My Summer Road trip-making arrangements

I'm well into making my arrangements for my summer road trip. We've had to change our start date to June 16th due to a doctors appointment, but fortunately, that's a benefit to a road trip...you can make last minute changes. We'll head north towards Atlanta and have a long drive our first day, 11 hours. I'm still waiting for the confirmation for staying at Forrest Hills Resort outside of Dahlonega, GA. They have a single cabin in the woods, with a fireplace and hot tub, and are pet friendly. That's where we want to make our home base for the 3 days we'll be in the N. GA area. We've got lot's of friends to visit with, and I need to see my horse. I know we'll take one day and just hike in the woods and maybe tube down the Chattahoochee River out of Helen, GA. From there, we're heading to Maryland to stay with some friends for 3 nights. They have 10 acres, so it will still feel like we're in the country, and Lou, my dog, will be able to roam around and chase rabbits. Jamie and I will go into Washington DC on Saturday the 20th to visit the Native American Museum and we'll be able to leave Lou at the farm. Monday morning we're going to South Carolina and staying at the Woodlands Inn, in Summerville, near Charleston. The Woodlands Inn is a Virtuoso property, rated 5 stars, and is pet friendly. It sits on 43 acres and I can't wait to visit. Tuesday we'll spend some time in Charleston, one of my favorite cities, and one that Jamie is very familiar with, since he helped care for many of the formal gardens in the downtown estates...then off to Estill, SC to visit with Jamie's father. That's about as far as I have gotten. I know we have to head back to Florida, but I'm not sure if we'll got to Savannah for a night, or maybe head into North Florida right away, or what. We will stay somewhere in N FL for a night so we can spend a day canoeing or tubing down some of the crystal clear rivers that flow through this part of the state. I'll let you know more as soon as I do! I love the freedom of making these kind of travel plans. And of course, I can always change my mind!

My summer road trip

I have decided to take some time off early this summer, pack my bags, boyfriend and dog and hit the road for a week or so. Just an old fashioned American road trip. A few choice destinations, then where ever the road leads. We are first stopping somewhere in the North Georgia mountains. I found a pet friendly resort where we hope to rent a cabin for 3 nights, visit old friends in Atlanta, and hike around the woods near Dahlonega and Helen. Just sitting on the wrap around porch at night, in the woods, will be absolutely refreshing! Then we'll head north, maybe stop in Charlotte, again visiting friends, before heading up towards Washington DC and Maryland. We both have wanted to see the Native American Museum, and will leave my dog Lou with friends that have 10 acres just north of DC. I don't think we'll spend much more time in DC, we both have already seen most of the sights there. From there, we'll head south down I-95 to South Carolina. I'm trying to get one night at a Virtuoso resort property so we'll at least have one luxurious evening. Then a visit with some family and maybe a day along the South Carolina beach coast. And of course we won't miss Charleston. We may stop at South of the Border in South Carolina, on US 301...if anyone remembers stopping there with their folks when you were young, you'll remember what a treat that was. I hope it's still there. On our way back to South Florida, we'll stop in north Florida, staying in an area of crystal rivers, tubing or canoeing a day away. If we see anything anywhere along the way, I'll be sure to stop for a look see. Some think a road trip takes too much time and is too much trouble, but I see it as a relaxing way to actually see where I'm going. My own time table. No airline mess, no crowds. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Updating your travel preferences

We have recently sent out an email survey, asking clients to updates their travel preferences. We keep a detailed database on all clients wants and desires for their travel experiences, including budgets, number of times per year they travel,who they travel with, (i.e. spouse, single, grandchildren, etc.) what type of travel they enjoy, whether cruise, tour, adventure, among others, and favorite destinations. Everyone's choices change over time, and updating this information helps us make sure that we only send the travel information that is relevant and wanted. We actively market to those of our clients that want to receive travel information, and are very careful not to send marketing to those not interested in receiving updates. Also, we want to make sure that no one misses out on some of the great travel deals available now. Cruises are unbelievably affordable, and many of our clients have been able to move up to to a move luxurious level of cruising for the same money as they've paid on other cruise lines. Hotel properties around the world are offering great amenities, including extra nights at no cost, spa credits, and of course, including our Virtuoso amenities. We have safaris to Africa coming up later this year, and many cruises with space reserved.
It's important to us to know where you're thinking of going on your next vacation, whether it's in the next few weeks or next year. This gives us the time to look at all the offers available and make you aware of them at the right time.
So when you receive your survey, please take the time to complete it. Our database will be updated automatically, and we can then follow up and make sure your needs are being met. If you haven't received an email survey, visit our websites and fill in a basic survey from there. Please make sure we have your up to date contact information too! New phone numbers and email addresses are very important. The TSA is also requiring we have your full name, (same as on your government issued ID) and date of birth of all travelers. We will be contacting you for this information soon.
Feel free to contact us by phone, 800-881-7690, or email, grace@posthasteatarvel.com, with any questions. We want to provide the best service possible to make sure you don't miss out on spectacular deals, exciting destinations, and all the extras a Virtuoso agency can provide. Be part of your own travel destiny. Thanks you for your help in making us the best travel advisers we can be.

Cruise space availability

I promised I would list some of the cruise group space we have reserved for the foreseeable future. All of these cruises have varying amenities and special offers available. Some are Virtuoso cruises, some are hosted. Please contact us for prices and accommodation information. Post Haste Travel -800-881-7690.

NCL- Roundtrip New York-to Bermuda August 2, 2009

Oceania- Barcelona to Istanbul -14 days-August 9-23, 2009

Oceania-Istanbul to Athens-12 days- August 23-September 5,2009

Princess-London to Rome-14 days - September 5-19, 2009

NCL-Athens to Istanbul- 10 days-September 29 -October 9, 2009

Holland America- Transatlantic-36 days-October 24- November 29, 2009

NCL-Roundtrip Barcelona-7 days-November 1-8, 2009

Princess-Transatlantic, Rome to Fort Lauderdale, 21 days-November 30 -December 21, 2009

Celebrity-Eastern Caribbean, Roundtrip Fort Lauderdale-7 days-December 20-27, 2009

Royal Caribbean-Eastern Caribbean-RT Fort Lauderdale-8 days-December 26 - January 3, 2010

Princess-Panama Canal, RT Fort Lauderdale-10 days-February 8-18, 2010

These are just a few of the cruises that Post Haste Travel has reserved space. We also have space on cruises from Singapore to Shanghai, and an Amazon River cruise.

Please give us a call. The offers are great and there is no better time to cruise than now!

Post Haste Travel 800-881-7690

Check our website for other travel offers. www.posthastetravel.com

Post Haste Travel newsletter article from my mother, the boss

From Sylvia Berman's " The Presidents Desk" column in the Post Haste Travel newsletter...
This is the first article I will write as "I", and not as "we". After 53 years I will be traveling alone, as my husband, Bob, passed away in March. The change is barely noticeable, as my daily routine is the same. The evenings are when life is quiet, and that is overcome with the myriad of work that I am able to bring home. Where do I go from here? Onward and upward. I will continue to travel to the countries that we both love in Africa, only now my companions will be other travelers who wish to learn what I can teach. To find the excitement in new places, new faces, new experiences. Africa is its people, as well as its animals, and it is never the same.
I will continue to take the easiest of all vacations, the cruise. I will cruise to locations that whet one’s appetite, to taste the unusual, and the unexplored. New ports are opening up to travelers that were closed a recently as last year. New parts of the world fulfill different needs for different people and for me, it means the ability to visit other cultures, other lands, where things are not the same as they are at home. Today that becomes easier and easier and so I will seek out the cruise lines that offer these new cities.
I guess that’s why Bob and I found Africa, the place we returned to year after year, so enticing. We never tired of having a lion trot next to our vehicle, or watch families of elephant parade in front of us, to see cheetah cubs frolicking with their mother, to push through the brush as we followed a rhino after its mate. Never the same, only now you can join me. Call and talk to me about my trip to South Africa this October. Become part of this learning experience.

Client Relationship management

I'm heading to Las Vegas this morning for a weeklong conference on client relationship management. The travel industry has it's own industry specific CRM tools. Trams, or ClientBase, is a very deep, detailed program that helps travel agents and agencies compile a detailed list of clients data, desires,marketing info, destination info, family members, financial info, passport info, and tons of other information neccessary to make sure that each client is taken care of and that all marketing is done correctly. This conference will get us up to date on the addtional updates to the program, which means we will be able to collect even more information! Having this info is a great timesaver, and helps us connect to our clients all the better. We can notify them when their passports are about to expire. We can search their travel history and see what their preferences are, or notify them about great new deals on their favorite cruise lines. We can follow their family members birthdays and anniversaries, and make sure we know when big events are upcoming. All this helps us plan the best vacations for all our clients.

The conference is very intense for 4 days...7:30 AM - 8PM, then parties into the night. I'm an early to bed, early to rise person, so I usually miss the late nights. And the time changes does me no good either. By the time I get back Friday morning, after taking the red eye Thursday night, I'm exhausted. But I will have a ton of new information to share with our agents on all the new ways they can keep up with their clients in order to provide the best travel experiences possible.

Continuing your education in any field is ultimately important these days. With all the new software available, it's impossible to know everything, but important to keep up with as much as you can. That's my job, and I'm sticking to it!

Economic downturn changing the way people travel

This information is from the HotelMarketing.com website.

From bargain hunting for accommodations to hopping in a car instead of on a plane, many individuals and companies are responding to the uncertain economic climate by adjusting their travel behaviors in 2009 to find more affordable ways to travel, but many aren’t eliminating travel plans altogether.
In a recent poll conducted by Harris Interactive®, 48% of U.S. adults say their financial situation is worse now than it was one year ago. For some that is translating into plans for fewer vacations and fewer dollars spent on leisure travel in 2009.
While almost half plan to travel just as much or more in 2009 as they did in 2008, two-fifths (38%) anticipate that the economy will have no impact on their travel plans, and 8% plan to travel more in the next 12 months than they did in 2008, nearly two-fifths (37%) of consumers say they are less likely to travel within the next 12 months due to economic conditions.
Other findings from the study include:
- Over one-fourth (27%) will decrease the duration of their leisure trips.
- Four in ten (40%) will reduce the amount of money they spend on leisure trips. Among these consumers looking to cut costs: Roughly three-fifths will find less expensive accommodations (62%), less expensive meal options (61%), or will look for less expensive activities (58%). Nearly half will reduce travel expenses by vacationing closer to home (48%), staying with friends/family instead of a hotel (46%), or reduce expenses by driving rather than flying (45%). One-third (34%) will stretch their vacation dollars by going on a “staycation” close to home or by sharing travel costs with friends or other families.
Companies are also changing their travel spending habits in 2009. Three in five (61%) people surveyed said their companies had changed their travel policies in last 12 months, and one in five (21%) said they were less likely to travel for business in 2009 than they were in 2008.
Reducing or eliminating nonessential travel was the most frequently reported method of cutting business travel expenses. Three in ten people (30%) reported that their companies had reduced or eliminated all nonessential travel, and 21% said their companies were using technology to reduce or eliminate travel costs. Other reported changes to company travel policies include encouraging day trips (13%), booking with hotels and airlines that provide preferred rates (12%), and enforcing per diem allowances (10%).
According to Allison Powell, Research Director of Harris Interactive’s Travel and Tourism practice, “The recent economic conditions of a declining U.S. dollar, mortgage foreclosures, and job losses are giving many consumers reason to reevaluate their vacation plans. The good news is that travelers are still taking vacations; however, the nature of their vacations has changed. From finding less expensive accommodations to taking a road trip rather than flying, consumers are finding ways to continue taking vacations. The question remains – how long will this trend last?”