Hotels in San Francisco
Mill Valley Travelodge San Francisco CA.
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 Online
Travel
First Published: August 1999
Last Update: April 2002
Author: Computer Partners
Okay, so you can't actually travel online but you certainly
can save time and money when planning your next trip. Whether you are looking to
order airline tickets, book a hotel or rent a car there is a vast selection of
online businesses available to save you time and money.
In 1998, online travel sales for the year 2000 were projected
to reach $4.7 billion. Due to incredible growth, sales actually surpassed that
estimate in 1999 and will probably more than triple it by the end of 2000. Sales
are predicted to reach an estimated value of $25.2 billion by 2003. This level
of growth will place it ahead of other popular e-retail industries like computer
hardware and software. In response to this demand a highly competitive travel
market is emerging online in a variety of formats.
The majority of online purchases have been airline tickets.
And you can expect most major airlines will offer online services. Just a few
are Air Canada, United
Airlines and American Airlines. Hotel and
Car Rental chains, for example Best Western
and Hertz, are also well represented.
But now instead of dealing directly with just one source, you can choose between
a flurry of new "dot com" travel businesses. Hotel
Insider is a full service site for discounted online Hotel Reservations.
They don't own a single hotel and the business didn't exist 5 years ago but
thousands of people researched and booked hotel rooms through them last year.
There are many other services like theirs. Perhaps the one with greatest name
recognition is Priceline .
They provide hotel, car rental, airfare and many other service discounts.
So, you've survived the flight and the shuttle to your rental
car; now you have to find your hotel. Getting around once you
arrive is always a challenge, even if you are just traveling to an unknown part
of your home town. The electronic maps available from Map
Quest cover the vast majority of North America in great detail. More than
130 Million digital maps are provided to Map Quest customers each year. You can
also get directions from point to point and traffic reports. The best part, the
service is entirely free.
Rand McNally is now offer their TripMaker
software for your PC entirely free. It comes complete with detailed route maps,
driving directions, and attraction information. Over one million miles of
routable highways and searchable street-level details for key cities lets you
generate accurate routes and pinpoint addresses.
You can also use the internet to research your destination. Want to find out
what to do for fun in Toronto Canada? Check out Toronto.com.
On the national level there is the Australian
Tourism Net for Australia and also Adventure India.
Similar sites exist for almost every city, state/province and country vacation
destination around the world. Any internet search engine should provide a wealth
of valuable links to investigate.
What if you haven't picked a destination? Are you looking for the perfect
spot for your next vacation getaway? There are many online travel magazines and
newsletters available. Check out Fodor's Travel
Online or National
Geographic Traveler. If you prefer more exotic vacations visit Away.com. If
you're into fitness you might enjoy Backroads.
This site deals with hiking, walking and cycling vacations.
If you are interested in organized touring throughout the world, the InfoHub
Specialty Travel Guide  is
an excellent listing.
In the Globe &
Mail it was reported in March that an estimated 25 per cent of all web sites
are related to travel in one way or another. So if you're the type who likes to
shop around, and you've got an upcoming trip planned, make sure you get on the
Internet and find yourself a bargain.
Below are some Books You May Find Interesting.
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