Home-Based Travel Agent - July 2008 - (Page 54)

Tours FOR THE TRAVELER Continued from page 53 tour packages with other features previously offered just by smaller, specialized companies, such as extended stays. Two of Insight Vacations’ 10 escorted tours in Italy are labeled “Easy Pace,” as every hotel stay is three nights and there is free time in every major destination. There also are Italy tours for every budget. Both Cosmos and Abercrombie & Kent feature an eight-night package titled “Splendors of Italy,” but the two trips are at opposite ends of the price spectrum. Cosmos’ land-only rate starts at $1,030, and its “Splendors” entail Rome, Tuscany and Venice. Only two meals besides daily breakfast are included, and certain excursions/activities in each city cost extra. A&K’s similarly named product, meanwhile, charts a course from the lakes down to the Amalfi coast via Bologna, Ravenna and Rome, with a landonly price tag of $12,475 (plus $325 for intra-Italy airfare). You get top hotels, a dine-around plan and a first-class Eurostar ticket from Milan to Bologna. Signature features include Design Your Day—a choice of sightseeing excursions in select destinations—and Travelling Bell Boy service, which picks up and delivers luggage from/to hotel rooms when the guest is ready, not according to a pre-set schedule. For more flexibility in crafting your Italian vacation, you should look to companies like Central Holidays, Gate 1 and go-today.com, which sell independent travel components: hotel nights; hotels packaged with rail tickets or car rentals; sightseeing, cultural or sport activities; and so on.You can build your own itinerary that includes the things you want to do and the type of accommodations you prefer at each stop. These operators offer hosted and escorted tours as well. One specialty FIT company with a vast Italy inventory is Doorways Ltd., which rents villas, flats and farmhouses in and around Piemonte, Liguria,Venice, Bologna, Rome, Tuscany, Puglia, the Amalfi coast, Sicily and many other places. The company recently expanded into Abruzzo HB and Sardinia. Travel, Travel Bound The canals of Venice remain a popular attraction for many tourists 54 Home-BasedTravelAgent JULY /AUG US T 2008 http://go-today.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home-Based Travel Agent - July 2008

Home Based Travel Agent - July 2008 Contents Editor's Note Publisher's Note Your Lifeline Agent Spotlight New Technology Industry News Hot Deals Tips for a Smooth Trip Agent Symposium Hotels For the Traveler - Destinations - Mexico For the Agent - Destinations - Mexico For the Traveler - Destinations - Dubai For the Agent - Destinations - Dubai Thailand For the Traveler - Cruise For the Agent - Cruise For the Traveler - Tours For the Agent - Tours New Products

Home-Based Travel Agent - July 2008

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