered from the recession; in fact we are still deeply in it. Now for the good news, many people have become used to it and have adjusted their lifestyles accordingly. Money is starting to flow again and “discretionary income” is a phrase that is creeping back into our [...]

Over the past year, have you noticed that cruise suppliers are becoming less and less of a “partner?” Are you getting a sense of déjà vu with flashbacks to the mid 90s? Over the past month, the cruise lines have taken a beating from agents on several recent changes.  Are the cruise lines headed the [...]

Is it just me or does it seems like this industry is two steps forward and one step back? Sometimes I wonder if it isn’t more like one step forward and five steps back. Of course we have a myriad of things beyond anyone’s control—SARS, wars, Norovirus, weather, natural disasters, political dissention, economy and more. [...]

For years and years, the non commissionable fee or NCF has flummoxed travel agents as they try and understand exactly what it is.  At one point, it was felt that it was a new fangled term for port charges and taxes, but that wasn’t it. Many feel it is just a way for the cruise [...]

A few months ago in this column, I mentioned that the travel industry might be able to learn a little from the automobile industry—specifically from a commercial for Infiniti.
For years, this industry has been all about building relationships. When have you attended a function where relationships (or some variation) were not addressed?  Earlier this week, [...]

Back when Howard Stern was a relative unknown, there was a statistic floating around that the average Howard Stern fan tuned into the shock jock for 80 minutes a day. The most common reason cited was to hear what he would say next. The average Stern hater tuned in for 150 minutes per day. The [...]