An Australian Travel Community for Travel Writing

February 8, 2010 - Posted in Travel Blog Sites

Planbooktravel.com.au is designed to allow unlimited users to create new content for Australian Travel by writing articles and contributing stories, photos and blogs. The site is pioneering in promoting the use of user-generated Travel Writing and cataloging content in a logical, usable way, by tagging every item to a relevant Australian town. This is done with the purpose of creating a vibrant Australian Travel Community.

As travel book publishers the site owners see the limitations in traditional publishing and packaging. Content is outdated before print and it takes exceptional Travel Writing to uncover the true spirit of a location. A task difficult to complete without local knowledge or having a personal involvement in the community.

The future for Travel publishing is to have an unlimited number of contributors from a diverse background. Only then can you properly and thoughtfully represent the Travel Information to a Broad readership.

The difficulty then, for such vast contribution, regarding so many locations, is how to present the information so it is easily found and logical to a reader.

Adding content to maps is one way, but that just makes for messy maps… and is not representative of the experience one has when reading a book, journal or magazine.

“We believe we have got the mix right with this site for reader and contributor alike. Nearly every location in Australia (10,000) has a unique page and is associated with its Region and State. Locations are given map references, not content, making for easy to digest, readable and navigate-able maps. Readers can drill down to content via maps or through a logical sequence of pages: National – State – Region – Location”, said Jeremy Baird, the spokesperson at www.planbooktravel.com.au

With web 2.0 come the tools necessary for contribution. Travel Reviews, Travel blogs and photos are tagged to relevant location pages. Content carries personal or creative common licenses achieving a catalog of content that can be then called and syndicated by location, Region, State or key word.

The site is getting lots of interest from writers, writing clubs and associations, as a new resource to promote writers and their articles. The site recently received contributions from Max Walker with an excellent article on his home town of Hobart in Tasmania which shows that even professional writers are viewing the site as a great means to attract a new audience to their publications.

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Cheap Travel Without Skimping on Insurance; Ensuring you Get the Best of Both Worlds

February 7, 2010 - Posted in Best Travel Blog

In today’s fast-paced, modern world, the importance of taking a holiday becomes imperative. Getting away from your daily routine helps you gain some much needed rest and relaxation. Taking a peaceful holiday can also aid in your long-term happiness, in both your work and your personal life. However, as people start to take holidays more frequently, it also becomes necessary that the holidays are less expensive.

In the last decade, the rise of the budget airline has made travel all the more affordable for a wide cross-section of potential holiday-goers. These airlines have increased the number of flights made from a variety of destinations across the UK to a range of locations in both Europe and beyond, from Paris to Istanbul and Stockholm to the Costa del Sol. As a result, many more people are able to travel to their dream holiday destinations, whether that means lounging on a stunning beach for a week or taking a weekend city break in a intriguing foreign capital.

What’s more, the advent of the internet has made it possible for travellers to find cheap holiday packages and inexpensive accommodation for their getaway with ease. Many leading travel sites offer a variety of cheap package holidays, from theatre breaks in London to discounts on cruises up the River Nile. Often, the earlier you book your holiday online, the easier it is to find an inexpensive holiday deal; however, with many travel sites, cheaper deals are available much closer to the departure date. So if you’re facing a long weekend with no plans ahead of you, you might be able to book a cheap weekend break away as late as the day before you plan to leave!

And if the plethora of cheap holiday deals available online or on the high street means that you’re spoilt for choice, you’re now able to turn to a range of holiday review sites for comprehensive advice straight from the horse’s mouth. Travel blogs and travel review sites offer thousands of reviews of holiday locations and resort destinations; so, when it comes to making a decision about where to take your holiday, you’ll be equipped with all the information you need.

And don’t forget, while flights and accommodation are the bare essentials of travel, it’s important not to skimp on important travel products, like travel insurance, in the interest of saving money on your cheap holiday. It’s perfectly possible to find cheap travel insurance online or with high street insurers. By taking out cheap travel insurance on your cheap holiday, you’ll obtain peace of mind in knowing that you’re covered for any medical costs you might incur, as well as any baggage mishandling or personal loss that arises. Moreover, many cheap travel insurance providers let you add on to your basic coverage, so you can take out extra cover if you expect to participate in any winter sports or extreme activities, like bungee jumping or sky-diving. This way, you’ll gain the freedom to enjoy your holiday the way you want to, without any worry or hassle.

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Travel in Australia – Great Free Pocket Guide of Melbourne by Flashbooking Website

January 30, 2010 - Posted in Best Travel Blog

Melbourne is the capital city of the state of Victoria. It is situated on a vast strip of coastal plain and occupies both banks of the river Yara, at the point where the river flows into Port Phillip. The second largest city in Australia, Melbourne, reknown for its parks and green open spaces, is referred to as the “Garden City”.

Flashbooking provides backpackers, students and families with a list of budget selected and independent accommodations worldwide -mostly run by locals- in order to promote an alternative tourism respectful of cultures and different societies. Flashbooking accommodation database is easily available online and comes completed with all relevant information about Cheap hostel Melbourne location, description, contacts, prices, instant real availability, customer ratings, facilities and pictures.

Recently put at travellers’ disposal is another useful tool: the Free Pocket City Guide of Melbourne. This free travel guide of Melbourne contains, in just 9 printable pages, all the essential information and very good suggestions about the Melbourne flea markets, Museums and Art Galleries, budget restaurants and cheap lodgings, classic itineraries you can’t miss, transports and a lot more. The Melbourne Travel Pocket Guide comes with colour pictures and it is free and downloadable for anyone who wish to book and go!

As an online booker service Flashboking.com guarantees instantly confirmed and secure reservations thanks to a secure server, certified SSL provided by Thawte (the global certificate authority). This system encrypts all the processed data and guarantees that this will not be read, used or modified by other parties. Online bookings mean that your holiday is just a click away.

With the monthly newsletter, Flashbooking puts at travellers, students, volunteers free disposal some useful pocket travel guides of major European cities: the Amsterdam City guide, the London City guide, the Prague City guide, the Paris City guide, the Rome City guide, the Florence City guide, and the freshly issued Barcelona City guide!! For the Barcelona travel guide Flashbooking staff efforts concentrate on making it simple to read dividing the Barcelona centre in different districts with their relevant amenities.

A special promotion allow travellers to earn money and credits of 1,5 euros by inviting other friends to subscribe and receive the monthly newsletter, rich of information about hostel and hotel deals. For each friend that sings up, our travellers get 1,50 euros: it is possible to earn up to 40 euros!

In particular Flashbooking.com provides a large selection of cheap accommodation offers in Melbourne where there are plenty of low cost solutions for backpackers in budget Bed and breakfast Melbourne, cheap hotels and guesthouses.

Moreover, for anyone that owns a personal website or a travel blog, the travel guides (London, Rome, Amsterdam, Florence, Prague, Barcelona and more coming on soon!) come for free and can be used as an extra travel resource for theirs users.

In Flashbooking website there is also a section dedicated to the world cities events where you can also get a quite exhaustive list of main festivals, exhibitions, concerts and cool things to do and see in other top European cities.

The customer service is always available to suggest you the perfect accommodation for your trip. A Skype account has been recently added in order to give more assistance to our travellers and backpackers needs. In just a sentence here the flashbooking motto:

Those who love travelling light, those with a sense for adventure, those who love flexibility in their trip, those who like meeting locals and travelling slow and low… THOSE ARE OUR TRAVELLERS!

So mates, we are looking forward to finding the best accommodation for you on your next trip!

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