Phil Davies, writing for TravelMole reports that:

The use of micro blogging site Twitter is gaining rapid penetration within the travel industry, according to a new study:

• More than half of users (52%) tweeted between four and 10 times a day, with over a quarter sending more than 10 Twitter updates daily.
• Managing directors, commercial directors, hotel owners and government officials are actively using the social media tool to forge connections with their customers and stakeholders.
• Of particular interest is the amount of travelling done by the sample (62% travelling internationally three or more times a year) and the fact that more than 60% used Twitter to connect with local suppliers, hoteliers or transport companies before they travelled, with 28.8% reporting that they made a reservation following an initial contact on Twitter.
• This suggests that travellers are starting to move beyond merely looking for information on destinations and services, and are actually making buying decisions based on their Twitter conversations.
• Those suppliers who are able to engage with these buyers at an early stage are claiming a distinct advantage.

Twitter has enabled us to open up new conversations with destinations and tour operators. You can follow us @audioconexus

Source: TravelMole. To read the full story click here: Travel industry tweet-rate rising

This Volkswagen experiment called the “The Fun Theory” shows why having more fun is always the first choice for most people. And did we forget to mention that this video has already had over 6 million views in 4 weeks!

The U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced that international visitors spent an estimated $9.9 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States during the month of August—an increase of 1 percent over July 2009.

However, when compared to the same period last year, international visitor spending is down more than 21 percent for the month.

• Travel Receipts: Purchases of travel and tourism-related goods and services by international visitors traveling in the United States totaled $7.8 billion for the month, a decrease of more than 20 percent in comparison with last year. These goods and services include food, lodging, recreation, gifts, entertainment, local transportation in the United States, and other items incidental to foreign travel.
• Passenger Fare Receipts: Fares received by U.S. carriers (and U.S. vessel operators) from international visitors decreased nearly 25 percent to $2.1 billion for the month, a decrease of more than $700 million when compared to August 2008.

Monthly Travel and Tourism Highlights

• Year-to-date (January–August) travel and tourism-related exports totaled $79.4 billion, down more than 17 percent ($16.4 billion) when compared to 2008.
• International visitors are not the only ones who have curtailed their spending; in fact, year-to-date travel and tourism-related imports—spending by Americans abroad— totaled $65.9 billion, down more than 12 percent ($9.3 billion) when compared to last year.
• The U.S. travel and tourism industry has generated a $13.5 billion trade surplus (i.e., exports minus imports) year to date, nearly $7.1 billion less favorable than the same period last year.
• The recent downturn in U.S. travel and tourism exports, beginning in the closing months of 2008, interrupted more than sixty consecutive months of positive growth.

The U.S. Department of Commerce projects international travel to the United States to regain its footing by 2010 following its first forecasted year of decline (2009) since 2003. Reflective of the current global economic environment, international travel is forecasted to decline by 8 percent in 2009. A 3 percent rebound is projected for the United States by the end of 2010, followed by 5 percent annual increases through 2013.

Visitors to St. Augustine experience North America’s oldest city while being captivated by ghost stories and paranormal phenomena on walking tour experiences that intertwine with St. Augustine’s rich history and magnificent architectural ambiance. SAGPS Adventure Tours Shivers and Awe provides thrilling walking tour experiences and on-site interpretation, including compelling narratives, engaging musical soundtracks, photography, text, and interactive maps based on the location of the user.

Rich walking tour experiences offers visitors to St. Augustine compelling stories and outstanding audio theatre experiences. Shivers & Awe lives up to its name, it’s an experience our guests will never forget. Testimonials from satisfied visitors say it all:

“Such an awesome experience and we can’t wait to do it again.”

“I have and am going to recommend this tour to anyone that visit St. Augustine.”

“I have been telling everyone I know that if they come to St. Augustine they have to take the Shivers and Awe self guided tour. Great Job!”

“The tour was amazing, both Aisha and I have already told other people about it.”

“Thank you again for such a spooky and chilling ghost tour!!”

“‘Thank you’ for the amazing tour… The storyteller was fantastic; we loved his commentary and spooky voice. The music and sound effects were entertaining as well, and helped us get into the stories we were listening to. Even though we took the tour during the day, we still got the creeps! Thanks for a great adventure!”

“Just a note to say that we had a great vacation in St. Augustine and one of the highlights of the trip was the “Shivers and Awe” ghost tour. This is the best ghost tour I have ever taken–I felt as though I was on the set of Ghost Hunters! The sound effects, the sights of the ghosts and gravestones at night, the entire ghost tour, were awesome.”

“This tour was everything and more for me, especially on Halloween night! I loved the spookiness, and I’m a big history buff too! It had everything for all interests. Thanks for the best Halloween night in a long time!!!”

Tours trigger content around St. Augustine’s paranormal Points of Interest, providing location based experiences on a one hour walking tour route. A dditionally, all of the tour content can be viewed on demand, regardless of location, so visitors can learn about the areas they might not have time to visit.

Jonathan Stanley, President and CEO of AudioConexus Inc. “We worked closely with SAGPS Adventure Tours to deliver fun and entertaining experiences, presenting a series of ghost stories that turned me into a believer. St. Augustine is the epicentre of ghost activity and when I experienced the tour, I found myself on the edge of my seat, asking myself – is anybody there?”

Tours are available in English or Spanish. If you’re looking for a whole new way to experience St. Augustine – Shivers and Awe is sure to send shivers up your spine! Happy Hallows’ Eve from all of us at AudioConexus!

The U.S. Department of Commerce projects international travel to the United States to regain its footing by 2010 following its first forecasted year of decline (2009) since 2003. Reflective of the current global economic environment, international travel is forecasted to decline by 8 percent in 2009. A 3 percent rebound is projected for the United States by the end of 2010, followed by 5 percent annual increases through 2013.

These declines come after the United States hosted a record 58 million international visitors in 2008. The arrivals forecast for 2009-2013 predicts that the 2008 record will be broken in 2012 and in 2013. International arrivals will reach almost 64 million, an increase of 9 percent between 2008 and 2013.

The U.S. travel forecast was prepared by the Department of Commerce in conjunction with IHS Global Insight, Inc. (GII). Forecasts are derived from GII’s econometric travel forecasting model and are based on key economic and demographic variables as well as DOC consultation on non-economic travel factors as well as providing the count and historical arrivals data for the United States.

Forecast Highlights by Region

North America – The top two markets generating visitors to the U.S., Canada and Mexico, are forecasted to decline by 6 percent and 12 percent, respectively, in 2009, and to grow by 13 and 5 percent, respectively, from 2008 to 2013. Canada and Mexico are forecast to set new records in 2011 and 2013, respectively.

Europe – Visitors from Europe are expected to drop by 8 percent in 2009, the second largest decline among the world regions. Very small growth is forecast for 2010, followed by slow growth for the next three years. By 2013 arrivals from Europe will be one percent higher than the 2008 total. The United Kingdom is projected to post a 12 percent decline in 2009. Germany, France and Italy are the next largest arrivals markets within the region. Germany is forecasted to decline by eight percent in 2009, and France and Italy will fall by 1 and 6 percent, respectively. Among the top European markets, five countries are projected to have a 2013 visitor volume level that remains below the 2008 level—United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Sweden, and Belgium.

Asia-Pacific – Asia is projected to generate a decline of 11 percent in 2009-—the largest decline among the world regions—and then post four-to-seven percent annual increases over the next several years. The largest Asian market and second-largest overseas market, Japan, is forecast to drop by 13 percent in 2009, and then recover in 2010. Japan will continue to post slow growth through 2013, so that the United States will host 3.1 million Japanese visitors, down four percent from 2008. Korea will post a large decline in 2009 (-9%), and Australia, India and China will register smaller declines, but by 2013 all of the top Asian markets will post double digit increases when compared to 2008. China will increase by 64 percent compared to 2008, India (50%), Korea (12%), and Australia (16%).

South America – South America is projected to increase by one percent in 2009, and remain a leader in the growth in arrivals for the next several years. By 2013 South America will generate more than 3.2 million visitors, a 27 percent increase compared to 2008, and the highest growth rate among all of the world regions. Brazil, the largest source market from within the region, is expected to be up 6 percent in 2009. By 2013 the United States may host a record 1.1 million Brazilian visitors, a 41% increase over 2008 Argentina is forecast to post an increase of 5 percent in 2009 and increase a total of 30 percent by 2013. Venezuela and Colombia will register small declines in 2009, but rebound over the next several years.

If you interested in learning more about international travel to the United States (for travel to the United States for 2009-2013 for all world regions and over 40 countries) click here for official information: United States International Travel.

The Office of Travel and Tourism Industries publishes visitation data for more than 200 countries that generate visitors to the United States, as well as visitation data for each world region. To learn more about international visitation and visitor spending in the United States, click here to access the 2008 data tables, and to read additional analyses of these data.

We found a great resource for delivering PowerPoint presentations on your GPS Digital Video System. Try a third party software solution called PresenterSoft. PresenterSoft is software that coverts your PowerPoint Presentation into MP2 files. After your PowerPoint presentation(s) are converted, you can use the MP2 files on your GPS Digital Video System.

Play PowerPoint presentations on your bus or boat tour routes to provide additional information of value for your passengers.

PresentSoft currently provides two programs, one for PowerPoint 2000 and for PowerPoint 2002/2003 and 2007. In order to play MP2 files on your system using PresentSoft – use the following settings when converting your presentations:

Video Resolution = 720 x 480, Expected Framerate = 30 (Frames per second) [PAL]

Preferred video format = MPEG Video: MPEG2 @ 8000kbps, 29.97fps, original frame size, Audio: 224kbps

To download this software click here: PresenterSoft for converting PowerPoint to MP2.

There has been a number of research reports over the years that have focused on uncovering the benefits of audio visual learning. And why is learning important when it comes to providing your passengers/visitors with an experience meant to entertain – not educate? After all, people don’t take sightseeing tours or self guided audio tours to be reminded of what it was like to sit in a high school classroom.

The fact is – people are seeking learning orientated travel. Travelers do want to learn and are eager to learn something new.

So what are the learning benefits of an audio tour?

• Audio tours that are created with your audience in mind are not only educative but very entertaining. This makes your passenger and visitor experiences much more fun and engaging.
• Well crafted audio tours are full of fun and interesting stories – presented in short, digestible segments to deliver the most impact for travelers who are eager to learn something new (adapting for people’s shorter attention spans due to technological advancements, TV, and multimedia)
• Most importantly, stories that your passengers and visitors will love to listen to. Writing for the ear means writing for narratives that will be read out loud, created for a listening audience rather than a reading audience.
• Recapture “the essence and the delights of hearing stories beautifully told by extraordinarily talented storytellers” (Baskin & Harris, 1995, p. 376)
• Research shows that listening to audio stories allows listeners to retain their visualization and picture-making skills. Your audience benefits from the advantage of being able to visualize as they listen. This provides us with the opportunity to take people to other times and places – creating stories against backgrounds of music and sound effects so that they can escape in a cinematic audio experience.
• Be remembered. By providing fun and entertaining tours that engage your audience – people will learn something new – and you’ll be remembered. You’ll also gain additional benefits including higher customer satisfaction and word of mouth recommendations.

Christopher Elliott, writing for Tribune Media Services, explains why 2010 will be the year of travel deals. Some of the highlights include:

• A recent forecast by Mintel, an international market and consumer research firm, predicts travel sales will basically remain flat in 2010.
• Research by Deloitte & Touche paints an equally bright outlook for bargain-hunters. “Leisure travelers will continue to seek out specials in 2010,” says analyst Adam Weissenberg. “
• According to his research, just over half of all active travelers say they plan to “stay fewer nights” on an upcoming vacation than they did this year.
• In 2010, everyone will discount.
• The travel industry’s soothsayers want you to believe that airfares are on the verge of taking off again. They may be right. But they probably aren’t.
• If you’re looking for deals in 2010, it pays to participate in social media, like Twitter or Facebook.
• “Social media has quickly become a new sales and loyalty channel for airlines,” says Lufthansa spokeswoman Jennifer Urbaniak.
• Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity have aggressively discounted packages that promise to be even more aggressively discounted in coming months.
• Many travel companies plan to make up for lost revenue by “unbundling” their rates.

(Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. You can read more travel tips on his blog, elliott.org.)

To read the story: Why 2010 will be the year of the travel deal

Source: CNN

The U.S. Department of Commerce announces that 5.1 million international visitors traveled to the United States in July 2009, a decrease of six percent compared to July 2008. Total visitation in the first seven months of 2009 was down 10 percent compared to the same period in 2008. International visitors spent $9.6 billion during the month, nearly 24 percent less than visitors spent in July 2008.

Click here for more monthly visitor spending data.

International Visitation Highlights^{(1) (2)}

Canada and Mexico

• In July 2009, Canadian visitation declined eight percent compared to July 2008. Measured by mode, land arrivals (1.4 million) declined by nine percent and air arrivals (395,000) decreased eight percent. In the first seven months of 2009, visitation from Canada decreased nine percent, with land arrivals (6.4 million) down nine percent and air arrivals (3.6 million) down nine percent.
• Visitation from Mexico (traveling to interior U.S. points) totaled 762,000, up four percent in July 2009. For the month, land arrivals (563,000) increased 11 percent and air arrivals (195,000) decreased 10 percent. Overall, traffic for the first seven months of 2009 was down 10 percent, with land arrivals (2.5 million) down six percent and air arrivals (810,000) down 20 percent.

Overseas (excluding Canada and Mexico)

• Overseas visitation decreased seven percent in July 2009 and dropped 10 percent year-to-date.

Top 20 Countries

• In July 2009, 13 of the top 20 countries 13 posted decreases in visitation to the United States, and visitation from five of the top 20 countries registered double-digit declines.
• At the same time, Brazil, South Korea, Australia and Argentina registered double-digit increases.
• In the first seven months of 2009, 17 of the top 20 countries posted decreases in visitation to the United States, with visitation from nine countries registering double-digit declines.

Click here to access the 2009 monthly arrivals data for Canada and Mexico, Overseas, and the Top 20 Countries.

Overseas Visitation

• U.S. visitation from the 27 European Union countries declined 11 percent in July 2009 and also dropped 11 percent from the first seven months of 2008.
• U.S. visits from Western Europe, 1.1 million visitors, were down 11 percent in July 2009. Year-to-date, arrivals (6.1 million) also decreased 11 percent. For the month and year-to-date, visitors from Western Europe accounted for 47 percent of all overseas visitors.
  • U.S. visits from the United Kingdom, 368,000 visitors, were down 15 percent in July 2009, accounting for 32 percent of all Western European arrivals. Year-to-date, visitation from the United Kingdom dropped 17 percent and accounted for 35 percent of all Western European visitors.
  • German visits were down three percent for the month and down eight percent year-to-date. At the same time, French arrivals decreased seven percent in July 2009 and are down one percent for the year.
  • Italian visitation was down eight percent in July 2009 and down four percent year-to-date. Visitors from the Netherlands were down five percent for the month and down 12 percent for the year. Spanish visits decreased 17 percent in July 2009 and decreased nine percent in the first seven months.
  • Visitation from Ireland decreased 34 percent for the month, and was down 19 percent for the year. Visitors from Switzerland and Sweden were up five percent and down 25 percent, respectively, for the month. In the first seven months, visits from Switzerland increased three percent while visits from Sweden decreased 20 percent.
• Eastern European visits were down two percent for the month, and up one percent for the year. Russian visitation decreased one percent for the month, and was up two percent for the year.
• Visitation from Asia decreased 11 percent in July 2009 and 16 percent in the first seven months of 2009.
  • Japanese visits were 15 percent below the July 2008 visitor levels, and down 18 percent in the first seven months of 2009. Japan accounted for 47 percent of all Asian visitors for the month and 50 percent of Asian visitors in the first seven months of 2009.
  • In July 2009, visitation from South Korea and India grew 11 percent and declined three percent, respectively. Year-to-date, arrivals from South Korea and India both dropped 12 percent. In July 2009 arrivals from the People’s Republic of China were down 11 percent and were down six percent for the year.
  • Taiwanese visitation dropped 26 percent for the month and was down 25 percent year-to-date.
• U.S. visitation from South America increased eight percent in July 2009 and increased three percent in the first seven months of 2009.
  • Brazilian visitation was up 10 percent for the month and up eight percent in the first seven months. Brazil is the top visitation market from South America; and in the first seven months of 2009 accounted for 32 percent of visits from the region. U.S. visits from Venezuela increased five percent in July 2009 but declined two percent for the year.
  • U.S. visitation from Colombia decreased one percent for the month and dropped four percent year-to-date. Argentine visits increased 26 percent in July 2009 and grew 11 percent for the year.
• Central American visits decreased one percent in July 2009 bringing the region to a five percent decline for the year.
• U.S. visitation from the Caribbean decreased five percent in July 2009 and dropped five percent for the year.
  • Visitation from the Dominican Republic, the top visitation market from the Caribbean region for the year, increased three percent in July 2009 but declined seven percent for the year.
  • In July 2009 there was a 13 percent decrease in visits from the Bahamas. Year-to-date, visits were also down 13 percent.
• Travel from Oceania increased 12 percent in July 2009 but decreased four percent year-to-date.
  • Visits from Australia were up 17 percent in July 2009 but registered a three percent decrease year-to-date. Australia accounted for 82 percent of all visits from Oceania in the first seven months of 2009.
• U.S. visitation from the Middle East decreased two percent in July 2009 and was down four percent year-to-date.
  • Israeli visitation to the United States decreased six percent in July 2009 and dropped nine percent year-to-date.
• U.S. visitation from Africa decreased four percent in July 2009 and declined nine percent for the year.

Click here to access the 2009 monthly arrivals data for world regions and top markets.

Andy Riga, writing for the Gazette, wrote an article on the changes happening within tourism to address the demands of more eco-conscious travelers. He also included online resources. Interested in reading more, please click here: Travellers want a tourism industry that is more eco-conscious. Websites help people make Earth-friendly choices.

Here are some of highlights:

• Today, with the public twigging to tourism’s heavy environmental footprint, the travel industry is scrambling to paint itself green.
• With people now able to travel to the remotest locales, tourism is one of the biggest industries in the world, one that employs countless people and keeps many poor nations afloat.
• Annual international trips around the world are expected to double to 1.6 billion by 2020, a quarter of them by long-haul travellers, the United Nations says.
• Concerned about climate change, travellers increasingly want to take steps to cut their holidays’ environmental impact.

Source: Canwest News Service