Global Perspectives on Travel

Posted by admin on May 26th, 2010 filed in General, Travel Interviews

At TravelExploit.com, we pride ourselves on our global network of travel experts and correspondents. We’ve picked our experts brains on the latest travel trends, hottest destinations, and the tools and technology to improve your travel planning. In the upcoming months, you will find Podcast and mp3 versions of our global interviews as well. So please check back and let me know if you have any questions you would like answered.

Our first set of interviewees are travel experts from Australia, Russia and the United States. Each brings a unique perspective on travel not only in their own country, but in the world as a whole. I’d like to introduce our panel, beginning (alphabetically) with Gleb from Russia, Nusair from the United States, and Tim from Australia.

TravelExploit.com: Tell us about yourself, how you got into travel, and why you love it?

Gleb: I am from Russia, St. Petersburg. It’s the most popular touristic spot in Russia, so I kind of grew up in the scent of tourism. I like to switch places and find travelling the best way possible to get rid of current problems and tasks and refresh myself to… live on. It’s not a secret how stressful life can be in a major city. Sometimes you just need to leave everything behind and live with eyes wide open. I travel somewhere every year. I like new places.

Nusair: Travel has always had a special lore for me.  Being in a surrounding unfamiliar to myself has always had a mystique that I cannot explain. Though I have not traveled much in my life (We were raising three little ones in the last 10 years), my goal is to see a lot more of this world in the next few years.  My kids are older now and they will benefit tremendously from any kind of travel outside of the US.  Having been born and raised here, my kids have a sense of entitlement that comes from being in this country. They take things for granted and I want them to see how the rest of the world lives and for them to realize how fortunate they really are.

Travel has additional benefits for me as well.  I was in Saudi Arabia three years ago and could not stop eating from local places.  Though they had the Burger Kings and the Cinnabons, I was more interested in local dives with fresh rotisserie chicken and real tea.  I felt that the food over there was not processed and the meats, nuts, and fruits tasted far better than they do in regular grocery stores in the US.

Tim: Throughout most of my working life, I’ve always worked in the sales arena selling insurance, automotive products and advertising. Even as a young man, I travelled for work purposes. I enjoyed seeing the countryside and encountering the different types of people and the various local characters I’ve met along way and the sense of freedom being on the road provided and believe that’s where the travel bug first bit me.

TravelExploit.com: Excellent, sounds like we have a great global group here and that we’re going to learn a lot today. What have you found to be the biggest roadblock or reason people do not travel internationally?

Gleb: I think that the biggest roadblock is lack of genuine information. I mean, look around: there are hundreds of sites like TripAdvisor, thousands of user reviews, but still the problem remains. Some 10 years ago the biggest problem was absence of information, but now it’s the quality of information that bothers me. People still choose the cheapest price or the prettiest banner, but neither will guarantee the experience that fits YOU. Getting bad information leads to getting a poor experience, which in turn locks people on to places their friends know about, and not the new or lesser known places. I mean, people get a good experience, while they could have gotten a perfect experience for the same price.

TravelExploit.com: Amen, brother. Nusair, what are your thoughts?

Nusair: Money is probably the biggest reason.  Most flights that cross either the Atlantic or the Pacific will cost over a thousand per person so it becomes prohibitive to most of the families that want to travel.  A typical month overseas with food and lodging for a family of five will run at least ten to fifteen thousand dollars.  Another factor is fear.  People don’t feel safe going into some of these countries.  We are told (at our borders) to be careful of scammers looking to take advantage of us in international cities so most of us never even think of going abroad.

Neither of these arguments hold much water really.  I think that inherently it is easier to say that it is too expensive and not safe to travel abroad.  However, the truth is that most of us do not have the want or the motivation to plan a trip abroad.  It can be pretty cheap if one plans well.  A couple of the following steps will make things cheaper

  • Plan ahead by getting cheap tickets or spend everything on your credit card to rack up enough points to get free tickets.
  • Don’t go to several destinations, stay in one if cost is an issue.
  • If you are only staying a week or so, stay at a hotel or hostel.  If you are staying for a couple of weeks or even a month, then consider getting a short term apartment.  You can get all sorts of information on the internet so start looking ahead of time.  Staying a whole month in an apartment will not cost more than $1000.00 US.
  • Stay in a place with refrigerators and microwaves so you can buy food in bulk so you don’t eat out every meal.
  • Travel by bus and train to save on cab fares.

TravelExploit.com: Great tips. Tim, any additional thoughts on this?

Tim: When looking at overseas destinations, I’m a firm believer of “seeing your own backyard first” (which is great for the domestic economy). That way you can share something of your own culture and heritage with new international friends once you head off overseas.

I also think that it really takes a serious commitment to save up a significant amount of money to do it properly (and to cover emergencies also) as I firmly believe you need the time to live and work in a country for up to 3-6 months  in order to experience the various international cultures to their fullest extent as you can never really get the whole “everyday life” experience on short 7-14 day journeys by just scratching the surface. Which is why I admire many backpackers who take the time to follow their dreams of world travel.

Some people just lack the patience and commitment required, plus society has us believe that we are so busy these days that those sorts of opportunities need to be planned well.

TravelExploit.com: What opportunities do you see to make it easier for people to travel?

Gleb: Firstly, sharing knowledge. Secondly, getting first-hand unbiased information. I seriously think that touristic businesses would benefit from global independent reviewers. If I can trust a resource just like I trust my friend, I would definitely find out new places and opportunities that fit my lifestyle.

TravelExploit.com: Haha. That almost sounds like a plug for this website. Thank you, Gleb! In all seriousness though, our mission for TravelExploit.com is to be a trusted provider of independent travel information and fostering the sharing of travel information.

Nusair: A big gaping hole in international travel is that there is a lack of information on what things to do and where to go.  However, this problem is being solved by several sites like travbuddy.com , lonelyplanet.com, virtualtourist.com, among others.  Some of these sites offer a way to interact with locals in the cities that you want to visit and that gives a traveler a much bigger advantage when you are planning for a trip.  You also get information on local hangouts as opposed to the tourist traps.

Tim: Here in Australia, airline deregulation has seen both domestic and international fares become more affordable for the masses and in turn people have taken advantage of that with both hands. Competition within the airline and travel industries can be good in that respect.

TravelExploit.com: I agree, cheaper airfare has become the great “equalizer” and impetus to get people to travel. Let’s hope that it stays that way.

What aspect of the travel industry, or new travel technology, is exciting to you as a travel professional?

Gleb: Social Media Marketing. Today numerous forums, social networks and communities let businesses communicate with the customer directly, as if this customer is sitting in front of you. When someone gets your attention he feels that he’s not only the 0,000001% of the target audience, but the person with his own needs and values. Mass media just doesn’t give that feeling. The thing is that without interactive communication the volume of information that can be or cannot be useful for this specific person would be so immense that anybody would be lost in it. On the other hand, several articles just cannot cover all the possible aspects.

Nusair: We are in the Group Travel business and one of the problems with today’s Global Distribution Systems (GDS) is that you can only book three rooms at a time online.  So if you are looking to book a block of rooms for a reunion or wedding guests, you would either have to do it three at a time or call hotels individually to get group rates.  There is no way to get instant group hotel quotes on a block of rooms from area hotels the way you can for individual reservations.  There are many companies out there looking to solve this issue. In the mean time, my company provides a service to facilitate this process.

Tim: Many things actually, for example with the new virgin space travel venture – Virgin Galactic is opening up new opportunities allowing people to encounter an out-of-seat zero gravity experience. As well as plenty of large windows for the amazing views back to Earth – A truly sub-orbital opportunity and an experience for their first customers to become pioneers and enablers of a new and vitally important industry. http://www.virgingalactic.com/overview/experience/

TravelExploit: Very cool. Ok finally, I would like to learn about your businesses. Then we’ll wrap up with getting your contact information so our readers can connect.

Tell me about your business and what is unique about what you offer?

Gleb: Our business started 6 years ago. We are a small private company that serves its customers in any way possible. We have 1 hotel near the embankment and 3 ships for a dozen people each.
We are focused on maritime experience in several aspects, not just the hotel/beach scheme.
We let our guests live in the unique bay, which was the titbit for all major Empires in the region for the past 25 centuries, all of which fought for this. Balaklava bay has no waves on it even in the severest storm, because 2 rocks that form the entrance to the bay act as natural breakwaters,  so the sea level never rises more than 10 centimeters. The second unique trait is the Ex Top-Secret Nuclear Submarine Base which could hold a dozen nuclear submarines and a company of soldiers. The tunnel was cut right in the rock so it was the most important naval base during the Cold war. Did I mention that the 2 rocks that act as breakwaters are so close to each other that the entrance to the bay is indistinguishable from the sea?
Balaklava is 20 kilometers from Sevastopol, the largest Russian naval outpost, that is active nowadays and has several big maritime museums.

All this make Balaklava the largest maritime attraction for people from all over the world.
It is also very popular among those who are interested in the legends of Ancient Greece, Genoese Fortress, Victorian Wars, the Charge of the Light Brigade, and so many more historical events that I just don’t have enough time to cover. Maybe sometime later I will edit the Wikipedia article on Balaklava. Potentially it would be larger than the one about St.-Petersburg, I believe.

Nusair: We provide Group Travel rates online.  If someone is planning a reunion, or a destination wedding, they will need a block of rooms at area hotels.  In the days before the internet, you would have to call hotels individually and negotiate a group rate.  This was time consuming and did not really save anyone any money.

We provide several value propositions.

  • We are able to provide near instantaneous group hotel rates online by filling out a simple form on our website.
  • Our services are free and group travel planners are under no obligation to book the hotels that we provide group rates for.
  • You save time by having hotels email you their group rates rather than you calling all the hotels individually
  • You save money as our rates are guaranteed to be the lowest available
  • Our service is flexible and lets you pay for the group entirely or individuals can pay on their own.
  • We provide destination specific things to do and places to see for large and small groups

Tim: Well, as a fledgling Australian (eco) lifestyle magazine publisher, I get to speak with a lot of interesting people across a myriad of industries including Tourism and Travel on domestic and international levels. Which excites me immensely, because someday I’d love to see various interesting places and destinations across this beautiful planet such as Machu Picchu, the Seychelles, India, Thailand, Russia (I love the architecture of St Petersburg), The Forbidden City, Jerusalem, Egypt, and numerous other places that fascinate me personally. However, I really get a thrill out of enthralling my readers by showcasing various cities, towns and natural attractions in their local regions and/or internationally that they’ve either visited a long time ago or have never experienced before.

As a quick illustration of our unique tourism offerings that I can give you off the cuff is from a story that I ran recently in the Homestead Magazine on Geo-Tourism in the Green Cauldron. These pre-arranged half & one day geotours are run by a gentleman called John Jackson, or as he is affectionately known around these parts as “The Rock Doctor.” John provides an interesting and informative opportunity to discover the history of landscapes in South Eastern Queensland and Northern New South Wales here in Australia. www.therockdoctor.com.au

TravelExploit.com: Excellent perspectives. No matter all that we might know as international travelers, it is impossible to know everything. Speaking with you gentleman today has reinforced that point, as I’ve learned a lot.

To connect with Gleb and learn more about visits to Russia and Balaklava Bay, he can be reached on Facebook or LinkedIn.

To connect with Nusair and learn more about group travel and destination weddings, find out more on his website or connect on LinkedIn.

To connect with Tim and learn more about Australia and his magazine, you can access Homestead Magazine online or connect on LinkedIn.

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