Travel-Intel: Calculating the True Costs of Travel

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 19, 2014) - The price of travel is rarely calculated in dollars per distance but a new study detailed in Travel-Intel this week seems to do just that.

GoEuro, an online travel platform that compares trips by trains, planes and bus lines through Europe, put together a global survey on costs per kilometer based on these transport modes across 51 countries and five continents.

Travel-Intel reveals the contents of this report, including which countries charge the most money to explore and which countries are the least expensive to travel. Not surprisingly, South Africa comes out on top for the least expensive country when it comes to dollars and distance -- less than a penny per kilometer. The most expensive country to traverse costs more than 10 times that amount and not shockingly that would be Switzerland.

The latest issue of Travel-Intel, the news channel for Tours.com, also puts Las Vegas in the spotlight again with the opening of its latest tower resort, the Delano Las Vegas. The famed South Beach-themed hotel, formerly THEhotel attached to Mandalay Bay, is a partnership between MGM Mirage and the Morgans Hotel Group. It adds some new sheen to the Las Vegas Strip with new restaurants, light and airy interiors and a pet policy that ensures pampering for canine that check-in.

Travel-Intel also reports on romantic island travel with a look at an over-the-top private island stay in Cambodia at Song Saa, and a look at travel to the Big Island in Hawaii where visitors can now see the fantastic lava eruptions of Kilauea with new island air tours available. Song Saa is particularly romantic, however, with 27 luxury villas far from anywhere else. The resort is a member of the exclusive Kurtz-Ahlers Collection.

Cruise travelers will be interested in looking at what's up with Celebrity Cruises for the 2015-16 wave season. The company has put together a list of themed tours that add experiential highlights on various itineraries, including participating at VIP events and parties during the Cannes Film Festival, VIP seating and participation at Carnival in Rio, and unusual activity options in Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year.

Finally, Travel-Intel looks at digital data gathered from a compendium of device driven travel searches and finds out what travelers are looking for, how they book, why they book and why they don't book travel plans during these research sessions. The report gives readers a glimpse into the changing nature of planning travel.

Travel-Intel goes out weekly to more than 130,000 sellers of travel and is also posted online at Tours.com. It partners with eGroup Communications to offer strategically targeted marketing services to keep travel agents and sellers of incentive and group travel up on an ever-changing world of products and destinations.

The publication reports from travel conferences and popular hotels, exotic resorts, cruise ships and travel destinations near and far with stories that feature the latest intel on travel. Current features and archives can be viewed at www.travel-intel.com.

"While we usually think of beaches, resorts and leisure pursuits when we think of travel, we rarely stop to consider what is behind the decisions that travelers make. And we rarely think about the business of travel, the commodity of destination," says Lark Gould, content director for Travel-Intel and Tours.com. "This is where Travel-Intel comes in. We give the nuts and bolts of traveling and show what destinations have to offer. But we also look at the business of travel, the experiences that influence our planning decisions and how those change over time."

As a veteran travel journalist who has been covering the travel industry for more than 20 years, Gould puts her incisive perspective into the weekly publication, with features and news updates, and also "packages" issues that detail great deals to be found at hotels and resort locations worldwide. Travel-Intel can be viewed as a stand-alone site on Tours.com. Gould publishes travel columns and stories in Larkslist, genConnect, Barclay's Travel Community, the Washington Times and Business Traveler USA.

About Tours.com: Tours.com Since 1995 - The Worldwide Directory of Tours & Vacation is the most comprehensive directory of tour and vacation providers searchable by company name, destination and/or activity. Find a Travel Agent Specialist search feature allows one to find travel agents with in-depth knowledge in their chosen specialty. The Travel Resource section includes all the information a travel professional may need from Passport & Visas, Travel Insurance, Accommodations (B&B, castles, villas and more, etc) Cruises, Barges, Boats, Yachts & Ferries, Rail & Railroad Vacations just to name a few.