Some Hot Tips on Charter Flights for Discount Travel

A charter flight will almost always be a less expensive way to fly. Whether your going to Europe or just across the country to Florida. Here are some good tips for finding and choosing a good charter to make sure you save plenty of money on each trip.

Almost anyone will probably agree that in a perfect world they'd be able to travel more. It is one of the most natural human desires to want to see different parts of the world and experience new things. And anyone who has traveled will probably agree that you don't really appreciate or think about your home too much until you have the perspective of seeing how people live in other parts of the world.

The problem of course, is that travel has always been expensive. Although airfares have gotten cheaper over the years, they are still expensive enough that most people don't fly regularly, and this is likely to remain the case. So unless you plan on suddenly getting rich, you're going to have to come up with some discount travel solutions if you want to fly more, and a great thing to look into if you're looking for a cheap flight are charter flights.

Charter flights are cheaper because they work on a different system than a started airline flight. A standard airline will have a set route between two cites: an airline will fly a certain amount a times a week between two cities, and this remains constant regardless of the amount of passengers. In other words normal airline routes function like bus routes, and sometimes there may only be a few people on the plane. It is this need to average out costs - to be able to afford all those times when the plane is a third full - that leads to high airfares.

Nearly any popular destination has charter flights going to it from major airports across the country. Also there are plenty of charters overseas to Europe, Asia or the United States. Charter flying is highly recommended to save money on many flights around the world.

A charter company can offer cheaper fares by working in a different fashion: they will charter an entire plane from an airline for a particular date and time, and thus receive a heavy discount on the cost. They can then pass some of this discount on to you by offering a lower per seat price for the flight. Most charter companies operate along very common routes during peak times - for example, sunny vacation spots during the winter.

Charter flights are much more reliable then other more radical ways of obtaining discount airfare, and fares will generally get cheaper as the departure date approaches. There is a certain amount of risk, however: a charter company can decide to cancel a flight if they haven't sold enough tickets. Unlike a regular airline, which constantly has planes going to multiple destinations, the charter company may not be able o immediately put you on another plane. So instead of waiting a few hours it's likely that if your charter flight is cancelled you'll either be receiving a refund, or waiting at least a day or two for another charter - which of course can ruin any vacation.

That being said, there are many large and reliable charter companies, and charter flights -- while not offering discounts as big as can be found through other discount travel methods - remain a reliable alternative to regular airfare. And if you're flexible and willing to buy a ticket on short notice, you can find many excellent airfares from charter companies, making charter flights one of the more popular discount traveling methods.

I hope you have found this article informative. It was brought to you by www.findingtraveldeals.com, stop by for lots of travel discount articles. With many ways to save money and find new ideas for places to visit on your vacation.

Travel and Tourism Courses

Travel and Tourism degrees are available through an online college or university distance learning course. A Travel and Tourism degree qualifies future travel agents for an exciting career planning trips, escorting clients to exotic locales, and enjoying industry discounts on airfare and services.

Online Travel and Tourism Schools teach students to assess a client's travel goals: Will it be a business trip or pleasure? What are the client's interests? How much is the client willing to spend? Online Travel and Tourism Schools show students how to select a destination, make reservations for hotels and car rentals, purchase airline tickets, and arrange tours and recreational activities.

Travel Career Development
One of the largest and the most enjoyable career industries is the travel industry. Travel includes many forms of business operations that include hotels to airlines, campgrounds to theme parks, restaurants and cruise lines. The field of travel has the great potential to become a rewarding and exciting experience.
If you are already working in the travel industry, you know how vital it is to keep tourists coming. Happy tourists mean a steady flow of income and jobs. This is why company managers look for prospective staff that shows great interest in travel career development classes and conferences. Because a customer's comfort and safety is of great importance, a travel career development class also covers customer service and hotel, motel and resort sales. The travel industry continues to grow at a significant rate bringing more tourists and job opportunities.

Travel Career Development Courses
Travel embraces various types of industries from restaurants and cruise lines, airlines to hotels, theme parks to campgrounds. Thus, the travel industry is deemed one of the biggest businesses in the world. This field promises a lot of worthwhile and challenging experiences.
Happy and satisfied holiday-makers stand for a steady stream of income and jobs. Those already experienced in the travel industry know how to meet tourists? expectations. This is the reason employers are in search for applicants who demonstrate curiosity in travel career development conferences and courses. There are many educational courses available, through conferences and as well as college courses available in many technical schools. There are also great online programs that offer many certificates for travel agents. Many of the courses teach about typical business practices and how to properly run a business.
Technology and specific computer programs relating to the industry are all explained in these courses as well. There are courses that teach an agent about reservation programs, as well as how to work with clients, how to create profitable packages for clients and about the laws and regulations that must be taken into consideration when traveling.

FDI LEEWAY FOR PROJECTS IN HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM

In yet another move to ease the foreign direct investment (FDI) guideline for real estate, the department of industrial policy & promotion (DIPP) has proposed that minimum capitalisation norms be waived for some projects in hospitality and tourism.

In a note drafted for the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), the DIPP, which also handles the FDI policy, has said the minimum capitalisation norms specified in Press Note 2 can be waived in the case of projects involving hospitality and tourism facilities such as hotels, restaurants or entertainment facilities. Press Note 5 specifies that minimum capitalisation should be $5 million for permitting FDI in realty projects which involve an Indian partner. However, for a fully-owned subsidiary of an overseas firm the minimum capitalisation is $10 million. The waiver would be available to projects where half the built-up area is devoted to hotel and tourism businesses like food courts, resorts, restaurants, or if 20% of the total built-up area is used for hotel rooms.

The DIPP has also proposed that FDI should be allowed to flow into smaller realty projects covering only 10 acres. As of now, FDI is allowed in realty projects only if the minimum area covered is 25 acres (or 10 hectares). The move will help realty projects in metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad attract FDI.

Realty players say that it is not possible to find 25 acres of land in these cities to make their projects comply with Press Note 2 of 2005, which defines guidelines for permitting FDI in this sector. The industry is keen on business in the metros as it attracts high-profile customers, but wants FDI to be allowed since the cost of land in these cities is high, making them expensive.

Veterans in the real estate business who do not want to be identified said the liberalisation moves were welcome. These steps, when implemented, will provide relief to high-value projects in metros and projects being developed for the tourism sector. The move comes as a relief at a time when realty players are struggling to managed debt and lull in business, they added.

However, the realty industry is upset that its demand for waiving off the three-year lock-in for FDI in real estate has not been accepted. Many fund houses keep off realty projects due to the threeyear lock-in period, industry players feel.

India is Big Mart for Medical Tourism Business

With growing number of private hospitals offering the best of medical services in the world, India has been evolving as a big mart for medical tourism business, which is reportedly growing at the rate of 30 per cent each year.

India is known to offer quality and cheap health care services to foreign tourists. As per the study carried out by Confederation of Indian Industry.the Indian medical tourism industry will become a $2.3 billion business by 2012. In 2007, India treated nearly 450,000 foreign patients, thereby bagging the second position in the medical tourism realm.

India is in the process of becoming a Big Mart for Medical Tourism owing to the following advantages:

* Indian medical services cost 30% less as compared to Western countries and they are considered to be the cheapest in South-east Asia.

*India has large number of English speaking doctors, nurses, guides and medical staff. This makes it easier for foreigners to communicate with the Indian doctors.

* Indian hospitals do extremely well in cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, transplants, joint replacements, dental care, cosmetic treatments, Orthopaedic surgery and more.

* The medical services in India comprise, full body pathology, comprehensive physical and gynecological examinations, audiometry, spirometry, Chest X-ray, 12 lead ECG, 2D echo Colour Doppler, gold standard DXA bone densitometry, body fat analysis, coronary risk markers, cancer risk markers, high strength MRI etc.

* All medical treatments are carried out using the latest, technologically advanced diagnostic equipments.

* Indian doctors have achieved excellence in performing successful cardiac surgeries, bone marrow transplants, liver transplants, orthopedic surgeries and other medical treatments.

* The expenditure incurred for Infertility treatments in India is almost 1/4th of that in developed nations. The accessibility to modern reproductive techniques, such as IVF, and an array of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) services have made India an infertility treatment hub.

Medical Consultation and Surgery

India is the looked upon as the ideal medical destination for surgery and treatment, because of the numerous government hospitals and private tertiary care medical institutions with International JCI (Join Commission International) Accreditation. Most of these hospitals rank among the best in the world. They are well-equipped with the most modern and sophisticated technologies. The panel of internationally trained Consultants and Surgeons in India, backed by specialist medical teams, ensure total patient care with high success rates. The best thing being the cost of Medical consultation and surgeries is very affordable. The most important surgeries which foreigners prefer to carry out in India are listed below:

Infertility Treatments
Heart/Cardio Surgeries
Cosmetic Treatments
Eye Care
Dental Care
Orthopedic Surgeries
Organ Transplants
India a big mart for alternate system of medicines like ayurvedaAyurveda

Ayurveda is the oldest form of medicine, and lore has it that its guiding principles were scripted by Hindu Gods, and written texts available date back to 3500 years. This probably makes it the earliest medical science available that believes in the blending of physical, mental, social, moral and spiritual welfare. India has been proactively propagating its usefulness via various global networks. Consequently, many foreign companies have started realizing the effectiveness of this science. People from U.S.A., U.K., Russia, Germany, South Africa, Hungary and other parts of the world visit India to get treated by Indian Ayurveda experts.

Darjeeling Tourism - Facts you might not know

Darjeeling Tourism – Know about Darjeeling
Darjeeling lovingly called “queen of hill stations” is situated in the state of West Bengal, India.

What you might know about Darjeeling
The pristine air of the hill is bliss for the people who visit the place. The nature is at its best. The spectacular sunrise and sunsets are unforgettable sights at Darjeeling India. The hill resort has attracted botanists, ornithologists, trekkers, photographers and holidaymakers alike. Darjeeling is famous for the magnificent mountains of Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, and Makalu. This place has attracted them all. Apart from the climate and serene sights history of Darjeeling is very interesting.

What you might not know about Darjeeling: History of Darjeeling
1.Darjeeling Marketplace: Dorje-ling as pronounced by the British visitors was developed as a hill station by the Raj. Establishing the hill station was a tough task for them. The reason being there was no market, and no organized place from where food and the other necessities of life could be procured. The creation of the Darjeeling marketplace was therefore central to the development of Darjeeling. People of different origins used to live there such as Lepchas, Nepalese, Tibetans, Sherpas, Bhutanese, and Sikkimese. The parade ground which was used by British raj is now used as market place called “Market square”.
2.Health and holiday resort of the Raj: As the health and holiday resort of the Raj in the days when Calcutta was the "second city of the British Empire", Darjeeling had a permanent European population. Missionaries from all over the world used to come there and live.
3.Some great schools and colleges in Darjeeling: British, Irish, American and Belgian educators ran excellent English language schools which still exist today. Schools like Mt. Hermon, North Point, St. Paul's, Victoria, Goethals, Dow Hill, St. Helens, and the Loreto Convent, built either in the 19th century or at the beginning of the 20th century, were among the elite institutions of the British Empire
4.Centre of Indo-Tibetan commercial relations: Darjeeling was at the centre of Indo-Tibetan commercial relations, between Calcutta and Lhasa, when trade flourished between the two countries. Europeans indulged in commerce of all kinds in Darjeeling: there were British tea planters; haberdashers and tailors; department store managers; business agents, dealers and distributors; beauticians and book retailers. To these we may add Czech shoe makers, Austrian and Italian confectioners, French auto engineers and American dentists.
5.Windamere Hotel:Darjeeling visit is incomplete with out visiting a place called Windamere Hotel. It is a 19th century Heritage hotel. It is also ranked among 10 top colonial hotels in Asia Pacific.It is also called “one of the three jewels of the raj”. It was established in 19th century as a boarding house for bachelor English and Scottish tea planters; it was converted into a hotel just before the outbreak of the Second World War. Well known to sophisticated travelers. The Windamere is famous for its unique ambience and charm, and has been the subject of many leading stories in the international media. It was awarded as the Heritage Hotel of India by Prime minister in the first National award ceremony for outstanding hotels in India.

Origin of the name Darjeeling:
The name Darjeeling comes from the word Dorje-ling,in which Dorje means “thunder” and Ling means “place” ,ie. “the place of thunderbolt”. It is also said that the word Darjeeling comes from “Dorjé-rinzing”, it is a name of a lama who founded the monastery which once stood on Observatory Hill.
Facts about Darjeeling:
1. Population: 109,200
2. Time Zones: GMT/UTC +5.5
3. Currency: Indian Rupee or Rs
4. Languages Spoken: Nepali, Hindi, Tibetan, Bengali and English
5. Electrical Voltage: 230-240V 50Hz
6. Country Dialing Code: +91
7. Weights & Measures: Metric
8. Area Dialing Code: 0354. This number is prefixed to the local number when calling from outside of the Darjeeling area. International calls to Darjeeling do not usually need the prefix 0. Please check with your country’s telecom company.

Eco Tourism

It is quiet natural for one to be stunned by the recent research which is made by climate scientists of Centre for Alternative Technology as well as elsewhere, because all of us slowly begin to know the impact which our privileged standard of living has up on this planet as well as its individuals.

Disturbing forecast are inclusive of doomsday circumstances like flooding, increasing of sea level, chaotic as well as devastating critical weather which causes failure of crops and the water borne infection is spread widely and due to over exposure of UV, the skin cancer can be caused. Like these frightening situations have too much of chances to turn in to reality, in our life span, if our consumption of energy as well as emissions of pollution aren’t sincerely limited.

The industry of aviation is considered to be rapid developing resource of climate altering green house gases and well Britain is actually accountable for further discharge from the air travels than the other nation. All of us adore travelling, however by keeping these realities in our minds, it is turning to be complicated by imaging to fly off on well deserved foreign vacation having no severe reason for concern. But the developing industry of ecological and ethical sustainable tourism provides exciting, diverse, adventurous vacations that could decline impact or also be advantageous to the surrounding instead of wasting the resources as well as causing damage. Guided cycling and walking trips, for example, are considered to be a fine mode to view spectacular landscapes as well as gain more knowledge regarding plants and wild life while detonating to the localised country in a dependable, fairly way.

Solar powered and independent B&BS are bouncing in the dreamy destination such as Normandy and Portugal. Are you searching for something which is even more adventurous? Then what do you thing about the cross nation skiing which is in Norway or dog sledding which is in Finland or else sea kayaking as well as diving - off Croatia. There’re countless inspirational places in Europe that could be reached easily by train or sea or else through Euro-star. One night in the cabin of the ferry which is heading to Scandinavia or else could opt for the luxurious and most comfy train hotels that cover Spain, Italy, Switzerland, France and many other places could be an thrilling, exciting experience getting back few traditional romance while travelling. Extensive haul over land travel pays for distinctive chances to view this world, just two things you need, one is a backpack as well as tent, you are all set for this trip, you can go any where you want in the way. Anywhere means you could just go about anywhere. There exists also the adventure travel company which provides twelve weeks overland trip throughout the twenty countries, say from London – Sydney.

travel and tourism industry

The origin of the word "tourist" date back to 1292 AD. It has come from the word ‘tour’. A number of experts have defined the term:
"Tourists are the voluntary temporary travelers, traveling in the expectations of pleasure from the novelty and change experienced on a relatively and non-current round-trip".
"Tourist is a person who makes a journey for the sake of curiosity for the fun of traveling".

Tourists are:

-Persons traveling for pleasure, health and domestic reason.
-Persons arriving in the sea of sea cruise.
-Persons traveling for convention.

Tourism – the first commercial venture.


A religious Englishman called Thomas Cook in 1841 arranged, for a fee, a one –day rail excursion from Leicester to Loughborough for 540 members of a temperance league. Thus the first bona fide travel agent was Thomas Cook.

While Cook himself did not make a profit on this first venture, he was a man of vision and was convinced that there was a need for a skilled "travel arranger". So by 1845 he had become the first full-time travel agent, operating train excursions from Leicester. The next year he chartered a train and steamer for an excursion to Scotland for 330 people. In 1851 Cook arranged ocean steamship travel and accommodations for more than 1,50,000 visitors to the World Exposition in London and in 1856 he operated the first escorted "grand tour" of Europe. Tours to Europe and Middle East were also conducted and, in 1872, the first around the world tour was conducted.

Tourism as a Service Industry

Tourism as a service industry comprises of several allied activities which together produce the tourism product. Involved in the tourism product are three major sub-industries. They are: -
1. Tour operators and travel agents.
2. Accommodation sector (hoteling and catering) and
3. Passenger accommodation.

According to international estimates, a tourist spends 35% of his total expenditure on transportation, about 40% on lodging and food and the balance 25% on entertainment, shopping and incidentals.
The product in this case is not confirmed to travel and accommodation but includes a large array of auxiliary services ranging from insurance and entertainment and shopping, demand generation, in addition to the consumer motivation, is also heavily dependent upon powerful persuasive communication both at the macro (country) level and the micro (enterprise) level. The participants in the process of this service business can be illustrated by the figure below.

Some of the pointers to nature of tourism as a Service Industry

1. Tourism accounts for nearly 6% of world trade.
2. Bulk of tourism business is located in Europe and North America., with 1/8 of the market being shared between the other regions.
3. The highest growth rate in tourism in recent years has been in the third world.
4. Tourism, like most pure services, because of the character of inseparability, exemplifies a product, which cannot be sampled before purchase; the prospective consumers have to travel to a foreign destination in order to consume the product.
5. The major players in the tourism market include a number of intermediary companies. Some of them transnational in character, some of them exhibit
vertical integration, both backward and forward, acquiring interests in all major sectors of this service industry.


The Tourism Product- Factors Governing Demand.

Because of the unique nature of the nature of tourism product- it being an amalgam of the characteristics of a destination and the infrastructural as well as managerial efforts of the promoter, the determinants of tourists demand emanate from both individual tourist motivations and the economic, social, technological factors. Some of these are:

• Income Levels

In the last 30 years, disposable incomes around the world have shown upward trends, thus allowing more money for activities like leisure travel. Smaller families have meant higher allocations per person in the family. More and more women are entering the workforce and in real terms the cost of travel has fallen. The dramatic rise of tourism in the last 50 years can be attributed in a large measure to the combined effect of more leisure time and rise in both real and disposable incomes.

• More Leisure time:

Increasing unionization of labour right from 1930 onwards has reduced the number of working hours per week. Changing managerial orientations towards human resources have increased the levels of pay and paid vacation time in most developed countries. Now people have longer periods of leisure, which could be allocated to travel.

• Mobility

Better transportation and communication services have made the world a smaller place, and have brought both exposure and awareness of distant lands to larger sections of potential tourists across the world. Faster modes of transport have cut down on travel time, making it easier for people to economically plan and execute trips abroad.

• Growth in Government Security Programmes and Employment Benefits:

The growth in government security programmes and well entrenched policies of employee benefits mean that quite a large number of families may have long term financial security and may be more willing to spend money for vacations.

Tourist Classification:-

Tourists can be classified into the following seven demand categories:-
1. Explorer: - Very limited in number, these tourists are looking for discovery and involvement with local people.
2. Elite: - People who favour special, individually trips to exotic places.
3. Offbeat: - These are filled with a desire to get away from the usual humdrum life.
4. Unusual: - Visitors who are looking forward to trips with peculiar objectives such as physical danger or isolation.
5. Incipient mass: - A steady flow, traveling alone or in small-organized groups using some shared services.
6. Mass: - The general packaged tour market, leading to tourist enclaves abroad.
7. Charter: - Mass travel to relaxation destinations, which incorporate as many as standardized, developed world facilities as possible.

The Travel Decision:-

The average tourist is faced with considerable uncertainty regarding the decision and may have only scanty ideas about distant destinations. His evaluation of alternatives is also limited to the extent of this awareness about possible destinations. The stages of travel decision can be described as: -

1. Travel Desire:-
The first step where the need to travel is felt and the pros and cons are thought about.
2. Information Collection and Evaluation:-
This stage involves the process of finding out the trip from travel agents, books and acquaintances .information so collected is evaluated against criteria of cost and time constraints, alternative possibilities, relative attractiveness of destinations, perceived ‘safety’ o the alternative destinations etc.
3. Travel Decision:-
This is the decision phase involving selection of destination, travel, mode of accommodation and activities to be undertaken.
4. Travel Preparation and Experience:-
This involves tickets, bookings, travel, money and documents arrangement, clothing and undertaking of the travel.
5. Travel Satisfaction Evaluation:-
The whole tourism expenditure is constantly evaluated before, during and after the experience is used to influence future decisions.

The marketing concept for the travel and tourism industry is profit driven and customer centric (unlike sales which are volume driven and target centric).


Service Marketing Triangle

Service marketing is unique in many ways in the travel and tourism industry. There are 3 players in the transaction process:-

- Company: A travel and tourism company listens to the customers and evolves/develops the travel/tour package and it communicates the attractiveness and the utility of that very tour package directly to the customers. Here it (the company) performs external marketing. The company makes promises to the customers.

- Providers: They are a travel company’s internal customers constituting employees and agents. The company does internal marketing with the providers educating and motivating them about the idea of the particular tour package which they can offer to their customers. This is done to enable the providers to effectively carry out the service transaction process. The providers make provisions for office space, accessibility and connectivity. The company enables promises to be kept by this infrastructural association.

- Customers (Travelers): The customers are the reasons that the travel company exists and for whom the company has designed the traveling and touring package as well as set up the infrastructural facilities and spent money on employee development programmes. Here the providers are the only ones who interact with the customers, like the travel agents interact with the customers and not the company. The agents perform interactive marketing which is on-time, all-time, every-time. This is the most crucial aspect of service marketing in the travel and tourism sector. Those agents have the responsibility of ‘keeping promises’ made and enabled by the company. The providers (agents) are responsible for the perceived quality level of the service transaction. This underlines the uniqueness of service marketing.

Tourism Products:

1. Accommodation
• Hotels
• Motels
• Boatels
• Flotels

2. Destination

• Natural Scenes
• Historic Excellence
• Artificial Beauties
• Social Cultural Excellence

3. Transportation

• Infrastructural
i. Airways
ii. Railways
iii. Roadways
iv. Waterways

• Local

i. Local transport

4. Tour operators

• Travel companies
• Travel agents
• Guides

5. Shopping

• Handicrafts
• Handloom
• Books