I think it’s save to say that we all like things that are familiar to us. When I go to the grocery store I usually go to the same one because unlike other stores I know exactly where to find my Heinz Ketchup, where Breyers Ice cream can be found, along with my favorite blend of Arabica Premium Ground Coffee. A few months ago, they changed a few of the front isles around from running vertically to horizontally and I must have stood there for 5 minutes just wondering how I was going to find things.

What happened to the way it was?

Part of the reason I struggled with the move from Blogger to WordPress was because I wasn’t comfortable with change. Blogger was familiar, I knew how to drive it, and I liked the template design.

But the template I was using was outdated, and couldn’t take advantage of all the new toys and features that are now available with updated Blogger templates. Plus I knew that this new format here on WordPress would be much more powerful, being able to host many features I knew were important in order to continue to grow and expand my visibility on the World Wide Web.

Logically, I knew the change would be good, and I’ve certainly been extremely pleased with the functionality of my new home. It’s was a simple matter not being familiar with what I was about to dive into.

With technology rapidly changing, with better tools and resources, and the internet becoming more and more of “The Source” for news, entertainment, and socializing, it’s not surprising the Travel Weekly just got an extreme makeover.

Like most everything I come across that I’m familiar with and find that’s changed, my first reaction is “Ack! How do I find what I want?!” But after taking the time to look around I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only was all the “stuff” I look for in Travel Weekly was still there, but a lot easier to find. (Again, change is often “good”.)

All the industry news that I like to read is now on the front page. Down at the bottom of the site are all the industry channels that I try to keep up with. I like reading about these different destinations and offers and find I can scan the entire section now and only read what catches my eye. There’s also a ton more content to browse over which I really like, and while Travel Weekly may not be the first to break important news, they have always had a history of reporting on stories I find elsewhere.

The Industry News section has also been expanded on the front page giving me a better idea of what’s going on around the industry. (Found Apple Vacations and Travel Impressions have also terminated it’s relationship with Joystar.)

Something else you may notice at the bottom of these articles is a comment section. Yes, you can now input your own comments and discuss what you think about the news and events that are being reported. However, like here, the comments are moderated. (I can’t imagine why?) If you’d like to get an idea of what Travel Weekly might expect in proper conduct to enable you to add comments on their site, you can find them here.

Other features have been introduced as well, a new multimedia section has been introduced for things such as uploading photos. Photo will be categorized in three areas, “Destination Albums”, “Recommend Trips”, and “Experiencing Cruising”. Readers will also be able to comment on photos that are uploaded. Video’s can also be uploaded for those that like that medium. (Hopefully, it will be a step up from YouTube.)

There is also an expanded area for hotel information, travel deals, and Fam information. (An area that was honestly lacking compared to other sources I read on a regular basis.) The Travel Weekly site is also introducing something called “5 Minute Guides” for key destinations, along with non-destination guides such as car rentals, and technology.

Overall, this is a huge makeover for “The National Newspaper of the Travel Industry”. I’ve seen many changes and upgrades over the years from sites like Travel Weekly. Travel Trade upgraded a few years ago, and Travel Pulse use to me Modern Agent back in the day. One of the best features I like about Travel Weekly however, is that unlike the upgrades I’ve seen in the past, the hundreds of links I’ve used as supporting documentation here on this blog from Travel Weekly, are still in tact.

Thank You – Thank You – Thank You!

Probably the best feature out of all since my goal here is to help educate and provide you with documentation of what’s REALLY going on in this industry.

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Doug & Ronda Bauknight AKA: TravelPro Travel Agent / Networker Phone: 678.458.5812

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Tags: Blogging, Home Based Travel Agent, Technology, Travel Agent Issues, Travel Weekly

This entry was posted on Friday, January 16th, 2009 at 7:00 am and is filed under Home Based Business, Home Based Travel Agent, Online Travel, Travel Agent Training, Travel Weekly. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.