China’s CCTV reported that the Green Hope School in Sichuan Province has launched a program themed “Striving for a Better Tomorrow and Touching Your Soul” to recruit white-collar workers to spend five working days — the length of annual vacations — in November to teach in the mountainous areas of Sichuan Province. The response has been overwhelming with 11,502 applicants for 15 volunteer spots.
“In the past month, we have been overwhelmed by phone calls. Besides the local calls, we also received application calls and emails from Zhejiang Province, Beijing and …

The good news for travelers these days is that you can find tons of hotel deals. Many travel industry experts expect these deals to continue in 2010 and some even think they will persist until 2011. All agree that prices will not go up until there is a solid pick up in demand. Promotions such as buy a night or two and get one free offers are becoming plentiful around the country, with discounts for dining, the spa and even the gift shop. Many hotels are offering incentives that provide …

This recession has accelerated the shift in consumer travel behavior to what we called the purpose driven traveler. As people scrutinized their spending, they are looking for valuable investments and meaningful getaways. “People will emerge from the current recession forever changed. The global recession has changed them,” said David Kenny, managing partner of Publicis Group’s VivaKi.
About 87% of respondents to a 2008 American Express study indicated that travel involving personal interests will remain the same or increase over the next two years. The survey results overwhelmingly showed that people …

Conde Nast Traveler held their 3rd Annual World Savers Congress this week in NYC. The editors of Conde Nast Traveler hosted the travel forum for travel providers, and included a few philanthropic celebrities and consumer companies, who came together to dialogue about sustainability, responsible tourism, and corporate social responsibility. Although it’s really an industry forum, we wanted to highlight some noteworthy takeaways from the event so that we can all become smarter and more conscious travelers.

Corporate Social Responsibility
The way companies look at corporate social responsibility has evolved from philanthropy to …

A recent study done by VISA (Australia) reveals that “one in three respondents look to travel blogs when planning a trip” compared to consulting family and friends or travel agents. According to the study, 34% of respondents prefer travel blogs for choosing their travel options, 24% use family and friends, and 13% go to travel agents. The small number of remaining respondents use travel TV shows, magazines, and newspapers to book their vacations. Those polled in the survey said that they were planning to travel in the next …

It turns out that most of the travel booking websites are owned by one of four major companies, so you may not need to spend hours scouring the Net for the best deals.
In fact most of these companies use a system of sophisticated algorithms that control prices consisting of the high-low, the profit margins, and the supply — narrowing any price differences among the competing websites. Prices vary more based on the day, date, and supply rather than the booking site you use.
Here’s a glimpse of the major companies and …

Princeton has launched a program that offers incoming freshmen the opportunity to defer enrollment and spend a year volunteering abroad. Starting this fall, its Bridge Year Program offers 20 students a 9-month stint in a foreign country — immersing in a new culture and serving the local community. The best part is Princeton will cover most of the program costs. The goal is for these students to develop a new way of looking at the world and to have a deep appreciation for the importance of serving society and …