Although a land-locked country, it is in fact possible to surf in Prague, Czech Republic. Thanks to the efforts of Jan Maršík and his team, river surfing has become a reality.
Born from a dream of wanting to have a local spot to ride a wave and hangout with like-minded people, Maršík set out to make this happen in 2013 when he started construction on the Elbe River in Brandy’s Nad Labem. Today, it’s a favourite among locals and tourist alike. See here for the full story.
Not only is it great for beginner and intermediate surfers, the surrounding history makes the area a great place to just walk around. Before hitting the waves, be sure to check out the Brandy’s Nad Labem Castle. Also the third oldest bridge in the Czech Republic is just down the stream from the surf spot.
Are you considering doing a Contiki Greek island tour? You may have heard of Mykonos and Santorini, but Ios? Although not as popular as the other islands, Ios is a pleasant surprise for those who have the privilege of visiting it and there’s a reason why it’s the last island of the tour.
Ios is a smaller greek island only accessible by boat. Since it doesn’t have an airport, you’ll notice a big different in how quiet the island is. Also, being less popular, Ios has many untouched beaches and lots of nature.
During your stay, one must-do is a visit to Pathos Lounge. During the day it is an amazing pool hangout, while at night it is an unreal party spot with world-class DJs.
If you arrive early or have a stopover at Toronto’s Pearson Airport (YYZ) and feel the need for a shower, there are some available in the international departure Plaza Premium Lounges in Terminal 1 and 3.
Although there is a fee to get in, the price includes food and drinks (alcohol too!) and a relaxing place to wait for your plane.
For a full review of the Plaza Premium Lounge in terminal 3, see the video above.
Can’t get enough of airport lounges? Consider a Priority Pass.
Think you need to go south in order to experience the thrills of zip lining? Luckily, it’s not the case. Treetop Trekking has various locations around Ontario where you can experience both zip lining and treetop obstacles, all while safely strapped in to a harness.
This review is based on the Brampton, Ontario location. For their other locations, please see their website. Reservations are required for all locations and you should arrive 30 minutes early to fill in all the required paperwork.
The Overall Experience
The day will start with an orientation session where you will learn the safety skills required to navigate the obstacles and ride the zip lines. After a short hands-on test of the safety skills, you are off on your own to navigate the numerous courses. Each course get progressively harder, ending with the longest/hardest (assuming the guides feel that you are ready for it and time permitting). In general, be prepared to be out on the courses for about 3 hours.
Tip: Go to the washroom beforehand! Having to go while you’re out makes for a lot of work (i.e. removing your harness) and lost time.
Tip: Bring snacks and water with you in a small bag that you can hang for a branch. Leave valuables in your car.
Tip: Bring fingerless gloves to prevent your hands from chaffing.
How Tourism Boards and Airlines Should Work Together to Increase Demand by Leveraging Airfare Tracking Websites (ATWs).
An Introductory Report by Rain Digital Inc. and RainTravels.com. PDF available here.
With the rise of Google Flights, ITA Software and other similar tools, it is now significantly easier to search and compare airline pricing. This has lead to the rise of Airfare Tracking Websites (ATWs), which originally shot to popularity for publicizing mistake airfares. Some are listed below:
These sites crawl the web for airfares that fall below its moving averages. For example, if a flight from New York to Tokyo averages $900 during off-peak season, but one becomes available for $650 or less, this would trigger an alert to the above ATWs who would then post it to their sites as a flight deal. This in turn gets seen by thousands of the sites’ followers through email and social media.
An example from NextDeparture.ca
Getting Posted
It goes without saying that in order to get posted on these sites, the airlines simply need to reduce their airfares enough to get noticed; a tactic already employed by airlines (hey, at the end of the day it’s free advertising).
The Other Player
Taking a step back, let’s take a look at the role of Tourism Boards. Most countries or regions have one that are usually funded by its respective Tourism Ministry or government body. The Board’s goal? To increase awareness and ultimately increase tourism to the country/region. This ‘awareness creation’ can take the form of advertising, PR, sponsored events, and conventions to name a few. The problem with most of these tactics is that it’s hard to measure its effectiveness and to track back the results to a specific campaign.
The Board Math
Although not a perfect science, the effectiveness of a Tourist Board can be measured by the below.
X = Total visitors for the period (usually yearly)
Y = Number of estimated visitors that would come regardless of the Board’s efforts
$ = Total board budget
Therefore, the average cost of ‘acquiring’ a new visitor = $/(X-Y)
Once this figure is known, it must be compared against the estimated economic benefit of an additional tourist to determine the return-on-investment (ROI) generated from the respective Board’s efforts.
With the United Kingdom voting to leave (Brexit) the European Union it has left the region in a chaotic state with lots of unknowns. Within the next couple years, the UK must, among other things, negotiate its departure through new trade agreements and treaties. So how does this play into the travel world? Is now a good time to visit the UK? Some thoughts below.
Firstly, there won’t be any dramatic changes before the UK’s official departure from the EU. Like all agreements and laws, changes will only take affect once it is officially launched. For people outside the EU, there likely won’t be much change after the fact either. As it stands, the UK still requires passport checks at its border crossings.
You’ve got the itch to get away. But you’re tight on time so you can only satisfy the itch by taking a weekend jaunt. If this sounds like you, Bologna, Italy might be just what you need.
A little bit off the grid compared to Florence and Rome, Bologna allows for a relaxing weekend with authentic Italian experience without the crowds and tourists.
If this sounds tempting, take a look at the below to get the most from Bologna over the course of a few days.
Blogging is competitive. No surprise there. And with the rise of video use and consumption, more and more bloggers are turning to video for exposure. So what tools are available to help bloggers stand out from the crowd? Below are some must-have tools that all bloggers should use.
1. Enlargeify.com
Uploading videos to YouTube and Facebook is a pain. Yet the advantage of uploading a video to Facebook directly is the larger video preview. Luckily, Enlargeify has found a way around this. Simply convert your YouTube link on Enlargeify and paste the new converted link into Facebook and BAM! big video preview!
2. DubDub.io
Take a lot of video on a smartphone? Join the club! See it. Shoot it. Share it. 12 tracks, drag and drop, point and click video, editing for creating and sharing high quality videos, on the fly. All entirely on your mobile. Nobody has time to edit on a desktop anymore. Get DubDub now!
Although many see Canada as being very similar to the U.S.A., there are a lot of differences between the two countries. Canada has one of the highest standards of living in the world and one of the lowest unemployment rates. It rarely sees acts of terrorism, although some of its major cities have a minor amount of violent crime. Overall, Canadians are very open, multicultural, and welcoming and unlike their U.S. neighbours, have strict gun laws.
#9 Slovenia
Formerly part of Yugoslavia, Slovenia experienced its violent uprising in the 90s, but has since emerged as one of the safest nations in the world. The country now rarely sees violent protests, engages in few international conflicts, and has low crime rates. Known for both its coastline and scenic alps, there is something for everyone in this up and coming country.
