Month: February 2016

Posted on by

Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show…Check it Out

SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – December 1, 2015 — Back for the sixth year in a row, the Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show, part of the largest series of consumer travel shows in the U.S., returns to the Santa Clara Convention Center, March 5-6, 2016. The popular tradeshow connects avid travelers with the world’s top travel providers, who in turn share insider knowledge about top domestic and international destinations, the latest travel tips and exclusive travel deals. Attendees will also have access to celebrity travel speakers, dozens of seminars, trip giveaways, prizes and fun, cultural interactions.

“Northern Californians have a natural appetite for travel and adventure. The SF/Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show is a smart, cost-effective way for savvy travelers to find, plan and book their dream vacation,” said John Golicz, chief executive officer and founder. “For more than a decade, our team has helped countless travelers find where to go, what to do and how to get there by connecting them in a meaningful way with the world’s leading destination experts.”

The 2016 SF/Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show will be the largest to date, featuring more than 200 exhibitors from the world’s most sought-after travel destinations, ranging from the Africa to Alaska, China to the Caribbean, and Europe to Fiji. In addition to a special Yosemite Experience Pavilion, other key exhibits include Tourism Malaysia, Luxury Vacations UK, Discover Pakistan, Costa Rica Rios, Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Yamnusha Mountain Adventures and Utah’s Canyonlands.

“People flock to our events because they know that while the Internet and guidebooks contain great information, they are not always reliable. At the Travel & Adventure Shows you get the truth from people who are either from the travel destination or have traveled extensively in the region,” said Golicz.
 

In addition to the vendors, the tradeshow features five theaters designed to educate and entertain. Wanderlust travelers can attend the Destination Theater for locale-specific workshops hosted by the Nevada Commission, Philippine Office of Tourism, Tahiti, Visit Anchorage, Air New Zealand and Trafalgar, among others, to draw inspiration and get detailed information. At the Savvy Traveler Theater, guests can also gain valuable tips and tricks for traveling smarter, more safely and with fewer hassles.


The 2016 SF/Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show also features an impressive line-up of travel industry expert speakers including:
  • Samantha Brown, Travel Channel host
  • Rick Steves, chief executive officer of “Rick Steves’ Europe,” guidebook author, PBS travel host and America’s leading authority on European travel
  • Pauline Frommer, editorial director of the Frommer Guides and publisher of Frommers.com
  • Doug McConnell, host of “OpenRoad” on NBC Bay Area and former host of the legendary, “Bay Area Backroads,” the longest-running television series in Bay Area broadcast history 
Attendees can also experience a variety of global culture and entertainment. The Global Beats Stage offers culturally diverse music and dance performances while the Taste of Travel Stage provides visitors with a taste of local, regional and global cuisine prepared by chefs Roopan Lumi, Ben Simon, Jerry Stone and others. Additionally, guests will have access to vacation activities such as a rock climbing wall, provided by Yosemite Experience Pavilion, Segway rides and more.

Sponsors of the 2016 Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show include Tourism Fiji, “Rick Steves’ Europe,” Sunset magazine and the Yosemite Experience Pavilion.

The 2016 Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show takes place at the Santa Clara Convention Center (5001 Great America Highway, Santa Clara, Calif.) March 5-6. On Saturday, March 5, the show opens at 9:30 a.m. for travel professionals, with general public hours set from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Sunday, March 6, the show floor is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Single day tickets ($16) and two-day tickets ($25) can be purchased at TravelShows.com/shows/san-francisco-bay-area/. Children 16 and under are admitted free of charge.                         
                                                                                                                                  
About Unicomm and the Travel & Adventure Show 
Unicomm, LLC is an independent media and events company specializing in originating and managing world-class trade shows, conferences and digital properties. Unicomm’s properties include the nation’s largest and longest running series of travel events, the Travel & Adventure Show in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco/Bay Area, Washington, D.C., San Diego and Philadelphia, and the 1000TravelTips.com.

Posted on by

How Much is That?

Travel anywhere outside of the US, and you’ll find the currency is different. How many Euros equal one US Dollar? Why am I spending 1,000 Swedish kroner?

Do you plan ahead and familiarize yourself with that particular currency? You don’t have to get the exchange rate down to the last penny, but knowing what the exchange rate is will help you better understand how much you are paying for dinner, a train ticket, or a new purse.

Posted on by

Help! I need a refresher in Italian…

You’ve planned your trip to Italy, bought the guide books, learned how to say please and thank you. But, you’d like to learn a few more words. And, you’d like to speak them correctly…sort of.

Get the app Duolingo. It offers free online courses to help in learning a foreign language using your smart phone, tablet,or computer with an Internet connection.

It builds on what you know or learn and you go from there.

This is one to check out.

Posted on by

What’s That Mean?

You’re in a restaurant where nothing looks remotely familiar on the menu. That’s because you know some of the language spoken in that country…but not all. How are you going to know what to order?

I’ve found an app to help with that. It’s called Google Translate and it’s free.

You can either write, speak, or hold your phone over the word in question. Put in the language you want it translated to, and you find out what that word means.

If you type in the word in English and ask it to translate to another language, it shows that word printed out. Hit the little microphone button and it speaks it for you.

Handy app to have on your phone.

Posted on by

Throw Your Money Away? No Way…

You know those tiny expenses, like pesky ATM fees or foreign transaction fees?

Do you pay them and pay them? When you get home and look at your bank statement are you surprised how they added up?

Any more there are plenty of banks and credit cards that do not charge a foreign transaction fee or charge to use your credit card oversees. If you need to use an ATM to get cash, try to use it as infrequently as possible to avoid adding fees on top of fees.

When you’re accessing an ATM, check to see who is watching you. If you’re traveling with someone, ask them to stand behind you and watch others nearby. No sense letting someone take your money once you retrieve it from the ATM.

Posted on by

Your Connecting Flight Just Left the Gate

Has this ever happened to you? Your initial flight was delayed for some reason. Your connection was tight to begin with. You just missed your connecting flight. Your luggage was checked all the way through to your final destination.

What do you do?

Head to your airline’s ticket counter for assistance in getting booked on the next flight…or another one. If you’re headed somewhere that has only one or two flights a day, your luggage will definitely arrive before you do. If that’s the case, ask the airline to hold your luggage until you arrive.

This would have been a good time to pack a change of clothes in your carry on bag…just saying.