Article by Traveller
Free Tourist Information – An Internet Business Opportunity?
There has always been a demand for free tourist information. With the advent of cheap air travel and holiday package deals in the late 70′s world air travel volumes increased sharply. Of course all these tourists had little idea about their destinations other than they would most likely be sunny and welcome visitors. Of course for the most part these expectations were correct and the tourist industry boomed for a very long time.
Now in the 21st century air travel is no longer a novelty and many foreign destinations are now commonplace holiday spots. Despite this the quest for accurate and useful tourist information remains. The reason for this is the same as it ever was; no sensible person wants to travel into an unknown area without learning at least a little about local customs and attraction spots.
No one can give tourist information like a local. Often a chance meeting in a local bar or restaurant will grant information that can save money or grant access to facility that is poorly advertised and known only to the local population. For the most part, unless the individual is a business owner, they will have little interest in putting any information up on a website even though it might be of great use to other people looking to visit the area. What is needed is a website that can collect the information that many people would supply, just to be helpful to visitors to their area.
Like many good ideas, this idea has already been implemented by a number of websites on the internet. The most notable of these types of site that will supply free tourist information is a website called lonelyplanet.com. Here the site allows users to comment on the information supplied as well as add information about the various areas discussed themselves. Thus, the skills of a professional web design team is harnessed, along with excellent local knowledge, to the benefit of any number of world travellers.
Of course if the market was already sewn up then there would be little point in talking about it at all. Thankfully this is far from being the case. Despite the size of these types of websites, the world is a much bigger place! There is therefore ample space for a small niche competitor to carve out their slice of the market.
For a one man operation, the best place to start is an area that you live in, or nearby to, or maybe an area that you spent a lot of time in and know well. Writing about your local area can provide information that strangers would welcome and can earn you a small regular income if you allow advertising on your website. Even if you know little or nothing about web design you can still do this successfully through free blog sites like blogger.com.
I wish you good luck in your new activities, may you help others and profit from so doing.
About the Author
Traveller is the pen name of an avid blogger and world traveller. Under this name he seeks to give free tourist information about his local area in North West England. His new website is at http://freetouristinformation.com
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