Does anyone talk on the phone anymore? Given the dozens of people you’ll see gabbing away on their cellphones on any given day, in any given place, it’s clear, of course, they do. But day by day, the Internet is making it less and less necessary to reach out and touch someone by telephone. And these days, that even includes having a live chat with a live person. What do we mean?
You’ve probably seen those “Live Chat” buttons on certain websites—maybe on the customer service page for your electric company or on the help page for an online catalog site—that let you talk to a company representative, in real time, over the Internet. You simply click on the “Live Chat” button, wait for an agent to greet you, and then type in your question and hold for their response. It really couldn’t be simpler.
Given the convenience and immediacy of it, more and more convention and visitors bureaus and other tourism agencies are starting to see the benefits as well, and are jumping on the Live Chat bandwagon, allowing you to go online and speak to a local representative about your up coming travel plans. What’s the best hotel for groups you may want to know. Or where can we park downtown?
“The benefit of Live Chat is having someone you can pose a question to and then getting the personal service,” says Edith Parten, media relations director for the state of Alabama’s tourism department, which launched its Live Chat feature on its site last April. “Two of our main operators are reps for the department and have worked in tourism for many years, so they’re very knowledgeable.”
One of those representatives is Charlene Anderson. “We get a lot of varied questions,” Anderson reports, “but some of the most popular ones are about the Gulf Shores region. They want to know about the beaches, about places to eat and places to stay, and about things to see and do there.”
Next time you’ve got your own burning question about an upcoming destination, be it the best shopping in Scotts-dale or the coolest museums in Myrtle Beach, and your inquiry hasn’t been answered already by VacationPlanning.net, by all means, check out the area CVB’s website, and when you see the “Live Chat,” “Click Here for Live Assistance,” or similar button, just hop on and go “live.”
Is There a Doctor in the House?
If the 36 million travelers who pass through the Orlando International Airport each year find themselves with a medical need or emergency, they’ll be happy to know they can now get convenient health care at a fair price right in the airport. That’s because in December, a new Solantic walk-in urgent-care center opened in Terminal B.
The 1,100-square-foot medical cli nic, the first urgent-care facility to be located within a Florida airport, is expected to serve an estimated 20,000 patients a year. A wide range of conditions and injuries can be treated, including minor ailments like coughs, colds, sore throats, cuts, and burns, to things as severe as fractures, sprains, and auto accident injuries. Solantic’s airport location features onsite services such as digital X-ray, immunizations, lab tests, phy-sicals, and even a kids’ playroom.
Board-certified physicians are on duty at the clinic 365 days a year, and no appointments are necessary. The clinic not only considers your health, however, but also your time: A lobby monitor displays remaining patient wait time, and their cellphone paging system enables travelers waiting for treatment to eat and shop elsewhere in the airport until alerted it’s time for their appointment.
For details, visit
www.solantic.com.
Tune In, Then Check In
Ever booked a hotel room online and got less than you bargained for?
TVtrip.com has the solution. The high-powered hotel search engine includes more than 2,000 videos that show the rooms and services of hotels across the globe, providing the transparency travelers can trust when planning a trip. The videos detail hotel facilities, local attractions, and area landmarks, and guest reviews are included on the site to further assist you in making the right lodging choice.
Launched in 2007 by former senior managers from Expedia Europe,
TVtrip.com allows viewers to search a city’s accommodations by things like style, rating, and price, as well as amenities like Internet access and fitness rooms. With
TVtrip.com’s professionally shot videos, you’ll get a complete picture of what each property has to offer in around a minute—plenty enough time for you to make an informed decision. The highest concentration of hotels currently catalogued are in Europe and Asia, but top U.S. cities like
Chicago,
New York,
Vegas, and
Miami are included and new videos are being uploaded regularly.