10 Tips The 2013 Dive Travel Show season is under way. After 30 years of speaking at and attending shows I have a few tips, thoughts and insider secrets for you. These tips will help you spend your time more efficiently and hopefully help you make better choices for your next vacation. Better choices will result in less travel stress and more travel fun. If there is one activity I do my best to encourage people to practice more of, it is “ASKING” clever and probing questions. There’s a lot of hype and fair amount of grandiose promise making at travel trade shows. Try to cut through the hype and get better information. First, ask more open ended questions that require more than a yes, no or maybe answer. I encourage you to start the asking and speaking up at the show and continue pre-trip and during the trip. 1. Spend some time and write out a plan for the show. A little pre-show preparation will go a long way towards getting better information. Think about your individual travel needs. MAKE A PLAN. THEN WORK THE PLAN! Some questions and practicalities to think about when making your plan: What is on your bucket and/or wish list? Where do you want to go? Adjust your booth visit plan according to this wish list. 2. Before the show, use some of the online review and forum sources to check out what past travelers have to say about the resorts, live aboards, hotels and vendors you may visit. 3. Is the owner of the resort, live aboard at the booth? If the owner is not present are any of the staff/divemasters, managers in attendance? 4. Look for the overall condition and look of the trade show booth. What is quality of banner and other marketing materials?Does the booth have professional, clean and organized look? 5. Ask about weather conditions throughout year. One of the most common questions I am asked by traveler’s is : “When is the best time to go to xyz destination?”. Nowadays, the weather pattern can be very different from the norm. I just finished a safari and cultural trip to Sri Lanka. October is normally one of their rainiest months. This past October, they had very little rain. Then in December which is normally one of the drier months, they had flooding rains during the Christmas and New Years Holidays. I’ve been to the Maldives over 10 times and my most memorable dives were on heavy days of rain and wind. Maybe the marine life was excited by the turbulent weather at the surface. 6. Beware absolute language at trade shows and in presentations. Listen warily to sales pitches with words like best, most, no one, always, and every. 7. Ask more detailed questions about the resort or dive operators dive program: Questions like: Tell me how many divers do you put on one boat? How many divers are assigned per dive master in the water? Tell me how the dive program works? Can I select the specific dive sites? 8. Try to visit as many of the participating dive travel wholesalers and agents as possible. Ask their opinion about the resorts they represent and most importantly when was their last visit. Ask them also about resorts at the show that they do not represent. 9. Ask for specials- If I book now or within a defined period of time what can you offer? 10. Close behind asking more questions is “SPEAKING” up to advocate for your needs and wants. Remember a dive/snorkel/water adventure vacation is an INVESTMENT of both your hard earned money and time. Getting the best value is simply a matter of taking the time to match your needs and wants with offered product features and benefits. Send me your thoughts and opinions! For every email you send, Ill enter your name into a drawing for a 4 day, 3 night stay at Sea Bees Dive Resort in Phuket, Thailand. RichTravels www.richtravels.com