Travel Research

Sites:

• Reservations – Air/hotel/train/car/cruses/last minute deals
  • http://expedia.com - Air/hotel/train/car/cruses/last minute deals
  • http://travelocity.com - Air/hotel/train/car/cruses/last minute deals/fare watch
  • http://economytravel.com – cheap international flights
• State Travel
  • http://travel.michigan.org
  • http://michigan.gov - then chose “Travel”
    • harbor maps, state park info/online reservation, road construction advisories, things to do and see, calendar of events, email updates for travel info
  • National Travel
    • http://www.city-data.com/ - average weather, population demographics, altitude, nearest large cities, TV & radio stations, libraries, schools, hospitals, crime rate
    • Almost any state government site will have a travel, tourism or "visiting us" section. Check those first
    • Check the chamber of commerce site for cities that you're visiting by typing in google "chamber of commerce" cityname
  • International Travel
    • http://state.gov/travel - U.S. State Department’s Travel section - country background notes, current travel advisories, visa and passport info, travel publications by the Bureau of Consular Affairs, embassy info, customs info, travel’s health information from the CDC and WHO
    • http://www.xe.com/ucc/ - currency exchange
    • http://budgeteurope.com
    • Search in Google tourist information countryname for tourist information from a specific country
  • Active/Adventure Trips
    • http://gorp.com
    • http://geographynetwork.com
    • http://michigan.gov/dnr/ - Michigan Department of Natural Resources
    • Bicycle / Walking tours: http://backroads.com, http://vbt.com, http://cyclingsafari.com,
    • http://slackpacker.com - Hiking trails all over the U.S.
    • http://nps.gov – National Park Service –First place you should go for info on any national park.
    • http://backpackeurope.com – great resource for cheap airfares, hostels, things to know about backpacking abroad
    • http://iexplore.com – off-the-beaten-path tours all over the world, definitely worth a look. Partially supported by National Geographic.
  • General Info
    • http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/ent87.00.00/ - Internet Public Library’s Travel and Tourism
    • http://www.aarp.org/destinations/ -AARP’s Travel Info
    • http://www.elderhostel.org/ -Elderhostel directory and info
    • http://www.carnegielibrary.org/subject/travel/ - Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh –has a ton of great sites organized by categories
    • ttp://web.mel.org/viewtopic.jsp?id=153&pathid=1013 - Michigan eLibrary: Travel
    • http://www.travelsense.org – info on why and how to choose a travel agent
  • In the Media
    • Rick Steves - http://www.ricksteves.com/
    • Rudy Maxa (NPR) http://rudymaxa.com
  • Travel Reviews
    • http://www.epinions.com/trvl - reviews by consumers on hotels, tours, etc.
    • http://tripadvisor.com – reviews from many sources
    • http://www.world66.com - all information is contributed and editable by anyone

  Web Searching hints

  • Want reviews on a certain hotel, tour, attractions
    • Go to http://google.com
    • Type in “name of hotel” reviews. NOTE: make sure name of hotel, tour, attraction is in quotes.
  • Want a travel agent?
    • Go to yahoo’s yellow pages at yp.yahoo.com.
    • Change location to Brighton, MI or wherever
    • type in travel agent and scroll down past advertisements
  • Many travel book publishers have sites. Try these:
    • http://frommers.com
    • http://lonelyplanet.com
    • http://fodors.com

  Catalog searching – Library resources: books, videos, audio tapes/CDs (about travel and to use while traveling)

  • Keyword Searching
    • Start with word or phrase search
    • Use name of city, state, park, regions (such as “southern states”), countries, continents
    • Use terms like travel, guidebooks, recreation, touring, cruise (appear in subject headings)If you want videos, choose “power search”, go to type and choose to “video or dvd”
    • Example for simple word or phrase search: “travel Michigan”, “guidebooks france” “bicycle touring”
    • Example for videos on traveling to Italy: “italy travel” and choose the type “video or dvd”
  • Author Search
    • Steves, Rick
    • Maxa, Rudy
    • Roker, Al
    • Hunt, Don
  • Browse Call Numbers – 910-919

  Magazine Index Searching – Current and older magazines such as Travel & Leisure, Bicycling, National Geographic Traveler

  • Click on “Find Articles”
  • Choose General Reference Center Gold
  • Keyword searching in title, citation, abstract
  • Use terms such as locations, luxury hotels, cycling, travel