Differences of Tour Operators and Travel Agents

Tour Operators & travel Agents are different in Malaysia! And the public have had the wrong perception for long time. In Malaysia, Tour Operators and Travel Agents are different and play different roles. In a factory scenario, a Tour Operator is like the production department and the Travel Agent is like the Sales Department...

A Tour Operator is the organizer and provider of package holidays. It is often referred as the Ground Handler. The Tour Company will make contracts with hotels and resorts, airlines and ground transport companies like private cars, buses, vans, ferries and trains & etc. With all the necessary pricing and information compiled, the Tour Operator will draft detailed tour packages and distribute to Travel Agents in Travel Agent Directory in Malaysia and even overseas.

The roles & responsibilities of a Tour Operator are booking and arranging:

- Transportation: Chaffered Car, Chartered Bus & Van, Air Ticket, Train Ticket, Ferry Ticket, Cruise Ticket, other transit modes and even special vehicles like trishaw.

- Tour Guide: All Tour Guides must be licensed by the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia after attending and examined in a professional Tourist Guide Courses.

- Sight Seeing: Entrance for tourist destinations, eco-tour, adventures tour, jungle trekking, snorkeling & scuba diving, island hopping and even handicraft or cultural & living experiences.

- Food & Beverage: Breakfast, Tea Time or Tea Break, Lunch & Dinner, whether by set, buffet or packed food.

- Accommodation: Hotels, Resorts, Service Apartments, Camping Sites, Dormitories, Training Camps, Chalets, Tree Houses or traditional houses & habitats that accommodating travelers.

- Activities: Tele-match, treasure hunt, paint ball, team building, outside office meeting...

- Special Events: Company dinner, karaoke contest.

On the other hand, Travel Agents do not operate tours. Travel agencies gives traveling advices to travelers, promote and sell the tour packages that they have from various Tour Operators, then administer the tour bookings. Travel Agents usually are set up in prime locations with heavy traffic such as beside the main roads, inside crowed shopping malls or at the ground floor of a landmark building.

The roles & responsibilities of a Travel Agent are:

- Selling ells travel related products and services, particularly package tours to end-user customers on behalf of third party travel suppliers, such as airlines, hotels, tour operator and tour companies, and cruise lines & etc.

- Most travel agents have a special department devoted to travel arrangements for business travelers, while some agencies specialize in commercial and business travelers.

- Some also serve as general service agents for foreign travel companies in different countries.

- Act as an agent for tour packages:

- Buy tour packages or tour services at discounts & sell with profits.

- Get commissions from suppliers & other tour companies.

- Act as a ticketing agent for transportation (e.g. airlines, ferry, bus, train & etc).

- Other commercial operations are undertaken: insurance, travel guides, car rental, Bureau de change, private tour guide & etc.

- Offer impartial travel advice to the customer.

Next time, if you traveling in small group less than 10 travelers, it is advisable to engage a Travel Agent. Do not try to find the best travel agent in Malaysia. There is no such myth! Just go with the travel agent that suit your traveling needs and budgets or the tour agent that you trusted the most. However, if you are organizing a group tour like company tour, a Tour Operator will be able to provide you a more suitable tailor-made service.

The above information are guidelines and advices that 88Holidays provided to its Corporate Clients in organizing group tour. It is simple but useful information to help organizing a successful company tour with many years experiences.

EIGHTY-EIGHT HOLIDAYS (M) SDN BHD (88Holidays) is the tour company under 88Group of Companies. As one of the top group tour operator in Malaysia, 88Holidays is specialized in organizing company tour, meeting and training packages, conferences & conventions, tele-match and treasure hunt, team building workshops, company dinner & etc for companies & factories! The only testimonial 88Holidays is proud of is its repeating corporate clients who let this trusted tour operator organizes their company tours in Malaysia and even overseas years after years.

If you are planning for company's events, activities and company tours within or outside Malaysia, it is best to first contact 88Holidays at General@88Holidays.com or Malaysia hotline 1-700-80-1388. To view its clients' activities or group photos, please go to http://www.88Holidays.com.

Budget Travel Tours to the Top Ten United States Cities

Budget travel tours are literally being given away at the moment as people are not prepared to spend out this year on a short break by the ocean and under that sun.

Well it might be difficult to resist the temptation this year as prices have gone crazy in the budget travel tours sector.

For International destinations you can get some really amazing discounts on accommodation, and the flights are often free. It appears the whole travel industry needs us to travel just to keep the Industry wheels going round.

Planning a trip to the United States? If you had to make a list of the top ten US cities to visit, what would they be?

Whether you are an American or a visitor from abroad, the first city that pops into your head is probably New York, followed by maybe Los Angeles and San Francisco. Those are all right up there in most top ten lists, and you should visit them, but there are others.

There are plenty of cities, large and small that are great to visit, but what would be our choices to include in a list of top ten US cities along with those three?

Boston, Massachusetts for starters. This city is steeped in US history. Walk the Freedom Trail to see historic buildings like the Old North Church... It was from the Old North Church that Paul Revere took his "midnight ride" crying the warning of the approach of the British during the US Revolutionary War... As the poem goes, "...One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm....." See Faneuil Hall. Eat in the Union Oyster House, Boston's oldest restaurant. Visit the colleges: Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Boston College just to name a few.

Chicago, Illinois has long been said to have an inferiority complex to New York, but it is a world class city. There are fantastic museums, good restaurants, and you'll find cutting edge architecture. It's right on Lake Michigan with a beautiful waterfront. Visit Millennium Park and Old Navy Pier.

Denver, Colorado is situated in the Rocky Mountains. You can visit to ski or snowboard at some of the famous resorts nearby or come to hike in the summer and enjoy the view.

Las Vegas, Nevada is a city with a reputation you've probably heard about. Is it a good place for tourists? That depends on what you want. It's known for its gambling casinos and the world class entertainment they provide. The casinos vie for visitors with over-the-top themes. Roller coasters on the tops of buildings, dancing water fountains, and of course LOTS of bright lights at night along the "Las Vegas Strip".

Miami Beach, Florida is a draw summer and winter for sun and beach lovers. Visit trendy South Beach, the oldest section of Miami for it's popular restaurants and vibrant nightlife. Take a tour of the Art Deco District; the colors and decorations will amuse you.

Seattle, Washington actually has many sunny days.... It does have a reputation for being rainy, but it's cloudy more than it's rainy. That makes for lots of greenery for hiking. It's on Puget Sound, which makes it a great place to sail. Visit Pike Place Market. The Space Needle is left over from a 1962 World's Fair, but it has become a symbol of Seattle. There is an observation deck and a Sky City restaurant for great views of Seattle, the Olympic Range and Cascade Mountains... and on a clear day Mount Rainier.

Washington DC, District of Columbia is only last on our list of top ten US cities because we put it in alphabetical order. As the nation's capital city, it offers The White House, the Congress Building, The Smithsonian Museums, and all the memorials along The Mall...The Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument, and others.

So do plan a visit to New York or Los Angeles or San Francisco, but consider one of these other top ten US cities for your visit...using either our list or your own.

Discover everything you need to know about budget travel tours and how you can take advantage of these truly amazing discount prices, and finally make it away to your chosen sunshine destination, where all the fun is at.

Just visit the globecheap web site and you will receive the Budget Travel Special Report for FREE - You really have nothing to lose!!!

Check Out These Budget Travel Tours Found In This Travel Guide Full of Budget Travel Discount Strategies and important last minute Cheap Travel Deals as well as a FREE TRAVEL BOOK report...Get Your Copy Today!!!

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Eleven Female Travel Industry Professionals in Asia Chosen for Scholarship

Eleven women have been offered full scholarships to pursue the Postgraduate Diploma of Business Administration from U21Global, one of the world?s premier online graduate schools.

The eleven are recipients of the MasterCard-U21Global scholarship program for women professionals in the travel and tourism industry.

Indian professionals top the list of recipients, with four women from the country being awarded the scholarship, followed by the Philippines, with three recipients. Other recipients of the scholarship this year come from China, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Thailand.

The recipients come from a wide variety of organizations ranging from national tourism councils to hotels, airlines and travel agencies. The majority of them are in senior to mid-level positions.

Launched in 2006, the U21Global Postgraduate Diploma of Business Administration aims to empower women executives through the development of their skills in the management and marketing fields of the travel and hospitality industry. The program consists of core management subjects such as Organizational Behavior, Finance, Marketing Management and Strategic Management, valuable knowledge they can apply within their respective professional fields.

One winner, Sherry Padda, Assistant Front Office Manager in Taj President, Mumbai, said ?The course will help me to adopt a global perspective in dealing with key issues, an added advantage considering my company?s global expansion. I believe the program will be an excellent complement to my existing qualifications. I look forward to using this platform to share my learning and experiences as well.?

Jennifer Rosal Jayme, Reservations Supervisor at Lagen Island Resort in the Philippines added, ?Being awarded the MasterCard Worldwide - U21Global Scholarship is truly a privilege and a blessing. I expect to learn more about the tourism industry on a global level through interaction with my fellow professionals around the world. The unique way of learning at my own pace is even more exciting, and the benefits of learning are limitless as I will not be the only one gaining from the experience, but my company as well, because the knowledge will be cascaded to my co-employees.?

The curriculum was designed by U21Global in collaboration with Christel DeHaan Tourism and Travel Research Institute, a component of the University of Nottingham. Graduates of the diploma can qualify for their Masters of Science in Tourism and Travel Management at the University, renowned for its quality graduate online education for working executives and professionals.

Nick Hutton, CEO of U21Global said, ?I am very encouraged to see the impressive array of applicants who displayed great enthusiasm to further their education this year. This is the fifth year of our collaboration with MasterCard Worldwide and it has been an exceptional success - bringing our unique brand of online higher education to the regions and enabling these individuals to prepare themselves for the future. The ongoing interest in the program is in line with the growth of the travel and tourism industry in the Asia Pacific region - I wish all the scholarship winners a successful and stimulating experience on the program.?

Some eighty women have been awarded the MasterCard-U21 Global scholarship in the last four years. This year?s scholarship recipients will begin their first class in October.

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Abacus Showcases Travel Solutions and Services @ Conference in Vietnam

Abacus unveiled its Next Generation Point-of-Sale (POS) at the 7th Abacus International Conference in Vietnam.

The new desktop workspace operates on a fast, future-ready open platform that offers greater dependability and flexibility to simplify complex operations and allow for faster start-up times. Its new features will both significantly optimise agents? workflow and increase productivity during reservation and ticketing.

?The enhanced release has the added capability to shop by fares, flight or total price both in a graphical or emulator mode. In addition, the individualised scripting tool ensures consistent and error-free input, allowing increased agent productivity and improved business efficiencies. Managing customer needs and expectations will become easier with a feature-rich profile system,? said Vice President of Marketing Abacus International, Brett Henry.

Around 500 participants from Asia?s most influential travel organisations attended the three-day conference in Ho Chi Minh City where they were able to view Abacus? mobile, productivity tools and online solutions such as Abacus WebStart for mobile, Abacus Mobile, Abacus VirtuallyThere and TripCase.

 ?With the increase in mobile usage for travel, we are pleased to offer a range of solutions to travel agents that are more convenient, innovative, reliable and efficient, ahead of the innovation curve to improve the way the travel industry works,? Mr. Henry added.

Abacus WebStart's Internet booking engine is another solution that helps Abacus? customers to capture new revenue opportunities online.

?As the travel industry continues to move at an accelerated pace, agencies will need to proactively retool their businesses to gain a competitive edge in the market. Abacus solutions will provide them with a good head start,? said Mr. Henry.

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