Month: December 2014

Hotelscombined.com affiliate program is biggest ongoing online scam

Dan Winther
HotelsCombined Scam

In 2005, Yury Shar, Brendon McQueen and Michael Doubinski (all three formerly worked for HotelClub) partnered to create a hotel comparison site where users could access the best rates from a variety of top travel sites all in the same place. Today, HotelsCombined has nearly 200 employees and 17 million users monthly. The site is available in more than 220 countries and in 39 different languages. In 2010, HotelsCombined won TRAVELtech “Website of the Year and was named a finalist in the Telstra 2010 Business Awards. In the same year,…

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Your guide to 100% successful Schengen Visa Application!

Dan Winther
Schengen Visa Application

Obtaining a Schengen visa can be a nightmare at the best of times for the national of countries like India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Thailand and most of the Middle East and African countries. You need to obtain a ton of forms for your application and jump through hoops for the embassy but there is always a nagging feeling that the embassy has not informed you of ALL the Schengen Visa requirements. Yes, believe me they deliberately leave things out and if they have outsourced their visa application processing…

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Taj Dubai opening deferred until first quarter of next year

Dan Winther

India’s Taj Group has delayed the opening of its flagship hotel in Dubai until the first quarter of next year from this year’s fourth quarter. The launch of the 296-room Taj Dubai, which will be located in Burj Khalifa downtown, is part of Taj’s plans to expand its footprint in the Middle East. Taj Group, which owns the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, is a unit of the Tata Group conglomerate. Taj Group has 108 hotels in India with an additional 17 international hotels in the Maldives, Malaysia, Australia, the…

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What Should Cruise Agents Do to Increase Revenue in 2015?

Dan Winther

By: Susan Young As cruise sellers look ahead to Wave Season and taking advantage of new cruise products in 2015, Travel Agent asked several trade and cruise executives what agents should do 2015 to ensure success and increased revenue. Much of their advice goes back to the basics of being a proactive, professional agent. Here’s a sampling of their feedback. Become a Product Expert Product knowledge is absolutely imperative, believes John Lovell, president of Vacation.com: “To ensure their cruise business revenue increases in the coming year, agents definitely need to…

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