As Online Travel has caught the fancy of the internet savvy travelers the online travel market is booming. No wonder that the online Travel is one of the fastest growing markets worldwide. India is also not left behind in this race as according to industry Pundits, Online Travel Market in India would be worth around US $ 6 Billion.As a logical extension to such buoyancy, Travel Guides have shown a steady rising to move online and in the process fulfilling the needs of the niche readers. Both traditional print brands as well as purely cyber entities are slogging it out to grab the attention of this niche segment. The publishers of print brands after their initial reluctance have also started embracing the web and publish all their content online.
Travel GuidesLet’s take a look at what the Travel Guides offer. Travel guides have become a necessary tool for anyone who is thinking of vacation. A Travel Guide is full of helpful advice, precise information, good ideas etc besides being well-written, well laid out as well as well indexed.These City centric guides provide information on all aspects of travel. You can get good information on How to Reach, Attractions, Excursions, festivals, History along with the various kinds of accommodations available like lodges, hotels, resorts and the bed-and-breakfasts. Convenient maps make it easy for the newcomers to exactly pinpoint any destination.An ideal Travel guide should also briefly outline the recreational activities coupled with more mundane activities of life that can be done in a particular city. Another important aspect that is generally missed out is the public transport of the cities where a traveler lands up. A genuine Travel Guide is also supposed to give precise information of the state of public transport highlighting bus routes, Cabs and Auto fares.Another important aspect of a City Guide is to have a semblance of balanced information. This is important because travel can be both for as well as business.Pros and cons of Online Travel GuidesMore and more people are into researching the internet as a result the Online Travel Guides have become quite popular as compared to their print counterparts. However both the two brands have their own set of advantages and limitations.Online Destination Guides are successful in tapping user-generated reviews and provide the added advantage of E- Commerce options. So surf the web pages of the guide and book flights, hotels and other arrangements at one go directly through the site. Another great feature of the Online Guides is that there is ample scope for value addition. For example Indian railway has planned a new train to connect Amritsar to Kasargod. This information can be easily updated in the Guide for the travelers to see.As Hotels and rental agencies change their rates according to season and local competition, online travel guides also offer a dynamic lot of packages based on such variances. However coming to the flip side of it is very difficult to find Online Travel guides bereft of commercial influences. It is not uncommon to see many sites that are setup to merely attract the potential customers to a particular establishment, or sites giving reviews by travelers may not be wholly independent.To conclude Online Travel Guides have become a very good way to gather information about smaller cities of India that has an immense tourism potential but often neglected. For example the whole of North east, Northern Kerala neglected as a tourist spot over the years have seen good tourist influx thanks to the ubiquitous travel guides.
Online Travel Guides Having a Heyday
How to Enjoy Your Own Party With Easy Entertaining Recipes
Even just a few shorts years ago, when you wanted to entertain friends, you may not have thought twice about picking up the phone and making reservations at a nice restaurant. Unfortunately, that’s all changed. Now, you may entertain friends at the upscale restaurant on occasion, but these days you lean more towards entertaining at home, purely for economic considerations. Well, this is not such a disaster. In fact, you can organize a dinner party at home that vies with, or even surpasses the carefree restaurant experience. Here’s how to make home entertaining a gracious and memorable event.You should think first of all the kitchen conveniences and appliances we now have at our disposal. In the economic heydays, we used our bread makers, convection ovens and do-ahead recipes to make everyday family meals a stunning success. As an example, bread makers have ‘dough only’ settings, as well as bells which alert us to the proper time to add fruit, nuts or cheese. This great appliance gives you the wherewithal to produce artisan breads your guests will surely applaud, with just a few minutes of your time. As well as also for the Convection ovens are another handy appliance when you’re entertaining at home. You can roast a gourmet chicken dish in no time at all, with very little supervision required on your part. And likewise to do-ahead recipes, there are literally thousands of delectable dishes which may be prepared ahead of party day and are actually enhanced by sitting in the fridge, marrying seasons and flavors to perfection.Well, entertaining at home used to summon up visions of long hours at the stove and last-minute preparations which left us worn out before the party ever began. Wanting to provide a top-notch meal for our guests seemed beyond our reach or reserves of energy. This is simply no longer the case.When you throw a party, at some point everybody has to entertain in their home. This event can be a wonderful time if you know how to plan, cook and serve the meal. Of course, you want your guests to enjoy good food and have a good time. What you might not realize is that your guests also want to enjoy your company and conversation as well. If you spend all your time in the kitchen, continuing to fuss with this or that last-minute dish, you’re robbing your guests of your company and it’s not much fun for you either! Here are some tips for throwing a party you can enjoy too. The secret? Easy entertaining recipes!These great recipes for entertaining are designed to make the day of your party a relaxed affair. Main dishes that you prepare ahead of time may be gourmet concoctions you can prepare at your leisure anywhere from one to three days prior to party day and which benefit from waiting in the fridge before being served. In fact, every gourmet cook knows that the flavors of almost any complex meat dish improve when the meat, seasonings and sauce ‘marry’ for a day or two sitting in the fridge. Some examples include Cajun-style gumbos, chicken and lamb currys, osso bucho and French ragouts. These easy entertaining recipes make stunning entrees with exotic taste results you wouldn’t get if you cooked and served on the same day.Here are some of the luscious desserts, which includes cheesecake or four-layer cakes can be baked and frozen a week ahead of time. Cheesecake may be made, ready to serve, before freezing. Just remove it from the freezer a few hours before dinner and top each serving with a dollop of glazed fresh strawberries. Your cake requires just a few minutes time to assemble the layers with fruit filling and whipped cream, topping it off with chocolate frosting. Cakes assembled while frozen are easier to work with and make impressive desserts.Another easy entertaining recipes for side dishes include roasted potatoes, rice pilaf and cold pasta salads. Roasted potatoes require little more than popping them in the oven. You can cut the potato wedges the night before and store them, covered in water with a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice. This makes for a crisper potato when roasted. Rice and pasta salads are usually better the next day.Apparently, a visit to the deli counter can supply a sumptuous selection of appetizers, from cold cuts and cheeses to antipasto platters and crab cakes. Large cooked shrimp on a platter with a choice of a couple of dips and gourmet crackers are wonderful munchies, as are Nicoise or Kalamata olives and marinated mushrooms.The basis of your choices on the occasion, either it’s a casual of fancy easy entertaining recipes allow you to attend your party and have as much fun as your guests. By party day, all you need to do is choose a nice outfit, greet your guests and mingle!The main course is the main event, and will make the most impression on your guests; so it’s worth putting some extra care into choosing what you serve. With a little careful coordination and planning, entertaining at home can be a snap. Once you realize that entertaining at home can be so easy, it will also be apparent that not only are you saving lots of money, but your guests may also enjoy the conviviality and comfort of your gracious home more than going out.Having a few ideas and the supplies to match will ensure your friends always feel welcome. But above all, being prepared will allow you to enjoy the most important ingredient whenever you entertain, your guests. When the party’s over, you simply slide into bed with happiness for a successful party you have.
Investing – Tips For Your Future
The best investments to make with a little bit of money will always depend on your lifestyle. Factors to consider include the stability of your expenses and income so that you can figure out what amount of money you have to invest, your age, how likely you are to need the invested money in the near future which will determine how liquid you need your investment to be and how much risk you can tolerate with your investments which will determine how much you can lose on your investment. The general rule is that the less risk, the less you’ll earn on an investment. Today’s interest rates are extremely low on investments so that you will earn very little money on traditional investments such as putting your money into risk-free vehicles such as a savings account, CD, or money market.These vehicles remain safe ways to invest your money with no risk of losing the money you put in. Purchasing savings bonds or other bond issues from the Treasury will pay a bit more but typically tie your money up for some period of time. If you work for a company, your best investments may begin with your company. Companies usually include retirement options that include matching 401K contributions. 401Ks are retirement accounts. When your company gives you the option to invest in a 401K examine the matching the company makes which represents the amount of money the company contributes to your retirement account. This can help your investment strategy because the only way to make more money when interest rates are low is to invest more money in your safe financial product. For instance if you have $100 to invest, you will make less than one percent interest on your investment but that one percent of interest is more money if you have $200 to invest so that matching is helpful. Your investment in a 401K will include types of investments such as a stock 401K made up of stock purchases, mutual fund or money market. Within the 401K, the type of investment you make with that money will determine the risk you are taking.For instance, individuals who invest in company stock with their 401K money can still lose that money when the stock goes down. This is what happened to people at Enron. If you invest in a money market account, you will earn less on your money but the money will be safe. If you have the opportunity to buy stock in incremental amounts whether from your own company or another company that has such options called Direct Stock Plans, you can invest in a company’s stock for very little money, sometimes as little as $25 a month. By omitting a stock-buying service and by linking your Direct Stock Plan to a savings or checking account, a certain amount of money will be taken out of your account each month to invest in a company. The difference between being an employee and participating in your company’s stock purchase plan and an outside investor is that employees usually get some discount on stock price, such as five percent. As with any stock account, you can lose everything you invest. Mutual funds that allow investors to open an account in $100 increments are a way for individuals to invest in stocks with less risk than buying individual stocks.These investments depend on what type of companies they invest in and you can research the risk of your invested money. For instance, those that invest in the top 100 US stocks are less risky than those that invest in emerging markets, usually. It is important to consider whether the mutual fund charges fees to you to open, maintain or close your account. You can lose all your money in mutual funds but because they invest in a variety of companies they are typically considered not as risky as individual stock accounts. A Roth IRA is a good investment vehicle. This type of account is a retirement account but only the money you earn on the money you invest is tied up until you are 59-and-a-half. You can set up a Roth IRA at any financial institution. It is funded with after tax dollars. You can start your Roth IRA with very little money, usually from $50 to $100.