Bad News Travels Quickly When Its About Poor Customer Service
By Peter L Mitchell
Business owners and operators all have a chance to offer much better service, but it requires resources such as time and energy plus a real commitment that has to start from the top and include everybody in the business. There can be no better way of building a profitable business than by being absolutely committed to offering the best customer experience as possible.
High levels of service to customers do not cost a lot of money and they certainly don’t take too much time, but they do require a strong belief in the value of customer service and how it is a major contributor to the future success and profit.
We are all consumers and customers and when we are in the business of providing a service to customers, we can’t help ourselves. We always assess the level of service of any business we deal with, either as a customer or supplier. It is so refreshing to go to a business and be pleasantly surprised by the level of customer service we encounter. Over the years, we have become accustomed to receiving less that average levels of service and when we come across a business that excels in this area, we can’t help but notice it.
It’s clear that those businesses to provide high levels of customer service have legions of loyal customers. The businesses grow by word of mouth advertising and their customers remain loyal through the good times and bad times. It is not surprising that these businesses survive recessions and economic downturns whilst their competitors who don’t supply any sort of service, disappear.
If you want to start a lively conversation, sit down with some friends and complain about a business that gave you a horrible customer service. Before you know it, somebody has topped your story and recounted an even worse experience. Now sit back and listen and watch as the conversation enters a downward spiral of complaints and horror stories about businesses that should not survive.
Because we are consumers, we use word-of-mouth marketing in reverse. Instead of telling people how well a business treats their customers, we instinctively take the negative path and ensure that the maximum amount of people hear about our example of appalling customer service. We had no hesitation in naming the business, explaining where it is, how to avoid it and what it has done to us. We create a bad advertisement for that business and earnestly advise all the people we know not to do with them. The cost of this to the business cannot be calculated easily but it is several times the cost of their marketing budget.
These negative experiences cause us to adopt a different opinion. First of all, we have become cynical about advertising and advertising messages. Secondly, we tend to believe friends and family about products and services. Thirdly, we won’t buy anything without a recommendation from somebody that we trust.
Thank you for reading my article. For much more information on this and related subjects go to my Resource Center. Here you will discover a wealth of resources, FREE downloads, ideas, information, reports, books and on-line training courses. Click here http://plmitchell.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_L_Mitchell
VoIP Rates, Benefits – What If You Travel? I Have Great News For You
By Adel Refai
One HUGE benefit and feature of Voice Over IP (Internet Phone Service) is the cost savings it offers international travelers. Oh, haven’t thought about this?
Let’s start by going over a very quick and basic explanation of how VoIP works in its most basic form. You receive an adaptor (small enough to fit in the palm of your hand from some providers), and you then plug your internet/Ethernet cable in one end, and your regular phone in the other. Plug and play, you’re ready to make a phone call.
Are you with me so far? Great! Now some key points to remember are that, unlike traditional phone service, your information (phone number, name, address, etc.) is stored in the adaptor – it is not assigned to your physical address. So if you take this adaptor and use it across the street or across the world, the phone number is still the same. When someone dials that number, it will ring where ever you are in the world. (This is assuming you have it plugged in!)
Many people don’t take notice to the benefits of being able to take your VoIP adaptor with you anywhere you go. Take a company like Globalinx (www.DelsTeam.com), they have the smallest adaptor that I am aware of. It fits in the palm of your hand, making it very convenient to take with you on trips.
Many business people use their cell phone overseas when they are on business. This tends to add up to very high phone bills. My uncle, for instance, has had a bill as high as $4,000 from a 2 week trip to China because he was constantly taking and making calls on his cell phone. (Yes, international roaming is a killer).
When he got VoIP for his home, he bought it on a promotion for $19.99 unlimited calling to US and Canada. When he went to China, he tossed the adaptor in his carry on and plugged it into the internet connection in his hotel room when he arrived. He plugged the hotel phone into it, and that was it. People were calling him up on his local New York number having no idea he was in China!
He took a potential $4,000 phone bill to zero, because this was essentially his home phone and he would have been paying the $19.99, anyway!
The convenience of being able to take it with you when you travel saves you the trouble of having to record extended absence greetings, sifting through voice mail when you get back, international roaming fees, to start. I’m sure at this point you can see the benefits and can think of a couple more yourself.
Again, that’s VoIP in its most basic form. There are also VoIP phone sets that come as a phone, VoIP adaptor, and router in one. There are also VoIP Video Phones. I won’t get into that here, but feel free to contact me for more info on those. You can imagine the benefits and luxury of being able to travel with those, as well!
Adel M Refai
Adel is a marketer, a marketing coach, and a fundraising consultant. He is involved with a network marketing company, as well as running a marketing training company – teaching others how to market their businesses for profit; teaching the importance of combining a system with the correct mindset for success.
For information on any of the above, please contact him directly.
You can reach Adel at Adel@DelsTeam.com or 609-947-4881
You can also visit [http://ww3.DelsTeam.com] to learn more about VoIP, and how to select a good VoIP provider.
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Breaking News! Travel Can Be Affordable For the Entire Family With Vacation Home Rentals!
By Richard Sootkoos
My wife and I are travel nuts. We would travel for a living if we could. A few years ago while vacationing in Hawaii, we decided on staying 2 weeks rather than our usual one week spree. Somehow thinking or perhaps subconsciously wishing that there would be some economies of scale, I was more than sticker shocked when we checked out of our hotel- I was mortified.
Vacation rental homes are the answer!
A week later, while back at home I decided to seriously look at how we could maintain our lifestyle and love for travel without paying literally a small fortune for a one to two week vacation. We were contemplating a trip for our family of five to London and europe in a few years and with the currency exchange rate literally doubling the price of everything I searched for a solution.
I found the answer to my cost saving quest, vacation rental homes.
In a lot of circumstances vacationing is a time to get pampered with massages, room service, valet service etc. When I was single and later married without children yet, the pamper factor was critical to our hotel and vacation decision process. Discounting our new family structure with three offspring, a larger mortgage, and escalating costs all around, we have found that when we really want to immerse ourselves in a new culture and location, renting a vacation home can give us everything we want in a travel experience and not break the bank to have a fabulous time. This is true not only for our Hawaii trips, but now for most of our european trips as well.
Some of the vacation home rentals are pretty close to a hotel experience and still give you the feeling that you are a local and not a vacationer. We have experienced fabulous restaurants and activities that were outside of the tourist spots that we would surely have missed if we stayed at a hotel.
If you stay in the UK for example, there are many self-contained rentals for your stay, all fully supported by a service company staff. The London vacation rentals are the London apartments and houses of residents temporarily away from the city. You have the informality, warmth and convenience of a real home in a London property, at prices to suit most pockets. The city self-catering rentals were ideal for vacation or corporate rentals.
A summary of the alternatives we saw in a nutshell are as follows:
*Hotels- Perhaps a little too formal, especially for a long stay. Expensive!
*Bed and Breakfasts- Often just a cheap (and sometimes rather unpleasant) down-market hotel, you may have to lodge uncomfortably close to the owners of a private house and other guests
*Short let commercial apartments- Cold and impersonal and the minimum stay of one week – no good if you want to stay less
We found the vacation rentals to be a great choice for the following reasons:
*Our short stay central London vacation rentals were at London apartments and houses of residents temporarily away from the city
*The apartments were thoroughly screened for location and hand picked, they were places were places where we would be happy to live ourselves
*We found a location with a 3 day minimum, minimum length of stay in most of the London vacation rentals is 5 nights; all other places we saw had a 7 night minimum
*Most of our London short stay, self-contained holiday rentals are no more than 10 minutes from a tube station, often less
*Our rental had a car to meet us at the airport and took us to our London self-catering apartment, it was by far the easiest way to get into town with lots of bags
*We were met by one of our representatives who let us in and gave us tips about the local area and answer questions. Our rental came with its own mini guide covering the neighborhood shops, local transport, pubs, restaurants and cafes
*Our beds were made up and towels put out, a weekly clean and change of towels and bed linen was included as is the end of stay cleaning and laundry; additional cleaning and servicing can be arranged on request
*We were also provided a starter pack of breakfast provisions to cover the first day or two of our stay
I just elaborated on this one example we found of at a very popular travel destination- London. Although for most all of our travels to rural, third- world destination we continue to stay at the highest star rated hotels we can afford. But given all of the above benefits I just described, we found that with most metropolitan cities, culturally rich locations, and tropical vacation destinations, vacation home rentals are an economical way to really experience a culture and new city.
Rich Sootkoos is a world traveler and truly a jack of all trades. The world is your oyster. Find the best vacation home rental deals [http://www.rentinglist.com/vacation.php] at his website [http://www.rentinglist.com]
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Sootkoos
Travel Predictions For 2010 – Unexpectedly Good News!
By Susan Kohlback
January is traditionally the least expensive travel month of the year (and the coldest!). My suggestion is to stop worrying about taking your holiday decorations down and just run away for a week in the warm sunshine – sip a Margarita or two and scrunch your toes in the sand. You’ll find incredible deals for all-inclusive Caribbean resorts on sites like CheapCaribbean.com, AppleVacations.com and TravelZoo.com. On selected weeks this winter you can vacation for a week at an all inclusive resort in Mexico or the Dominican Republic for just over $1,000 per person including air!
January also brings “Wave Week” from the cruise industry. The lowest cruise prices of the year are traditionally offered during Wave Week promotions. Keep a keen eye of sites like VacationsToGo.com, TravelZoo.com and Cruise.com to snag some deeply discounted cruises this winter.
It will be very hard to find a destination cheaper than Las Vegas in 2010. The combination of new resorts just opening (City Center, Trump, and Hard Rock), coupled with a dramatic reduction in convention business means luxury resorts are discounting like never before. It’s likely you’ll be able to find deluxe Las Vegas rooms priced less than anywhere else in the country. Combine a cheap hotel room with all those low cost buffets and the spectacular stage shows, and you have the makings of a memorable vacation. Be sure to visit TravelZoo.com to find deeply discounted show tickets.
Where ever you travel, price resorts and services you’ve never been able to afford before – you might be pleasantly surprised at how much they’ve been discounted. Four and five star resorts are regularly offering 30-50% off when you stay additional nights. (Stay 2 nights get 1 free etc.) Sandals Resorts are continuing their 65% off sale into 2010. Resorts are throwing in the extras like complimentary breakfast; kids eat and stay free, spa services and even free rounds of golf. The airlines also have more room at the top. Business and First Class seats will see big promotions during 2010 as corporations set travel policies restricting travel to coach class. It will also be a great time to try to use your frequent flyer miles to obtain seating in Business or First Class as more seats will be open.
Watch for Europe to put out the welcome matt with gusto this spring. With passengers reluctant to take international journeys after the Christmas bomber incident, Europe will feel the pinch more than usual. Keep an eye out for sites like Gate1Travel.com, GoToday.com, and VacationsToGo.com to offer terrific pricing for trips to Europe. We’ll also likely see fabulous prices on European cruises. They have a short season to fill their cabins and they’ll be running great specials to get you on board.
There’s a growing trend in vacation lodging that is expanding by the day – homes, villas, condos and apartments for lease by the day, week or month. Folks who have been unable to sell their vacation properties have listed them on ‘For Rent By Owner’ sites, and as the volume of choices increases, the deals and specials escalate as well. Check out the deals page at VacationRentals.com to begin your search.
For anyone with a free spirit who just wants a bed to sleep in, the internet has opened a whole new world of beds and couches for rent (and many times for free). The popular site CouchSurfing.com is a great place to begin – they have communities for everyone from college students to retired adventurers.
2010 is very likely to be a big year for road trips. Gas prices are expected to remain fairly stable and airline attitudes will dampen our desire to fly away. It will be a great year to tune in to regional bed and breakfast associations and watch for seasonal promotions. For New England, become a member of the “Inn Crowd” with deals on the NewEnglandInnsandResorts.com site. For the West Coast, you’ll find gorgeous inns and lodges at UniqueInns.com/specials.
2010 will be filled with opportunities to venture out and meet new people and experience wonderful places. Save your pennies and add some adventure to your life!
Susan, who has worked in the travel industry for many years, writes a daily blog http://www.WickedGoodTravelTips.com. Wicked Good Travel Tips is a community of avid travelers sharing insider tips about traveling the world. Come visit us for the best travel tips on the web.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Kohlback
Good News Travels Fast
By Keith Thirgood
This newsletter is full of opportunities staring you in the face. If you don’t believe me, write and tell me so–and by doing that you’d be proving me right.
That would make you a proactive marketer: spotting a marketing opportunity in an everyday activity.
For instance: Something most of us do every day is read the paper, and though they may not seem like business issues at first glance, editorials or news items offer one of those marketing opportunities. How does that merger, government legislation, tax increase, tornado–or whatever–affect your business, your industry, your clients? Take a position on the subject, and write a letter to the editor to tell them. Include your company name in the body of the letter. Readers often give more credence to opinions of business leaders, and it gets your name out there.
Act immediately. After reading the paper, set aside some time to respond. Then go over your response carefully. (It’s easy to fire off a letter, but you might regret sending something not fully thought out.)
Your letters may not be used every time, but when one is, it goes a long way to building your image as an expert.
Another marketing opportunity arises when you see an article that might be of interest to one of your clients. Clip and send it to them with a note. Even if they’ve already seen it, your client will appreciate the gesture. It shows you take them and their business seriously.
That was easy. Now, what about all those items that don’t directly relate to you or your existing clients? Some may mean more to you than you think.
Electronic or print, the news media are chock full of marketing information. As you read, watch or listen, be prepared to capture vital information. Pen and paper by your side can’t hurt. Every day, companies you should be prospecting appear in the news. Jot down the spokesperson’s name and title; if you’re lucky the report may even provide a number to call. Companies like putting their people in front of the media (because they can say all the positive things about themselves the media won’t). Pick out the companies you are interested in marketing to, and call them.
The news item doesn’t have to be a positive story; the negative ones may hold more opportunity. However, don’t assume a company facing tough decisions automatically wants you. They may react quite nastily to that assumption.
The person in the news story may not be the right one to discuss your ideas with, but they are an in, so contact them first. When you call, mention where you saw or heard them, make some positive comment on the coverage, then quickly move on to the reason for your call. They will appreciate knowing how their PR is working, and will, no doubt, feel that you’re not wasting their time with insubstantial chit chat.
From this point, the call becomes like any other exploratory sales call.
You can’t afford to sit on these opportunities. News has a short shelf life. Because of the number of news items we are bombarded with, you should only focus on a couple at a time. Don’t worry if you miss some, we are fed a constant stream of potentially useful information, so you’ll never run out of targets.
It’s hard enough to keep on top of daily events pertinent to your field. It’s harder still, when using them for their marketing potential, to stay up to date, and to act quickly. But it’s vital, because with marketing, timing is everything.
Opportunities lie on every page and in every broadcast. Your success in using them for marketing depends on their relevancy to your field, and on your ability to act quickly.
Use the news to turn yourself into a proactive marketer.
Keith Thirgood, Creative Director
Capstone Communications Group
Helping businesses get more business through innovative marketing
http://www.capstonecomm.com/
Markham, Ontario, Canada 905-472-2330
Subscribe to Thrive-on-line [http://list.capstonecomm.com/mail.cgi?f=list&l=thrive_on_line]
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Time Travel with Huey Lewis and the News
By Don Doman
The lights dimmed and the wrinkles, pot bellies, and bald heads disappeared into the darkness . . . almost.
People clapped and danced to their own rhythm as Huey Lewis and the News performed one hit after another at the Little Creek Casino in Shelton, Washington.
“I don’t know how to put this politely, ” Huey told the audience, “but I had dinner here at the casino and most of you are at least as old as me.”
I had eaten dinner at the same time as Huey. I left for the bathroom and came back into the restaurant and saw my wife and friends pointing and smiling in my direction. Huey had just walked past me and out the door.
Perhaps our clothes brushed each other. Perhaps we exchanged the same air. Oh, well our party had driven from Tacoma to Shelton, Washington to see Huey Lewis and I had the best opportunity for an up close and personal view, and I was adjusting my underwear. Such is life. Just like opportunity . . . we passed and never met.
Peg and I joined Donn and Debbie Irwin in their PT Cruiser (a classic car wannabe) for a comfortable journey. Donn fed the CD player with Huey’s Greatest Hits, and early rock and roll classics. Actually, Deb had him turn the volume down low so conversation could flourish, which it did. The trip lasted through several discussions, many smart alec comments, laughing fits, and one detour for Olympic Ice Cream (Kentucky Pie is yummy!). We caught up with friends Randy and Sue Lord at the casino for dinner.
After dinner, Donn and I went to the walk-in humidor for cigars, while the group went ahead to the performance hall. By the time Donn spent $30 for three cigars, we had a fairly long line to wade through. As we stood and waited, a little old man walked by everyone repeating the phrase “The heart of rock and roll is still beating.” We just looked at him and shrugged our shoulders. He turned out to be Huey’s father.
Sue reserved excellent seats. We were slightly elevated and about forty feet from stage left where Huey stood most of the time.
Huey’s lost some of his upper register, but his charm and energy carried him well through the evening. His group was outstanding. Most of them have been together a long time. Huey introduced them individually. The new guy he noted, “we didn’t meet until 7th grade.”
“So many hits, so little time,” said Huey when he came back for an encore. The concert was well worth the money and the drive. For a while I had more hair and less body as Huey Lewis and the News transported us back twenty-five years. Where has the time gone?
Don Doman is a published author, video producer, and corporate trainer. He owns the business training site Ideas and Training (http://www.ideasandtraining.com), which he says is the home of the no-hassle “free preview” for business training videos. Don and his wife Peg also travel in the Pacific Northwest writing of their fun and adventures. You can read their stories at NW Adventures (http://www.nwadventures.us).
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Don_Doman
At Last Travel Industry Receives Some Good News
By David J Cook
Over the past month thousands of flights have been cancelled causing mayhem for the travel industry with the airlines receiving most newspaper headlines and comment regarding their losses. The airlines in particular have faced massive logistical problems in getting stranded passengers home with the added financial burden of having to cover food, accommodation and the cost of travel to and from the airport.
Whilst no one minimises the cost to the airlines that may even see some of them go to the wall, this is just the tip of the ice burg. This has been severely affected businesses both here in the UK and also abroad. The list of affected businesses in the UK includes Airport car park operators, airport hotels, car hire companies, and airport retailers, companies involved in providing catering for the shops and airlines, airline cleaning staff and maintenance companies. Because the cloud is so unpredictable you cannot even stand down staff. The same goes for restaurants and cafes abroad, airport retailers, car hire companies, hotels and even golf courses.
The bigger problem for the tourist industry is one of confidence, many travelers were already committed to travelling but for those who were perhaps planning to holiday abroad over the next few months, they may well now re-consider their plans and this poses and even bigger threat to the industry.
When my own flight was cancelled late last Monday night, your first thought is one of bewilderment and sheer panic because you now have to find accommodation and get to it. So you along with literally thousands of others queue for a car and then dash off to find somewhere to stay and then look for an internet cafe to find a flight home. Whilst the initial impact of your situation becomes better with time, the threat of being stranded again remains and I would think very hard about placing myself in this position again.
The news today, that the density levels will be further relaxed with greater reliance being placed on aircraft engineers confirming it is safe to fly. The authorities have now accepted that some planes have a higher tolerance to the danger the ash can pose and there has been a further relaxation for these aircraft.
Flybe for example say that 350 cancellations in the past 36 hours would not have arisen under the new guidelines. The first relaxation saw tolerance levels double and this further relaxation also takes into account how long you will be travelling through the plume.
It would now appear that the chances of planes being grounded are significantly less and hopefully this will give the consumer the much needed comfort to book a holiday abroad.
the author has been providing online airport parking and airport hotels for all UK airports through the long established trademark name of Flypark. This is one of the first online comparison sites providing the customer with a wide selection of both on and off airport car parks together with airport hotels close to the terminals with parking included.
To view examples of the choices available, click on the following links Manchester Airport Parking and Heathrow Airport Parking
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Traveling in Israel – It’s Nothing Like the Evening News
By Paul Jorgensen
Israel is an exciting and rewarding place to travel. The country is full of ancient historical and religious sites, unbelievable geographic variation for such a small country, great food, generally excellent weather, and a fascinating blend of cultures. Unfortunately it is a country in conflict, and the portrayal of this region on the news scared a lot of travelers away from this fascinating land. But armed with a little bit of knowledge and basic precaution, traveling in Israel is really quite safe.
From a geographic standpoint, Israel is so different from region to region that it feels like several different countries in one. The coastal plain which includes the cities of Tel-Aviv and Haifa features rolling sand dunes and palm trees, beautiful beaches, and mild but very humid subtropical weather. It’s a great area to soak up the sun, enjoy nightlife, and absorb the ambience of modern Israel’s culture. Yafo is a part of Tel Aviv, and is a restored ancient city dating back to biblical times. Further north in Haifa you can visit the world headquarters of the Baha’i religion. Further north in Akko you can visit the Medieval old city and experience its Arabic atmosphere.
To the east of Haifa and Akko lies the Galilee region, the region where Jesus was raised. The town of Nazareth lies in this area lies in this area, and features a number of churches and cathedrals in honor of Jesus. Nazareth is populated mainly with Israeli Arab citizens, so you can experience the contrast with Jewish Israeli culture. To the east of Nazareth lies the town of Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee. This is where Jesus walked on water, and where John the Baptist was baptised. There is some gorgeous scenery in the area, and some lovely churches dedicated to Jesus and events involving him in the area. A fun activity is to rent a bicycle in Tiberias and ride the bicycle around the Sea of Galilee. This will take a whole day, but if you can withstand the heat, it’s a fantastic day trip.
In the south of Israel lies the Negev desert, the hottest and driest part of Israel. Its main focal point is the resort town of Eilat, which is known for scubadiving, snorkelling, and warm weather year round. The summers in Eilat, however, are freakishly hot, sometimes reaching 50 degrees. Bring a bathing suit!
And of course the jewel in the crown of any trip to Israel is Jerusalem. Lying in the Judaen hills and having a religion heritage rivalled by no other city on Earth, Jerusalem has a cultural atmosphere like nowhere else in Israel. This is the place where King Solomon ruled, where Muhammad ascended to heaven, and where Jesus was crucified. The Old City of Jerusalem lies in East Jerusalem and has a Palestinian majority, so you can experience the Palestinian way of life while also seeing the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian holy sites inside its walls. The city of Bethlehem lies just to the south of Jerusalem, but inside the Palestinian autonomous area. Many tourists visit Bethlehem and it is usually safe. But check the news before traveling there, because occasionally there are problems between Israeli troops and Palestinians in the area. The Church of the Nativity marks the spot where tradition says that Jesus was born.
Israel is a fascinating land with so much to see, and more than things to see there is so much to learn and experience. Talking to Israelis and Palestinians and understanding their country, its conflict, and its cultures is a fascinating and eye-opening experience. I hope you can experience this land too.
Paul Jorgensen is an avid traveler and citizen of the world. He is a geography nerd and can study maps for hours on end. His blog Free Printable Maps features maps and travel destination profiles such as
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Jorgensen
Bad News for Summer Car Rental Agencies, Car Travelers and Auto Traveling Destination Points
By Lance Winslow
It seems each year around spring time when people are planning their automobile trips or during the 3-day weekends like on Labor Day, that fuel prices are at their highest. Right now, many motorists are already feeling the pinch with gasoline prices in six states over $4.00 per gallon, when last year, they were complaining when fuel topped $3.00 per gallon. How much more of this can our economy take, and what about the travel sector? Airline jet fuel is now well over $3.00 per gallon and that industry is worried as you can only fuel surcharge the vacation traveling public so much before they stop flying.
The same is true with automobiles, as many families are re-considering their vacation time plans. This is very bad news for automobile destination points, places where the airlines really do not fly too, the Grand Canyon for instance, local ski resort areas, and even the redwood forest. Many museums and tourist towns are very worried, as well they should be. Some popular College Spring Break Towns are already seeing a decline and remember college students with their parent’s paying the credit card bills are far less frugal than a family on a local vacation.
How far will gas prices go? So far there have been a few smaller towns with gasoline prices in excess of $5.00 per gallon. Where? Well, in those very out-of-the-way tourist towns that rely on car traveling vacationers for their livelihood. What is worse is that unless the strategic military reserve releases fuel into the market or stops buying fuel to replenish what it uses for a while, then, gasoline prices could go even higher this summer.
Some car rental agencies are stating that folks with larger cars will rent smaller ones to save money on gas, but many industry analysts are saying it’s a bad deal all the way around, and could lead to a decline in auto rental sales. Of course, all this is based on the region where those car rental agencies actually are. Nevertheless, gasoline prices are affecting the travel industry in more ways than one.
“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance Winslow’s Bio
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow
Financial Times – My Favourite English Language Newspaper for Travels Abroad and World News
By Soren Breiting
Are you often travelling to destinations abroad and cannot get your normal newspaper everywhere? Go for Financial Times – it isn’t what the name suggests only about financial matters but a valuable source of information about how things are going around in our dynamic world.
I must admit that I went on many travels abroad before I recognized the general value of Financial Times and asked for it in a plane. I think it wasn’t before I had engaged in some stock trading as part of my pension savings that I dared to open Financial Times.
But ever since Financial Times has been my favourite ‘on plane newspaper’, and I often keep parts of it for future reference. It is true that Financial Times brings a lot of information about business, corporate companies and the stock market around in the world. But for me the real value of Financial Times has been the newspaper’s thorough reports and reviews of what is going on around the world. In general Financial Times brings rather neutral information and evaluation reports of the situation. Sometimes with a very critical approach fitting to real professional journalism.
I interpret this level of seriousness as a part of the function of Financial Times as an important source of information for decision making of big business. Fake information or biased news about the situation in a country could not only mislead the reader but be a catastrophe for some decisions related to big business.
Honestly, many American politicians would be much better informed about the world outside US if they took the time to read Financial Times daily. I don’t dare to recommend Financial Times to the general American, as many Americans unfortunately aren’t reading a daily newspaper but are just trusting television news.
The television news and especially the most popular ones aren’t that trustworthy, especially not their information about the rest of the world. To say it mildly I guess the world would look much different if more Americans were informed at the level of Financial Times as a background for their political stand and views on the world.
My original motivation for opening my first Financial Times was my personal interest in how the stock market was doing. It was the year before the dot.com collapse and through my early warnings of that catastrophe for many stocks related to IT and the so-called new economy I was able to avoid any serious loses.
So, also for the more common man who cares for his own future the reading of Financial Times would be a good investment of time – and then at the same time the important benefit to achieve a much deeper understanding of how the world is working and how the life is going on around in our beautiful but fragile world.
Soren Breiting has spend a lot of his time in airports and on planes to go from Denmark to countries abroad related to his work with international cooperation and his passion for photography that is reflected in his stock photos in his photo gallery at http://www.azfotos.com and his photo diary site http://www.photo-diary.com Soren isn’t in any way associated with Financial Times nor has any benefits related to this world newspaper.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Soren_Breiting
