Press & Publicity

Next time, book ahead

Surprisingly, Las Vegas isn’t the only place where you can find people willing to play high stakes poker. Viator recently asked 2,500 travelers if they’d ever been disappointed on a trip by finding something they wanted to do was sold out or unavailable when they needed it.

One-third of them said “yes,” which meant they had to change their plans on the fly – something that isn’t always easy to do in an unfamiliar city where the locals may, or may not, speak the same language as you.

The lesson here? Don’t gamble with your trip.

Planning your trip activities before you leave home can save time, money and… headaches.

Now that Memorial Day has come and gone in the USA, summer travel season is in full swing. Whether staying near home or traveling abroad, travelers should expect crowded and oversold planes, limited hotel capacity and more people on the roads. This also means more people will be booking activities, events and tours in advance so we suggest you plan ahead and book the things you want to do early – preferably before you leave.

Since it’s what we do, it’s no surprise Viator has been monitoring traveler behavior around booking trip activities for years. In my recent travels, I’ve been having discussions with local tour operators on different continents who’ve shared how the internet has increased advance bookings and squeezed some availability for walk-up sales.

We decided to look a bit closer than our customer surveys and conversations with operators by commissioning two surveys – one for each of these segments. In short, we found what we’ve anecdotally known: more travelers are booking activities in advance than recent years and this has, in turn, limited capacity of many attractions. What we didn’t expect was just how many travelers have been shut out of doing what they wanted while on vacation. Some survey highlights (click here for full press release):

Tour operators are seeing more advance bookings, limiting on-site availability

• About 50% of tour operators said advance bookings have increased during the last year
• 3 in 4 tour operators (77%) said advance bookings has limited walk-up availability

More travelers are booking in advance as 2 in 5 say they’ve found “sell outs” while on vacation

• One-third (33%) of travelers say they are “more likely” to book trip activities in advance than they were three years ago
• More than one-third of vacation travelers (39%) say they have tried to purchase tickets for a local activity but were forced to change their plans or skip the activity because it was sold out on the day/time they wanted to go
• Those once burned have learned a lesson: Of those travelers who previously missed out, 42% are now more likely to book their trip activities in advance of travel, more so than those who haven’t experienced the same disappointment (25%).

Saving time (54%) and money (54%) tied for the most important reasons for booking in advance. Other reasons cited by travelers for planning ahead were:

• To budget accordingly (52%)
• To not miss out on interesting activities they may otherwise not find out about at the destination (48%)
• To know their itinerary before they go (46%)
• To avoid waiting in line (45%)

At Viator, we’re all travelers and understand the significant investments made in vacations. Why gamble on missing the activities you want to experience at a destination? It’s simply not worth it.

Setting aside some time to research and plan before you leave home can help save valuable vacation time since you won’t have to do the research while on vacation or wait in line to buy tickets. What sells out fast, has limited availability or long lines if you wait until you arrive to book? Lots of things, including iconic, “must-see” activities like:

• Helicopter tours in general, but especially helicopter tours in New York and Las Vegas helicopter tours
  
• Anything to do with the Moulin Rouge in Paris
• The British Airways London Eye
• Viewing Da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’ in Milan
• Vatican and Sistine Chapel Tours in Rome

Researching before you depart can also help you uncover interesting things to do on your trip you might not otherwise know about. And, don’t forget the strain on your wallet as experts predict more crowds and higher prices this season. In advance, you can easily comparison shop online and get the benefit of Viator’s low-price guarantee.

Have you ever experienced “vacation disappointus?” Sold-out events or activities? Long, seemingly endless lines? Share the tale with your fellow travelers.

–Rod Cuthbert

Being part of a travel company and having been a traveler for many years now I am always on the lookout for sites that might spark my interest about a destination, give me some off the beaten path idea for fun or provide useful tips about accommodations.

Recently I have found this at DivineCaroline. This is a new place on the web where real voices rule and where women can write and publish stories about anything that matters to them including travel. The site is full of words and wisdom just the way women like them – dripping with honesty. Travel is why I went to peruse the site but DivineCaroline covers topics outside of travel too including style, relationships, body & soul and much more.

DivineCaroline’s Travel category is full of interesting stories about singles destinations, romantic getaways, family excursions, mishaps and discoveries. Everyone’s welcome to browse around and read. You can even participate, it just takes a few seconds to register and it’s free. So if you’ve got a travel story to tell – and what woman doesn’t? – you have found a valuable, new home online. Most recently I have read about shopping in India , language lessons in Florence, and budget travels to London. Go check out DivineCaroline.com.

--Liz P. 

You know, it’s Latin for ‘traveler’

I was in New York City last week at a conference. The weather in NYC was mediocre (rain, cold blasts of chilly air, gray clouds…) but it didn’t get me down. That’s because I love New York. That’s right, as silly and cliched as it sounds, I really love New York.

Which is odd, because I used to live in New York. I know how hard it is to get by in that city, how you never seem to have enough money, enough time or enough space.

Another odd NYC fact: in the year or so I lived there, I cooked a meal in my apartment no more than a dozen times. And I never thought twice about it. People in Manhattan simply do not cook. They eat out. Chinese takeaway, slices of pizza, burgers, bagels, sometimes even a burrito (back then New Yorkers had no idea what good Mexican food was like, but that is changing).

But I digress. My hotel was just off Times Square, which has its advantages. Being in the travel industry I get a thrill (no joke) from talking to American tourists and foreign travelers, and getting a sense of what is popular, new and interesting in the world of travel.

As it often happens, I started talking to a family (from London) who were waiting for their New York City bus tour. They had booked online at www.viator.com (cheers for that) and I was asking them questions about their overall experience. (In retrospect they must have thought I was incredibly dull, blathering on about trends in online travel.)

My impromptu focus group was going great, until somebody asked me about the name of our company. This isn’t an exact quote but it’s close enough:

Nice London family: So what’s a ‘Via Tour’ then?

Scott: Actually we pronounce it VEYE-a-tor. You know, VI-a-tor.

Nice family from London: Via, what?

Scott: Viator. Most Americans pronounce it like “aviator” without the initial ‘a’. But the ‘i’ is a long vowel and the stress is actually on the first syllable.

Nice family from London: Right then, Viator, so what’s it mean?

Scott: A ha! I’m glad you asked. Most people don’t realize that ‘viator’ is actually the Latin word for ‘traveler’. ‘Via’ is the Latin word for ‘road’ and when you give it an -or suffix it becomes the word for traveler or messenger.

Nice family from London: Really, marvelous, how terribly fascinating…

At this point their eyes were clearly glazing over, so I canceled the history lesson and let them board their bus. I kid you not, later in the day at my conference I was having a conversation about Viator and was asked if we spelled it ‘Viatour’. You know, as in via-TOUR?

Alas, as much as www.viatour.com or www.viat or.com or vivatour.com or even via-tours.com would make sense, I had to reply that no, it’s Viator, you know, VI-a-tor. Believe it or not it’s actually the Latin word for ‘traveler’…

–Scott McNeely

Be nice to Planet Earth

Are you tired of reading about Earth Day on the Viator blog and over on Viator.com?

No problem. Give your tired eyes a rest while you download an Earth Day podcast from Viator’s very own Rod Cuthbert. Rod claims he’s the CEO and founder of Viator; we think he’s actually a slightly mad globe-trotting surfer in disguise.

Either way Rod has some tips on minimizing your carbon emissions and greenhouse gas contributions. Rod is a firm believer in the importance of sustainable living and sustainable travel. Download the podcast and hear what else Rod has to say…

• Download an MP3 version of the Viator podcast
• Download an iTunes-friendly version of the Viator podcast
• To hear a streaming version, head over to the PR Podcast Website and click “play”

When you’re done getting environmentally inspired, head over to Viator’s Earth Day Writing Contest for a chance to win 100,000 miles of carbon offsets and Viator.com gift certificates.

–Scott McNeely

Eureka! Offset your emissions.

The other day I received an email from Rod “CEO” Cuthbert about an article he came across in the UK’s Guardian Unlimited. When I went to the website I found that the second article on the page (between Iran’s suspension of a sailor’s release plans and the new MC Rove) was about the UK’s carbon emissions. The article talked about the rise in carbon emissions in the UK and that the 1.25% increase was “worrying and that the figures underlined the importance of efforts to tackle climate change both from government and wider society”.

Rod’s point was simple: Carbon emissions are headline news. This is typical now, it’s a topic that’s rarely off the front pages of the major dailies.

Climate change, or global warming, is the changing of our global climate due to the build up of carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. Is it happening? Yes. For example:

• 2005 was the hottest year on record.
• Greenland’s glaciers are melting 2.5 times faster than a decade ago. If they melt entirely the world’s oceans will rise 20 feet.
• Hurricanes are becoming more severe due to higher water temperatures.
• Concentrations of carbon dioxide are at a 650,000-year high.

Carbon offsets are the process of reducing a ton of carbon dioxide emissions in another location for the emissions caused in the home, office, commute, travel or other activities that use energy and cause emissions. Carbon offsets enable anyone to reduce their climate footprint by supporting projects, typically energy efficiency, renewable energy, sequestration, biomass, etc. that reduce carbon dioxide emissions to offset one’s own climate footprint. Carbon dioxide emissions are caused by the burning of fossil fuels: oil, coal and natural gas. Obviously, your car uses gasoline.

But your house and office as well as the factory that produces your clothes or restaurants, movie theaters and other places we use every day use electricity and energy that generally comes from power plants that use fossil fuels. More than 50% of America’s electricity is derived from coal and virtually all our transportation needs are fueled by oil. The typical American is responsible for 10 tons of CO2 emissions annually through their direct energy use of home, cars and air travel, and about 23 tons of CO2 including their purchases, activities and the other services we all share throughout the economy.

I love to travel and I hope you love to travel. BUT traveling by plane, helicopter, bus, car, van, tuk tuk, motorbike, truck, scooter, boat, barge, ferry, ship, atv, dune buggy, and so on and so forth obviously emits carbon dioxide into the air. Viator offers tours and activities in over 450 destination worldwide. While not all our activities require a motorized vehicle we are, along with our suppliers, contributing our fair share of CO2 into the atmosphere.

This is why Viator has decided to partner with Carbonfund.org. Carbonfund.org is a nonprofit organization that educates the public about the dangers of climate change and makes it easy and affordable for individuals, businesses and organizations to reduce their climate impact. They are reducing the threat of climate change by promoting low-cost carbon reductions and supporting renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects that reduce and offset carbon dioxide emissions.

Working with Carbonfund.org, Viator has developed a roadmap to offset its company carbon emissions. We aim to become carbon neutral by working to offset all corporate travel, office energy usage and shipping costs. We encourage our entire staff to offset their personal energy usage by reducing and offsetting. We also want to encourage fellow travelers to offset their carbon footprint in 2007. Whether you want to focus on business or personal travel or other energy usage contributions made through this partnership will support Carbonfund.org’s combination of renewable energy, reforestation, and energy efficiency projects.

Interested in calculating the emissions your next trip will generate? Visit Carbonfund today to calculate and have the opportunity to contribute to do your part for the earth.

–Liz P

Learn more about Earth Day, and read our other blog posts about sustainable living and ‘going green‘. You can enter the Viator Earth Day Contest for a chance to win 100,000 miles of carbon offsets.

As I was sorting through my Google Alerts this morning I found that one of Viator’s partners was featured for her About.com page on travel quotes. Susan Breslow Sardone is one of the Web’s foremost experts on Honeymoons and Romantic Getaways. She has been an About.com contributing writer since 1997. In 2004 her site was named “Best of the Web in Romantic Travel” by Forbes.com. In 2005, The Week magazine echoed that praise. Below is a sampling of the quotes that Susan put together about the ‘pleasures and perils’ of travel.

“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” –- Miriam Beard

“If you look like your passport photo, you’re too ill to travel.” — Will Kommen

“Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” — Frank Herbert

“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” — Mark Twain

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill

For more travel inspiration check out Viator’s Romantic Getaways, Europe Trip Planner, USA Trip Planner, or Spring 2007 World Festivals & Events.

–Liz

Rosy H and the rubbery octopi

Congratulations to the winners of Viator’s Travel & Food photo contest.

The theme this time ’round was food. From elegant meals to humble roadside stalls, we asked for photos that captured the idea of eating and drinking on the road.

Have a look at our gallery of photo winners (or browse all the winners and notable entries in hi-res glory on Flickr). If you’re feeling photographically inspired, submit a photo to our new contest. The theme? Sign spotting. We’re looking for pictures of road signs and billboards that have caught your fancy while traveling.

Travel & Food Photos

Our 1st place photo was submitted by Rosy H from Australia. The story behind the image: “This photo was taken in Palermo, Sicily whilst we were visiting in October. We asked the waiter for a surprise dish - he didn’t disappoint with 2 very rubbery large octopuses which were tasty but difficult to eat.” Rosy what we loved about this photo - beside the octopi themselves - is your smile. Very Mona Lisa-esque.

The 2nd place photo was submitted by Chris R from New Zealand. The story behind the photo: “Roasting coffee beans in a coffee plantation in Bali. A picture of me and the old man that does it full time for a living, still done the old way, over a fire and the temp was about 30 degrees celsius. Then we got to have a cup of it, nice but very strong.” We appreciate your DIY approach to coffee making, and for finding a local to show you the ropes.

And in 3rd place it was a photo from Preema P in the USA. His story: “Enjoying ’see-food’ at a beach shack in Goa, India” Preema it was your smile that clinched 3rd place!

There was also a handful of notable entries that we really enjoyed. Top marks go to Luke C for his mouth-watering shot of pumpkin pie and ice cream in New York City; to Jordan D for the shot of his nephew eating a bug in Thailand; and to Vicki P for her shot of bugs on sticks in Beijing.

We’d also like thank people who submitted photos after the deadline. While we couldn’t include late submissions in our judging, some of the late entries are definitely worth sharing. So have a look.

Which reminds me to remind you not to let the current photo-submission deadline pass you by. Submit your photos in the current “Travel Signs Seen on the Road” contest to win one of three Viator.com gift certificates. The deadline is April 15, 2007. From street signs to bathroom signs to billboard ads, send us your best travel photos!

–Scott McNeely

First the Golden Globes, then the Academy Awards and now… the Webbys?

It’s the height of award season. No matter where you look, awards of all shapes and sizes are being handed out for best film, best song, best dressed and, yes, even a few awards for best travel & tourism web sites.

The most prestigious Internet awards are the Webbys, now in their 11th year (was there really a time when the Internet didn’t exist? Was it really just 11 years ago?). Everybody in the online world wants to win a Webby, and believe me, they’re not easy to come by. Something like 8,ooo websites are competing for top honors in 65 categories this year. Do the math — that’s a mere .008% chance of winning. If I were a gambler (which I am), I would not touch those odds with a 10-foot pole. Clearly, in order to win a 2007 Webby award for Viator.com, we’ll need a plan.

So what’s a humble website director to do? I find making a list helps and here it is: the Top 5 Reasons Viator.com should win a Webby award in 2007. (And by winning I mean nominated. Or honorably mentioned. Or even mistakenly short-listed due to confusion between the Scott McNealys.)

Top 5 Reasons Viator.com Should Win a Webby in 2007

1. While it is nice that you can buy stuff like an iPod or a CD online, it’s not as exciting as buying an astronaut training experience, a tour of New York City in convertible 1975 Chevrolet, a tornado-chasing expedition, a NASCAR driving lesson, a shark dive or any of the hundreds of unique tours and activities available on Viator. The iPod is cool, don’t get me wrong. But it won’t help you to meet the Pope or get hitched by Elvis.
2. We don’t pay lip service to being responsible global citizens, we are resonsible global citizens. We support more than 900 locally owned tour operators in 84 countries worldwide, from Cambodia to Kenya, Italy to Ireland, France to Fiji. We have excursions to over 200 UNESCO World Heritage sites to promote tourism and preservation. And we’re working on a zero-footprint emission plan for our staff and travelers.
3. We’re real travelers, not desk jockeys. Between our staff (of around 90 people in San Francisco, Sydney, London and Las Vegas) we’ve basically been to every country in the world with just a few exceptions (… North Korea, Iraq, the Kingdom of Lovely…).
4. Travelers love what we do. And I mean love it. Read some of the reviews in Paris, Rome, Sydney, New York City, Singapore or any of the hundreds of destinations we cover. I won’t lie to you — things sometimes go wrong, tours are cancelled, roads are washed out, people have a mediocre experience. But the vast majority of our travelers love getting out there and doing things, meeting locals, meeting other travelers, getting beneath the skin of a destination and being travelers instead of mere tourists. That’s what travel is all about.
5. And yes, we’ll throw a big smash-up party if we win and invite everybody we know.

We’ll keep you posted on how things turn out with the Webbys. We’re also nominating ourselves for the Darwin Awards (that’s in Australia, right?) and the Beercanbob awards. Hopefully Viator won’t go home empty-handed this award season.

–Scott McNeely

A lion in the grass, Kenya

We’re pleased to announce a new destination on Viator.com: Kenya. We’ve just completed an exhaustive search for Kenya’s best tours, safaris and things to do from Nairobi to Mombassa, Lake Nakuru to Hell’s Gate, Maasai Mara National Reserve to Amboseli National Park.

We’re excited because Kenya offers some of the best wildlife viewing in all of Africa. Kenya is home to all of the “Big Five” animals (elephant, lion, leopard, rhinoceros, buffalo) and has some of the largest animal reserves and national parks on the continent. A main focus of travelers is the annual migration of wildebeests (usually between July and October) between Kenya and Tanzania, though wildlife spotting is excellent year-round.

Kenya is also home to Lake Turkana and the Great Rift Valley, made famous by Richard Leakey and his discoveries of ‘Turkana Boy’ and other ancient hominid fossils. And let’s not forget about the local culture, from the Swahili tribes on the coast to the nomadic Maasai tribes inland.

The menu at Carnivore, Nairobi, Kenya

One of the best things about a trip to Kenya is the diversity: wildlife, culture, natural scenery and everything from deluxe eco-lodges to backpacker-friendly campgrounds.

Have a look at our complete list of safaris, tours and things to do in Kenya. I’ve also made a “Suggested Itineraries: Kenya Wishlist” for when I make it back to Kenya for a second visit:

• Carnivore Restaurant in Nairobi. I had one of the most amazing meals here. I sampled crocodile, hartebeast, zebra, chicken, cow… and a bowl of pumpkin soup, I believe. The crazy thing about Carnivore is they keep serving food until you (literally) raise a flag of surrender at your table, indicating that your stomach has reached maximum capacity. I am definitely going back.
• Three-day Safari to Amboseli National Park. Amboseli is one of the top places to see wildlife in Kenya. Its famous for herds of elephants roaming the plains, with Mt Kilimanjaro as a backdrop. Lions, leopards, caracals, cheetahs, jackals, hyenas and serval cats are all frequently seen in the park. Sign me up.
• Three-day Safari to Maasai Mara National Reserve. If it’s wildlife you’re after (I am), then this is the place. Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve is famous for its scenery, wildlife and overall beauty. I’m sold on it.

I’ll finish up with photos from my trip (you can see more photos of Kenya on the Viator Flickr page). The first (clockwise from the left) is of two lion cubs, hanging out underneath our parked Jeep on safari. The temptation to reach out and pet the cubs was cooled by a mamma lion nearby, keeping a close watch on her bairn. The second shot is of a group of Maasai boys on the road to Tanzania. Next is a photo of zebras and wildebeests during the migration. I was lucky enough to witness the migration, I consider it one of my all-time best travel experiences. Last up, a photo of two lions hanging out on a rock. The rock was on high ground, giving the lions plenty of perspective on their next meal.

-Scott McNeely

Find all Viator blog posts about Africa

It happens every year, the often-dreaded office holiday party. For some it’s an excuse to let loose, eat free food and drink too much white wine. For others it’s an event to fear: small talk with co-workers, small talk with the boss, small talk with your cube mate.

A whole industry has grown up around the office holiday party. There are some websites that specialize in office party etiquette (um, don’t drink so much). Others offer advice on office party land mines to avoid (um, don’t drink so much). Others have ideas on how to host an office party on the cheap (McDonald’s, are you for real??) or how to deal with the agony of celebrating the holidays with your co-workers.

All in all, it seems like the annual office party is causing a lot of unnecessary grief. Which is where Viator comes in. We can help. We really can. We’ve just launched a group services feature that is all about having fun. About having an experience that’s more than just finger foods and cheap white wine. About not standing around in your office on a Friday night pretending to enjoy yourself.

For groups of 18 or more, Viator can create a unique holiday or corporate event that you, your staff, your friends, your co-workers and even your family will enjoy. We can arrange group helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon, a rock ‘n’ roll walking tour in New York City, wine country tours in San Francisco, snorkeling trips in Mexico, hot-air balloon rides from Phoenix to Buenos Aires, and dozens of more tours, activities, shows and personalized experiences. If you can think of it, we can probably make it happen.

And we promise that we can do it at a reasonable group rate. So let Viator plan and book a travel experience tailored just for your group, conference or other event. We have thousands of tours and activities in hundreds of locations around the world. Have a look at our Group Services page and let us help you plan something that is a lot better than awful, more pleasant than awkward, and far more exciting than dull.

Here are some ideas to kick-start your group planning:

• Helicopter tours
• Shark diving!
• NASCAR drive-alongs
• Tornado chasing
• Astronaut training programs!
• A Broadway show
• Wine tasting tours
  
• Las Vegas nightclubs

It’s never too early to start planning next year’s office party, group event, corporate outing or family gathering.

-Scott McNeely