Wondering what an online travel agency is? Arival defines an OTA in its “Sales & Distribution Trends & Outlook 2020” report: “Contract tour and attraction products from operators, market them online, and resell them on their websites for commission.” Below, we’ll provide additional definitions and examples of online travel agencies. We’ll also cover how an online travel agency earns money, their roles in the travel industry, and the disadvantages of online travel agencies. What Is An Online Travel Agency? An Online Travel Agency (OTA) is an online or app-based marketplace where consumers can browse, book, and pay for hotel rooms,...

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Colorado State Parks are seeing record numbers of visitors this year because everyone wants to get outside and explore. And we are here for it. What has also come from this surge of State Park visitors is increased congestion, overcrowding, and questionable trail etiquette — especially for Colorado State Parks near Denver. Colorado has 41 diverse State Parks which offer everything from hiking to fishing to horseback riding to spending the weekend in a yurt. We wanted to see what lesser-known Colorado State Parks had to offer so we can practice social distancing as well as discover new places.  In...

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When creating a new listing: Click New Listing from the Listings dashboard.Select the category your listing best fitsUnder Default Assigned Guides, choose the guide that will be the default guide for that listing on any dates. Note: If no guide is assigned, Origin will send SMS requests to all guides until the trip is claimed as noted here.Continue creating your listing When editing a current listing: If you’ve already created a listing but want to retroactively assign a default guide, click Listings on the left panel.Find the listing you’d like to assign a default guide to and click the pen...

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Note: You have to add your guides as Users before you can assign them to trips. Assign a guide to a specific trip from the Schedule.”Click on Schedule.Click on the date for which you want to assign a specific trip and guide.Click on the Guides field and choose the guide you want to assign to this specific trip.The guide will only be assigned to the trip on that date.Note: If no guide is assigned, Origin will send SMS requests to all guides until the trip is claimed as noted here.

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In situations where you don’t have a designated guide, you can leave the Default Assigned Guides field blank. When you leave the Default Assigned Guides field blank, Origin automatically sends an SMS request to all guides who can fulfill that trip. The system will continue to send an SMS request to all available guides until a guide claims the trip.

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Before creating a listing, you need to add your trip categories. For example, if you lead kayaking, choose Water.If there is not a category available for your trip, click Create Category to create a new category.Add the Category TitleChoose a Category colorClick Save

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From your dashboard, click “Listings”Click “New Listings”Select the category your listing best fitsComplete ALL fields when entering detailsClick “Next”Add equipment your company will provide to guests and/or add equipment guests will need to bring with them.Click “Next”Choose either Fixed Per-Person Pricing or Variable Pricing and enter in the correct pricing.Click “Next”Click “Preview” before publishing your listing. This will open a tab to preview the listing before finalizing it.When you’re ready, click “Publish” to make the listing available.Return to your dashboard by clicking your icon in the upper right corner of the screen and clicking “My Company.”Select “Schedule”Click the date the...

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Online booking software is better for adventure providers. First, it makes it easier for customers to book trips. It also benefits tour operators because it automatically collects, organizes, and centralizes important information needed to run a business. What is Online Booking Software? Online booking software is used for managing reservations. It is a self-service portal that allows for a customer to book and pay for an activity or service through a website. Customers can book trips that have open time/date slots suggested to them by the system. Origin’s simple online booking software easily integrates into your website. It doesn’t need...

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IFrames and SEO don't go together like you'd hope they would. See, Iframes impact your site's SEO negatively. We noticed tour operator websites with bookings embedded in an iFrame weren’t showing in Google results. In other words, booking pop-ups installed on sites hindered their SEO. We copied text inside the popup window and pasted that in Google. Nothing came up. We researched further and we're convinced you should not use iframes on your site. We want our clients to succeed. With that, we want their websites to be discoverable through Google search results. Because of this, in this article, we...

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While responsible tourism typically seems to be applied on an international scale, there are ways to incorporate responsibility and sustainability into your outdoor tour operations that not only protect the environment but support the local economy. Whether you do an entire overhaul and follow The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Criteria or incorporate bits and pieces that are applicable to your tour guiding business, you will inevitably provide a better experience for customers. We know of the seven Leave No Trace Principles: 1) Plan Ahead & Prepare, 2) Travel & Camp on Durable Surfaces, 3) Dispose of Waste Properly, 4)...

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Last modified: August 27, 2020 IMPORTANT- THESE TERMS CONTAIN A MANDATORY INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION/JURY TRIAL WAIVER PROVISION THAT REQUIRES THE USE OF ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS TO RESOLVE DISPUTES, RATHER THAN JURY TRIALS OR CLASS ACTIONS. THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS (THE “AGREEMENT”) SET FORTH BELOW GOVERN YOUR USE OF THE FIND THE ORIGIN SERVICES (THE “SERVICE”) AVAILABLE  AT https://exploreorigin.com (THE “PLATFORM”) AND/OR PURCHASE OF OUTINGS. THESE TERMS ARE A LEGAL CONTRACT BETWEEN YOU (“YOU” OR “YOUR”) AND FIND THE ORIGIN INC (“ORIGIN”, “WE” OR “US”) AND GOVERN YOUR ACCESS TO, AND USE OF, THE SERVICE, THE PLATFORM...

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Last updated: September 4, 2020. This Privacy Notice (“Privacy Notice”) describes how Find the Origin Inc., a Delaware Corporation (“we,” “us,” “our,” or “Origin”), handles your personal information in connection with: Our website available at  www.exploreorigin.com (“Site”) andThe services that we provide on and through the Site (collectively, “Services”), including any communications between you and Origin. This Privacy Notice details how we collect, use, disclose and secure your personal information. If, after reviewing this Privacy Notice, you have any questions or privacy concerns, please send us an email to hello@exploreorigin.com.  Changes to This Privacy Notice We may update this Privacy...

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As we all know, tour operators are a resilient bunch. The travel industry has gone through crises before COVID-19. Everything from terrorist attacks to disease to depressions to wars and we’ll do it again. What this crisis has shown us is how innovative tour guiding companies are. To regain confidence in returning (and new) customers, tour operators must be willing to change and adapt. We found four ways companies are improvising to persevere and even make the travel industry better than before: collaborating with other businesses, personalizing tours, practicing sustainability, and staying flexible. Tour Operators Collaborating With Other Businesses When...

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Kayakers get to escape noises, dust, smoke, and congestion of cities. Whether kayakers are sending it off tall waterfalls, exploring banks of rivers, or watching wildlife from a distance, there is no shortage of adventures while paddling.

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