Dear
Dave,
How important to you are your digital pictures on your smart phone, computer, tablet, etc?
Here are some questions to consider:
 | How organized are your photos on your phone or computer? |
| How often do you back up your important photo memories? (Smart phone can be dropped...computer hard drives do fail...) |
| Are you able to find a quick picture of Aunt Suzie when visiting her (quickly and on your smart phone)? |
| Are you able to find your favourite picture of your fur baby when you want to? |
| Are you able to quickly find pics of that perfect hotel that you took on a FAM when chatting with an interested client? |
Most people have close to 20 years worth of digital memories, and most are rarely very organized. You may have more than that if you have started scanning older photos that are now fading...
Well, I'm pretty organized (using folders by year, month and event), but still can have trouble pulling up the perfect photo quickly, when I need it. My solution, that has worked well for me, for years now, is GOOGLE PHOTOS.
Google Photos will AUTOMATICALLY organize your photos in albums by "PEOPLE & PETS", "PLACES", "THINGS", and more! In the "People & Pets" album, it will do facial scans of all of your photos, so all of the pictures you have of Aunt Suzie are in an album, that you can label with her name. The program will even organize all photos of your pets in separate albums!!! This technology amazes me with the accuracy. Each person's album has a searchable timeline also.
In the "Places" albums, you can easily search for photos of when you were on a FAM at the El Cid properties in Mazatlan, or when you were in Budapest, to show a client at your desk. Under the "Things" category, you can quickly find albums such as "selfies", "castles", "beaches", "food", "weddings", etc, etc. I find this very powerful.
In addition, you can add your own albums and mark special photos as your "FAVOURITES". Oh, the app will also upload, back up and organize all of your VIDEOS!
COST - This amazing solution is FREE. The only cost is having a Gmail/Google account (which is free) and the willingness to share your photos with Google (they promise privacy). This could definitely be part of your solution to your photo back up and searching challenge.
GETTING STARTED - To get started, just download the free Google Photos app on your smart phone (IOS or Android). DO NOT select "use mobile data to back up photos" so that your phone data isn't used. The app will start backing up your smart phone photos immediately and only when you are on Wifi.
COMPUTER - For the digital photos on your computer, just download Google's "BACKUP AND SYNC" app (Windows or Mac) from HERE. Install the application, sign into your Google account and tell Google where your photos are. (The default is your "Pictures" folder set up by Windows or Mac.)
UMLIMITED STORAGE - Make sure to choose "HIGH RESOLUTION" for your photo uploads and you will have UNLIMITED storage. Yes, I said UNLIMITED! For a vast majority of people (unless you are a professional photographer or videographer), you will never notice any difference in photo quality with this option.
TECHNICAL STUFF - At "high resolution" Google Photos only changes sizes of pictures larger than 16 MP and videos over 1080p. If you choose "Original quality", you will be limited to Google 15 GB limit for all of their services or need to pay for additional storage.
I have used several other digital online storage solutions in the past, but they weren't nearly as feature-filled, and have since gone out of business. If you need more tips, just quickly search YouTube for some short videos on Google Photos.
Good luck protecting your important photo memories, and making them more usable for you on a daily basis!
Dave Emery
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REALISTIC
ASIA - Just the
Facts |
Let's face it, you have 3 kinds of clients.
1. Those that know the actual facts about travel risks, and make decisions appropriately.
2. Those that are just scared by the latest media about Coronavirus (COVID-19). You just have to try to comply with their wishes, even in the face of facts and the recommendations of experts. You can't change their minds.
3. Those that may listen to facts. These are the clients that you owe it to, to keep updated yourself. They will listen to facts that you and experts share.
I realize that most of your clients fall into the first 2 categories, but for the few that do fall into the third category, Realistic Asia will assist agents and clients in keeping up to date on the current travel facts in Vietnam and SE Asia.
Realistic Asia has a blog update that is regularly updates HERE. As of the end of last week, Vietnam had 16 cases of Coronavirus and all have recovered. Thailand has 40 cases and 22 have recovered. Laos and Myanmar haven't reported any cases.
You can also check out the latest Trip Advisor reviews for Realistic Asia HERE. A recent Canadian client traveling with Realistic Asia left a great review on the (lack of Coronavirus) in Vietnam.
Remember that Realistic Asia has about 40 standard tours that you can find HERE. You can also easily request NET pricing IN CAD (with or without the flights to Asia) on a CUSTOMIZED tour for your clients HERE.
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El
Cid Resorts -
Rewards Reminder
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Several agents have told me recently that El Cid's Rewards program is one of the best in the industry.
I'm still surprised to hear that some of you aren't taking advantage of the generous El Cid Reward's program though.
For tour operator (Sunwing, WestJet etc.) or direct bookings, you can earn points for online shopping or gift certificates for local stores (The Bay, Banana Republic, etc.) or gift cards (Tim Horton's, local movies, etc.). There are literally hundreds of places and ways you can redeem your points. The points show up in your account after your client's stay.
Of course the Rewards program works for all 7 of the El Cid resorts (MZT, CUN, COZ).
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Ventus at Marina El Cid Spa & Beach Resort
Cancún Riviera Maya - adults-only infinity pool |
I certainly hope that you aren't busy to take time to enter your El Cid bookings in the Rewards program! If you are, thank you anyway for your support!
Always remember the El Cid Rewards resources:
1. REGISTER your El Cid Resort bookings, for all 7 Resorts, on both coasts of Mexico! Earn generous points for each booking, that are good for lots of rewards in the catalog (iPads, gift cards, TV`s, etc.) Just report your bookings at the El Cid Rewards Program,
Note that bookings must be made through any Tour Operator such: Sunwing, WestJet, etc. Bookings made it through online companies such: Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com will not be applicable to El Cid Rewards points.
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Upcoming Online
Training
|
Find
links to
sign up
for any
of these
online
training
sessions HERE.
All
online
training
will be
only 30
minutes.
EL CID
RESORTS -
MZT, CUN &
COZ
Get a
great
overview
of the 7
El Cid
resorts
on both
coast of
Mexico
(Mazatlan,
Riviera
Maya &
Cozumel),
and
learn
which
resorts
would be
perfect
for your
various
clients.
You will
also be
reminded
of the
El Cid
Rewards
program
and any
current
agent
promotions.
Get a great overview of the Realistic Asia and their package and customized tours of Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Learn why clients have been giving Realistic Asia amazing reviews on both their package and customized tours for over 15 years now. You will also be reminded of the great selling points and highlights of their destination countries!
To
request a
private
online
training
session for
you or your
colleagues,
please email
Dave Emery (dave@daemery.com).
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Spring is here for many & it's a great time to re-fresh & tune-up our social marketing. Here's some Spring cleaning tips....
Catherine
Heeg is an
International
Speaker and
Trainer in the
travel, tourism,
and hospitality
industry.
Focusing on
social media,
sales and
marketing,
Catherine
understands and
speaks your
language.
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DETM is an
acronym for
David Emery
Travel
Marketing. We
are a
Vancouver-area
based company
providing
quality travel
industry
representation
in Canada since
2009.
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Client
Resources
|
If you
are looking
for the
latest
brochure,
promotion,
news article
or training
resource
from most of
our clients,
we have
created a
webpage
where you
can easily
find the
latest
information.
Also, stay
updated on
the latest
news,
announcements
and FAM
information
by
connecting
to our
Facebook
page
HERE:
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| Quote
of the Month |
"Your
first
10,000
photographs
are your
worst."
Henri
Cartier-Bresson
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Photo Contest
|
How many of
El Cid's 7
properties
are in
Mazatlan?
WINNER
FROM LAST
MONTH
Congratulations
to Deborah
Ashley, of
CWT
Vacations in
Kelowna ,
BC for
winning
last month's
Photo
Contest and
gift card.
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