September Website Update

Posted on October 9, 2011

Well it was a very busy month for Travel With Jules in September!  Following the website launch in late July and more and more being loaded in August, the long job has been in place of updating the original pages, adding new countries, experiences and offers and going through all the links and tweaking SEO!!  For those of you who are new to the site or haven’t looked for a while, please do have a browse – there are some amazing places to be explored on our planet and most of them feature here somewhere!  If you can’t find the place or experience you would like, please fill out the enquiry form or give me a ring and I will do my best to book your own special holiay request.  Enquiries have been busy so the website updates have been done ‘in between’ quotes!

So …. on the destinations page, continents have been filling up, I think I’ve now got over half of all countries in the world featured (didn’t realise there were so many!!).  Eastern Europe has had a lot of work put into it with Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Romania all featuring, some with suggested experienced attached and many European cities have been included in city breaks and festive markets. Some fabulous new ideas for things to do in Europe under the experiences section include the Al Vecchio Cookery School, a gorgeous traditional Italian guest house and restaurant where visitors can learn the art of pasta making and go truffle hunting.  Also in Europe why not stay in one of the Paradors in Spain?  These character properties add another dimension to a holiday in this foodie country.  Also in Italy is the Classic Tuscany Tour which takes in Florence and the Chianti winelands. Cycling in Poland, the Glacier Express in Switzerland and Wildlife in Romania are also new trips to the site.  Information on Cyprus has been updated and some suggestions of luxury spa hotels there added.

River cruises in Europe are also featured on both the cruises page and the city breaks as many of the festive markets are accessed by river late in the year.  On the subject of Cruises special offers on Nile Cruises are set to continue with some departures offering a second person half price, a fabulous chance to see the historic sites of Egypt!

Also in North Africa, Tunisia has joined the destinations with a featured Sahara Desert Trek and there has been a lot of interest in group adventure tours to Morocco – there are a few places left this side of Christmas so please contact me, specifically on the Atlas Panorama one week group tour.

Over in Asia, some amazing experiences have been added including a school group adventure to Borneo and more information is now listed on the schools and special interest holidays.  The Himalayas now feature highly with Tibet adding to the range of experiences in conjunction with neighbouring Nepal.  Great for adventurous trekking holidays! In India the fabulous colonial rail experience of the Palace on Wheels is a new experience.

In the Americas, work has started on expanding The Caribbean, please bear with me on this as there are a lot of countries still to be added, but if I’ve not got round to your favourite it doesn’t mean I can’t sell it!!  Barbados and Bahamas have been updated and new islands to the pages include Puerto Rico, Aruba, Anguilla and Antigua.  In Central America there is a gorgeous wildlife trip to tropical Costa Rica in the portfolio.

On TV we have followed Billy Connolly across The States on his wacky bike on Route 66.  This has resulted in high demand through the website for self drive holidays in America!  Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon now have their own pages too and there is a feature for White Station Ranch. South America has not been forgotten and will be next on the list for ‘finishing off’ on the site with more destinations and experiences in the pipeline.   A page has been added on Penguins, given that these endearing creatures are the focal point of any Antarctic cruise or expedition and I’m often asked ‘where in the world’ can you see them!

Luxury, long haul destinations are a speciality of mine and I attended a Luxury Training Day, run by Co-op Personal Travel Advisors in London in September.  Presenting to us were several luxury suppliers and operators including Emirates who introduced us to their fabulous new ‘double decker’ airbus and it’s suites, bars and showers on board!  There are some great long haul offers with Emirates, particularly good for honeymooners.  The section on Spas and Wellbeing has been expanded with Maradiva Villas added on Mauritius and other links in place.

Some new types of holidays have been added, namely Villa Holidays, Escorted Tours and Solo Holidays.  Recognising the market for single travellers, I have dedicated a page to helping you find the right options for holidays independently or in a group.  Villas cover a range of cottages, gites, houses and spas as I am ever increasingly seeing an interest in this market, particularly properties that cater for big families or groups of friends.  Speaking of villas … check out the amazing half price luxury villas that are still available for October Half Term!

In October and in the press recently, Travel With Jules had a honeymoon feature on Kenya in the Suffolk Archant Press publication Pure Weddings, there is a mention a foodie trip in the November issue of Sunday Times Travel Magazine and there will be an advertorial in the new edition of BBC Wildlife magazine, which features a supplement on David Attenborough’s new series on the ‘frozen world’.  Best of all was a six page feature on Jules in the trade paper Travel Weekly (page 49) giving advice on what to look for when planning an African Safari and which destinations are best for what type of holiday.  Locally, a feature is again printed in Cheeky Boo magazine on family friendly travel, popular at the moment are holidays to see Santa in Lapland, Festive Markets and winter sports and ski trips.

I have set up a blog page but not had time to do anything on it yet, so please bear with me and I’ll let you all know when it’s functioning properly!  In the meantime, do follow Travel With Jules on Facebook and Twitter where all new offers and updates are regularly posted.

Thank you all for your support so far – the launch of the website has been a great success and it continues to grow and attract interest every week – spread the word, this is the only independent travel agency offering a wide range of wildlife, adventure, luxury and long haul holidays available 24/7 that is not biased to any particular operator.  Hopefully you will enjoy browsing the pages of this very different travel agent’s website!  Whatever you want to do, wherever in the world – get in touch and I’ll plan your next adventure.