Once upon a time holidays were planned after consulting travel guide books, travel articles from the newspaper and travel brochures from the local travel agency and then visiting the Travel Agency to make the booking. Holidays can still be planned and booked this way but the Internet plays a more prominent role when planning and, increasingly, booking a holiday.
Watching commercial free-to-air television or cable TV, especially during the day, it becomes apparent that the advertisements are primarily for insurance plans of various kinds or for holidays at home or overseas. The travel advertisements may change with companies staging a campaign for several weeks at a time but it becomes obvious that many travel options are available and that viewers can find out more by exploring the website of the travel company and in many cases, book their next holiday online.
The options for travel are numerous. TripAdvisor, Zuji, Webjet, Trivago and Hotels Combined feature frequently in advertisements. CaptainsChoice offers private jet tours and luxury cruises while Contiki Tours aim for the younger market. APT and Scenic Tours are among the companies offering river cruises and tours. Opportunities to explore northern Australia are offered by APT and other travel companies. The various states and territories in Australia have their own tourism websites, such as Do the NT and Queensland Holidays, which are a good starting point for planning Australian holidays.
Travel websites such as TripAdvisor provide information about flights, accommodation and holiday options offered by other travel websites. After comparing what is on offer and reading the range of reviews which are a TripAdvisor feature, you are referred to the travel website offering your chosen option to make an online book if you wish to do so. Travel websites such as Expedia provide information about flights, accommodation and holiday options as well as a booking service. Cruises in general, but particularly river cruises, are popular and can be booked online on the website of the company providing the cruise or on some of the general travel websites.
Many of the websites that specialise in gathering information about flights, such as Webjet, provide the opportunity to bundle with the flight hotels and transport to and from the airport. Travel insurance is available on many booking sights. Maps are used as a planning aid on many of the hotel booking websites as well as on some general travel sights. Websites such as APT provide videos and brochures to provide additional information. Most of the websites invite interested people to sign in so that they can receive newsletters alerting them to products and special offers. Increasingly travel websites have travel apps that can be downloaded.
All in all there is no shortage of information online to assist in planning a holiday. Booking the holiday can be then be done online or the details can be taken to a Travel Agency for the holiday to be booked in a more traditional manner. However the holiday is booked you will receive email communication from tour companies, if a tour has been booked, with additional information or confirming details.
Exploring their own country and the world is a popular pastime of Australians and the Internet provides many options when planning and booking a holiday.
Very informative and thoughtful post. Thanks for the post.
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