Does your CVB or tourism bureau use social media in its destination marketing plan? If not, what are you waiting for?

According to a recent study, 81 percent of all marketers surveyed said their social media efforts have generated exposure to their business, and 61 percent of marketers saw an increase in Web traffic. If your destination isn’t keeping up with trends in social media, your CVB or tourism bureau is losing money. Here are a few ways to market your travel agency using social media.

1. Search for groups and individuals’ interests on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to find out what people are saying about your destination.

2. Publish your blog articles on Digg, Delicious, Reddit and other social bookmarking sites to generate a wider viewing audience.

3. Constantly update your travel blog with new information, paying attention to Google Keywords to improve your search engine results rankings.

4. Extend friendships to tourists (former and future) to maintain relationships and keep them coming back.

5. Use photo sharing sites to link pictures taken by tourists to create a community among people who are interested in your destination.

6. Twitter travel deals and packages, as well as updates on area construction, new businesses, events and festivals.

7. Offer contests and promotions through social media outlets to help increase your followers.

8. Create customized URLs to Facebook and Twitter to provide another contact option for tourists. (e.g. facebook.com/yourcvbhere)

9. Create a network or online community among all businesses in your area to provide more information to your future tourists, as well as generate more traffic back to your profiles

10. Post videos on a YouTube account of different activities to participate in at your destination.

Having an active presence in many social media platforms will not only generate more exposure to your CVB or tourism bureau, but it will also redirect people back to your Web site.

Source by Jessica Swink

There are very few accessible destinations on this planet of ours (within the reach of the pocket of the average traveller) that can say that they have been long associated with the rich and famous over the past few decades, but Port Antonio in Jamaica, a majestic little beach town that sits towards the north-east of the glorious island of Jamaica, most certainly can. Hollywood movie stars and even members of royal families have either chosen to visit this beautiful part of the Caribbean during relaxing holidays or have decided to call the area their new home by buying or renting a holiday home here.

The truth of the matter is that there is a real ‘Je ne sais quoi’ about Port Antonio that draws elite travellers from all corners of the world, be it discerning businessmen, influential personalities, political figures, members of royalty or artists. This is easily one of the most pristine resorts in the whole of Jamaica and the area has been recognised countless of times as being a very affluent and attractive hotspot for high end travellers in search of uninterrupted beauty and world class comforts.

Those looking for the simple luxuries in life coupled with amazing scenery and untouched nature will fall in love with the area. Many of the landscapes here resemble postcard-perfect snaps and seem taken out of a Hollywood film. Port Antonio is also able to boast an excellent choice in the way of luxury holiday accommodation and it is also surrounded by some of the most interesting and unique tourist attractions.

A selection of the most popular attractions in this area includes the 200-feet-deep Blue Lagoon which has derived this name due to the sheer depth of the water, which many believe to be bottomless and offers an amazing swimming experience. It’s so beautiful in fact that it was the setting for the famous Blue Lagoon film in which Brooke Shields starred as a 15-year-old aspiring actress. The film not only shot her to immediate fame it also generated a lot of worldwide interest on the paradisaical setting in which its scenes were shot. If you never swam any where else on your Jamaica holidays, you should definitely ensure that you do so here in Blue Lagoon. You should also keep French man Cov eBeach, De Montevin Lodge, Boston Bay, Rio Grande, Folly mansion and Reach Falls well and truly on your sightseeing radar whilst in the area.

If there is even a small part of you that loves to follow the celebrity culture and embrace it for yourself for a while, you are going to absolutely adore spending your Jamaica holidays in Port Antonio. Before you come to the resort, however, hire the film ‘Cocktail’ or ‘Blue Lagoon’ from your local DVD rental store. These blockbuster movies were filmed in this exact area; so, you can see what you can look forward to for yourself and then get on with booking your holiday straight after.

Source by Susan Crown

Ways to Turn Around Falling Website Traffic

If we think rationally, every website has some or the other kind of fluctuations in their traffic. Are you aware of the normal range for your own website? What is your first reaction when you get to know about a significant drop in traffic on your website? Most of the people try to undo the last change they made to the website. Honestly speaking, it’s a wrong approach to go about things because there are innumerable reasons as to why your traffic might have dropped.

Before anything else, it’s important to keep in mind that the drop in traffic isn’t just a problem with your date ranges. Looking at today’s date, we find that not all of the traffic has come in till now. It might also happen that you or your webmaster tool must have accidentally deleted your tracking code, it will appear like no traffic has arrived till now, even though nothing might have changed. In your next step, check with IT for all the technical issues.

Ultimately, check the news. Is there a significant power outage, an occasion, or some other news thing that may justify a drop? If you’ve affirmed that this is, for sure, a drop in traffic that isn’t brought about by external or technical issues, at that point proceed onwards to boost your falling site traffic with these means.

1) Check for Penalties

In the event that you get a manual punishment from Google, you’ll be considered to be dropped in traffic as either the influenced page or your general rankings fall. Most drops in traffic aren’t clarified by a manual penalty from Google, yet it’s straightforward and conclusive to affirm whether you have one. Check for notices on Google Search Console.

In the event that you do have notifications, it’s most likely for strategies or content that appears malicious or copied. In case you’re working with an SEO firm, you need to converse with them regarding why they would utilize strategies that are punished by Google-and locate another firm. You’ll likewise have to address the misstep to eliminate the penalty and recapture your traffic.

2) Compare Traffic Channels

It very well may be useful to figure out which sort of traffic is falling on your site. In the event that it’s paid traffic, consider whether you’ve quite recently quit putting money into an advertisement. That can justify the actual drop.

You may likewise need to look at branded versus unbranded traffic. Branded traffic is site traffic from individuals who are straightforwardly visiting your site, not being alluded by a link or connection. They might be looking for your organization’s name straightforwardly on Google, so you realize that they definitely know your business. On the off chance that you see a drop in branded traffic, it very well may be a PR issue. Maybe less individuals feel the need to interface with your brand.

3) Pause Your Ads

Another chance is that paid search results page traffic is cutting into your organic traffic. Somewhat, this is normal. While putting resources into paid traffic may decrease your organic traffic it should boost your general traffic.

Incidentally however, your paid traffic just cuts into your organic traffic. It’s conceivable that you have a particularly solid presence on the paid keyword, then there’s no advantage of purchasing advertisements there. The best way to know whether your paid advertisement is liable for your traffic drop is to pause the advertisement and check whether your traffic resumes at the past or anticipated levels.

Conclusion

At the point when your site traffic is down, it’s important to turn around to the core ways you build up an audience – by offering your visitors important content and zooming in on incredible user experience. At the point when you do, your site will receive the benefits in traffic over a period of time.

Source by Raj Kumar

The world is experiencing El Nino and this phenomenon is expected to continue, which means summer will be a lot hotter than usual and what way to beat the summer heat? Swimming and basking into the cool waters of a tropical isle. If you are planning to go the Caribbean, a nice warm and cozy West Indian continental-island is ideal for some summer fun water activities and it is waiting for you. So look for affordable Barbados travel already and get ready to jump in the cool relaxing waters of the island.

The country has a strong British influence which is why neighboring countries called it: “Little England”. You can get to this tropical paradise either by air or by ship. You can choose from a number of regional and international carriers like: Caribbean Airways, Britsh Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air Canada, WestJet, American Airlines, US Airways, American eagle and Air Jamaica. There are also charter airlines that run services seasonally. The travel time ranges from 3 and half hours to a grueling 9 hours flight, depending on where you are coming from. You will arrive to Barbados Grantley Adams international Airport located in the parish of Christ Church. If traveling by ship is what you want, there is an international deep water harbor located at Bridgetown.

There are many fun things to do in “Little England”, people to meet, places to visit, food to eat and beaches to swim, surf and enjoy. There are many beaches in the tropical island: a Speightstown beach, Accra, Crane is few of the beaches you can visit and enjoy. There are two boardwalks where tourists can enjoy an afternoon stroll and take pleasure in viewing the beautiful sunset. Since the island’s east coast face the Atlantic Ocean, surfers can have some light surfing, however surfers are still prohibited from other areas because of under-tow currents. The Caribbean island is also an ideal place for scuba-diving, tourists can get pleasure from close encounter with the marine creatures of the sea. Tourists and visitors also have the option of seeing the beauty of the ocean by riding a submarine. Atlantis Submarines can take anyone on special trip under the sea, a must experience for anyone who are visiting the country.

After a day’s traveling and fun activities tourists can indulge in the many festive seafood dishes of Barbados. Deep fried flying fish fillet sandwich and Cod fish cakes are few of the seafood delicacies the country. It is a perfect meal for anyone who is looking for something tasty to eat. Foreign visitors can relax and rest easy since there are also 5 star hotels which offer world class service and accommodation they can choose from. Not to mention that there are a lot of tropical sites that you can go to when you want to quench your summer thirst. So if you want to beat the summer heat and have a fun filled vacation, look for affordable Barbados travel, set sail for the serene and relaxing beaches of “Little England”.

Source by Joel Owens

The villa and its park were designed in 1605 for Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V. The park was the first of its kind in Rome. It contained 400 newly-planted pine trees, garden sculpture by Bernini’s father, Pietro, and dramatic waterworks built by Giovanni Fontana.

The layout of the formal gardens was imitated by other prominent Roman families at Villa Ludovisi and Villa Doria Pamphilj. In the early 19th century Prince Camillo Borghese assembled the family’s magnificent art collection in the Casino Borghese, now the home of the Galleria and Museo Borghese.

In 1901 the park became the property of the Italian state. Within its 6-km (4-mile) circumference there are now museums and galleries, foreign academies and schools of archaeology, a zoo, a riding school, a grassy amphitheatre, an artificial lake, an aviary and an array of summer-houses, fountains, Neo-Classical statuary and exotic follies.

There are several ways into the park, including a monumental entrance on Piazzale Flaminio, built for Prince Camillo Borghese in 1825 by Luigi Canina. Other conveniently-sited entrances are at Porta Pinciana at the end of Via Veneto and from the Pincio Gardens.

Piazza di Siena, a pleasantly open, grass-covered amphitheatre surrounded by tall umbrella pines, was the inspiration for Ottorino Respighi’s famous symphonic poem The Pines of Rome, written in 1924. Near Piazza di Siena are the so-called Casina di Raffaello, said to have been owned by Raphael, and the 18th-century Palazzetto dell’ Orologio. These were summerhouses from which people enjoyed the beautiful vistas across the park. Many buildings in the park were originally surrounded by formal gardens: the Casino Borghese and the nearby 17th-century Casino della Meridiana and its aviary (uccelliera) have both kept their geometrical flowerbeds.

Throughout the park the intersections of paths and avenues are marked by fountains and statues. West of Piazza di Siena is the Fontana dei Cavalli Marini (the Fountain of the Seahorses) added during the villa’s 18thcentury remodelling.

Walking through the park you will encounter statues of Byron, Goethe and Victor Hugo, and a gloomy equestrian King Umberto I.

Dotted about the park are picturesque temples made to look like ruins, including a circular Temple of Diana between Piazza di Siena and Porta Pinciana, and a Temple of Faustina, wife of Emperor Antoninus Pius, on the hill north of Piazza di Siena. The nearby medieval-looking Fortezzuola by Canina contains the works of the sculptor Pietro Canonica, who lived in the building and died there in 1959.

Source by Kristie Haller

We are living in a technology driven society. In this society, we should keep us updated with the latest technological inventions. We must try our best to get the latest tools, gadgets and software to execute multiple tasks with our least possible efforts. To make us aware of these tools, gadgets and software, many dedicated news portals, blogs, websites, magazine, tabloids, journals, and newspapers have appeared to the scene. They take important roles in the dissemination of latest information about technology.

There are a significant number of websites and blogs offering us latest tech news. We get to know about the latest gadgets, software and apps along with the right platforms to run them. Now we can travel faster and reach our desired destinations within a very short span of time. Doctors can get information about the latest machines and tools. They can use these to cure their patients. Alongside, they can give end-to-end solutions to some diseases that were incurable for last few decades. Besides, they let us know about the newly invented computer languages, new application software and latest database management systems. With the aid of these, businesses can execute a number of business activities that help them in better business management. They can perform well in their core competencies and create steady bottom lines for their companies.

Based on their information, we take some important decisions to make our life more comfortable and hospitable. We get to know about the probable risks and recent malware attacks that can help us in happy and safe internet browsing.

Significant benefits of tech news

Help us grow well

Tech news makes us aware of the latest inventions and technological advancements. We use them in our personal lives and business purposes. Many news items help us make our life more comfortable- as we start using these technologies in our own purposes. Sometimes, dedicated tech media bring out news on business management software and database management system. These help businesses perform well in their core competencies. As the consequence of these, they can grow well to become a globally recognized company or business entity.

Help us stay safe and happy

As these media include updated information about hacking, malicious attacks and dangerous “call to action points”, we become aware of these. It helps us in safe browsing and secured transaction.

Save money and time

As we are informed about the latest technological trends, we can make some changes in our operation and production process. Using latest tools and methodologies, we can cut down our production costs and execute a number of activities quickly and easily. This helps us save our time and money.

Source by Daniel Mcbreen

Are you in search of a better journey plan? Do the traveling charges or ticketing rates worry you? Then there is no need for you to get disheartened. The World Wide Web is going to be your friend. The internet has been flooded with immeasurable packages and innumerable schemes and discounts for travel and tourism. Online ticketing and travel agencies have renovated the idea of traveling or journey. Their massive penetration and user friendly behavior has promoted the travel and tourism to a great extent. Beyond all this it is easily accessible and casually simple enough to deal with. It will be useful for the customer if he is aware of the market fluctuations and deals, the trends and schemes, the press releases and news aids together with the seasonal hypes.

If you are clear with the above stated elements you can confidently direct yourself to cheap ticket deals and e- booking. Cheap ticketing or such agencies are online providers of travel supplies constituting air tickets, cruises, food and accommodations, car rentals, condo rentals, suitable destinations with several combo packages, discounts and even final hour trip facility. These discounts, special packages and various cheap ticket promotional coupon codes counts a lot for your; saves your money and adds beauty to your expedition.

Cheap ticket deals and coupon codes are extensively available in the internet in the present context. You can plan your journey and access the cheap ticket deals in the daily basis or according to your convenience. This facility can ensure you maximum protection and authenticity with the colorful stimulation of affordability. Basically the deals can provide you discounts in the popular carriers of American Airlines, Delta, United Airlines, US Air, Southwest Airlines and Northwest Airlines. There are less complication and more facilities in cheap ticketing deals.

A fine research over the deals is the only necessity in fact all the other information about your destination, seasonal prospects and compatibilities all you can imbibe from these sites. The cheap ticket coupon codes and promotional codes will highly assist you in procuring discount in shopping, rentals, dining, accommodation and fares. It is capable to convert your holidays into cherished memories. It is for everyone who stays back for the worrisome thought of increased fares.

Cheap ticket deals are undoubtedly the ultimate solution for your dream journey and shrinking budgets. But you should be careful enough to give your card details and money for the trust worthy agencies as there are scores of them. Checking out the ratings and confining on to the reputed or sorted out ones will remove your worries. Thus you will not fall prey to any fake game.

Consequently you can go through the amazing offers and enjoy a splendid vacation. You can have maximum choices and by applying some simple logic you can grab marvelous schemes safe guarding your money. It could be highly profitable if you select a Saturday or Tuesday for your journey; besides the night flights will be are reasonable much and recommendable to a large extent.

Source by Sooraj Surendran

Garmin’s Nuvi 255WT is a unique and powerful unit as it is not only a GPS navigation unit but a travelers’ reference guide and a portable digital entertainment system – all in one. Available, in Europe, the Nuvi 255WT offers one of the most powerful GPS systems around as if offers amazingly detailed street mapping of particular countries, towns and regions, turn by turn directions in colorful 3D and 2D maps with its 480×272 pixel, 4.3″ widescreen, touchscreen LCD display. Garmin much like their competitors offer preinstalled maps and their Navigator NT software which has detailed points of interest information, giving 255WT users information on hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs and other points of interest along your way. Unlike their competitors, the Garmin Nuvi 255WT allows users the ability to add custom points of interest, adding school zones, parks or anything else you’d want. You can also set how frequently the device will alert you on upcoming points of interest. And Garmin offers MSN Direct which promises to keep users on time while giving them up to date news, traffic, weather and the other valuable information they’d need. Of course, in order to use MSN, the special receiver and a low-cost subscription is necessary.

The Nuvi 255WT’s sleek, thin lightweight design allows users to the ability to easy carry the device in a pocket or a purse. But most interesting is the addition of a pre-installed picture viewer, a world traffic clock with tine zones, a currency converter and a measurement converter – all of which are helpful for international drivers. And there’s the addition of Garmin Lock, an anti-theft feature that no other manufacturer has produced yet. Plus there’s the industry standard voice recognition program, allowing users to speak their destinations into the device. In addition, Garmin has a specialized choice of route program which allows users to program routes for the fastest or shortest route as well as route avoidance which will help drivers avoid traffic, construction and other delays based on real time results. A rechargeable lithium ion battery can get up to five continuous hours of usage on the road.

Garmin Nuvi 255WT advanced Cyclops safety camera database helps you travel with the confidence you are driving safely, responsibly and legally. As you approach one of hundreds of fixed, mobile and temporary safety cameras, variable limit or red light speed cameras across Europe, it gives an audible alert, overspeed warning and speed limit information.

But where Garmin differs from any other manufacturer on the market is that Garmin allows users to download custom vehicle icons to show your location on your GPS maps and users could download travel guides with more detailed information of points of interest, tourist sites and more information for curious users who want to know their destinations better than ever before. Plus, Garmin offers special information and deals for authorized dealers of Garmin related products. And you can view your travel memories on the unit with a preinstalled picture viewer.

Source by Sanjeev Massey

The smartphone is one of the most prestigious devices that one can own and they do not come cheap. However, they are electronics and they can break down and become problematic sometimes. The best thing is that there are so many smartphone experts available today. Selecting a good technician can be a great challenge, but there are things that you can look out for. There are several considerations that can be made when you are picking a repair service that matches your needs.

Some of the things that can be done include:

Researching thoroughly:

So as to get and good service, you need to weigh your options as carefully as possible. Inquire from people around you especially the ones that you trust. One thing you notice is that good news travel very fast and bad news even faster. When a repair shop is good, it becomes very easy to tell and when it is not, it is even easier to tell. You can easily get referrals to the best repair shops near you when you need such services. You can also know the shops to stay away from because of the poor services.

Stay focused on the business itself

It is important to consider the kind of services that are offered at a repair shop. This will help you determine if they do repair smartphones and whether this is a specification or not. This helps you to know whether the shop is qualified to handle your repair or not. It is not always necessary to take your smartphone to a specialist store because in most cases, the shops that are qualified to handle electronics can comfortably handle your gadget as well.

Warranty

To cushion yourself, you need to ask about the warranty. Regardless of how smooth a repair is, there are times that you need to take the smartphone back to the shop. You need to ask about the warranty policy in place on the parts and the repair service. Most technicians will never talk to the customers regarding the policy until they need to bring back the phone a second or third time. There are stores that offer a few months against defects or negligence. A good repair shop has a longer period because they are confident about their parts and workmanship.

Experience

The smartphone is expensive and it is very sensitive. As such, it has to be handled with great care and by experts. Ensuring that the gadget is repaired by a skilled and experienced technician is very important. This is because such a person understands the smartphone and therefore gives the best services. Giving the gadget to someone without the skills of knowledge of repair may actually end up damaging it.

The spare quality

There are many spares available today. Different manufacturers make parts. The parts can differ in terms of quality and performance. It is important to choose a shop that stocks genuine parts. When you settle for genuine parts, you can be assured of great performance.

Source by Shalini M

Do you want to see more of the world than just your local city? The world really is full of possibilities if you’re willing to just leave your own front door. When most people think about traveling the world, they, their friends and family come up with a million reasons why they can’t or shouldn’t travel and see the world. It doesn’t have to be that way for you. Traveling is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. Traveling allows you to really grow, develop and think for yourself.

Your fears about traveling can easily be overcome by using a very simple and life changing technique. What is this simple technique? It’s EFT or Emotional Freedom Techniques.

How can EFT help you travel more?

Home Comfort Zone

Being at home is safe, secure and comfortable. It is what you know and trust. Most of your fears about your safety and security when in a foreign country are based on a few one-offs that you hear about in the media. Do you really know how many people fly to the countries you want to visit daily? Yet, you are letting ONE news report put you off.

Fear of Medication

If you travel to lot, you’ll eventually have to have some shots and take some tablets. Your phobic reaction to needles etc is bread and butter to EFT. Are you going to let a 1 minute event affect your next 6 months.

Language Learning

It doesn’t matter what you were like learning languages at school. It does not matter what you were told about your ability in school. This has nothing to do with you being in a foreign country and really learning and using the language first hand. You can easily use EFT to overcome your beliefs about what is possible for you and learning languages.

Fear Of It All Going Wrong

If it goes wrong for whatever reason. No worries. These things happen. Maybe you got homesick, maybe you injured yourself. Things do happen and sometimes you can’t cope and you come on home. There is no shame or guilt in that. If you’re afraid of how others will react to you coming home early. Get over it with EFT.

Talking to you as a frequent traveler. I’ll let you into a big secret. Your friends will still be there when you get back. They will still be talking about the same topics in the same places. They will not have moved on. Most of them will not have contacted you whilst you have been away. Yet, you will have grown so much, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

Happy Travels

Source by Andrew Wilkie