Sunday, April 17, 2011

Travel Brochure Project

Introduction

Congratulations! You and four of your classmates have been chosen to present to potential clients a trip that you have planned for them via a digital brochure, representing your new company, Adventure Travel Agency. Your new company will take the hard work out of researching places to visit for your clients so that they can focus on enjoying the trips that you plan for them. Not only will this new venture offer you the opportunity to obtain clients for your company, but it will allow you to explore places that you have yet to see!

Task

You and your partners will create a sample product which Adventure Travel Agency will use to advertise its services. You will plan a trip (anywhere in the world outside of the United States). Your team will design and create a digital brochure by using the World Wide Web and Microsoft PowerPoint. In the brochure you will include general information about your selected destination, areas of historical and recreational interest, and choice of travel packages. In addition, you must include pictures and images to appeal to the eye of your future clients. Remember, travel advertising is a very visual experience.

Process

The first thing on your agenda is to decide on a destination for which you will create your first travel brochure. Your group needs to identify who will play what role on the team: Destination Coordinator; Historian; Recreation Director; Visual Planner and Travel Agent. Below is a list of these roles in more detail. In the Resources section of this webquest, you will find a list of websites to consult in order to complete each job effectively and efficiently.

Destination Coordinator

The Destination Coordinator will be the person who provides a complete profile of the destination.
The Destination Coordinator should provide the following:
A detailed map of the destination
Geographic, demographic, and environmental descriptions
Population and weather reports
A list of major cities or locales to visit
Language(s) spoken there
Currency used

Historian

The Historian is responsible for providing a brief history of the destination. The Historian researches and includes the following:
At least three specific historical locations
A map and brief description of the significance of each location

Recreation Director

Everyone likes to have fun on vacation, so the Recreation Director has an important job to do. The Recreation Director will research and identify the following:
A list of activities that vary from indoor and outdoor, land and water, and during the evening or during the day
Names and locations of areas of interest (e.g., dining and entertainment; mountain biking or safaris; boating or skiing; etc.)
Maps, schedules and prices for activities
Other specific instructions or restrictions that accompany the activities (e.g, equipment needed; age limitations; hours of operation; etc.)

Travel Agent

Without a Travel Agent, travelers would not be able to get to their destination. The Travel Agent will:
Find transportation by carrier to the destination (e.g., name of airlines, bus service, taxi company, rental agency, etc.)
Find transportation within destination and accompanying information (e.g., car rentals, subway and bus fares, etc.)
List lodging accommodations and room rates
List dining accommodations and average price of a meal
Travel itinerary with budget for lodging, food, and travel fares
Once all roles have been assigned among the team, each member should visit the given websites found in the Resources section and begin to compile all of the information and images for which he or she is responsible.

Visual Planner:

The Visual Planner will coordinate the layout (and look) of the travel brochure.
S/he will serve as liason to the facilitators and create all artwork related to the project.

Once all information is collected, select the important stuff and begin designing your digital brochure. The following is a list of criteria that you will base the design of your brochure, using Microsoft Power Point:

Brochure Criteria

Each team member will contribute a section that presents the information compiled. For example, there will be a Destination section, a History section, a Recreation section, a Visual section, and a Getting There section.
The first slide will be an Introduction slide that will entice the potential client to get excited about your chosen destination.
Each of the four sections will be 5 slides each.
There should be one image per slide.
There will be a Conclusion slide that will summarize the brochure into a persuasive format that will entice a potential client to choose your travel destination.
The total number of slides in your digital brochure will be 22 slides.
There will be one digital brochure submitted per team of four members.


Resources

The following are links that will be extremely useful in researching your chosen destination. Links open in a new browser window.

Travelocity

Fodor's Online

Nations Online

iExplore

Yahoo Travel

The CIA World Factbook

Outdoor Travel Adventure Solutions

The Flight Centre

The Africa Guide

World Atlas.com

AskAsia.org

Evaluation

As potential clients will judge your work, so will your peers. Each group presentation will be voted on by a group of your peers for Best Adventure Travel Destination. Judging criteria will be based on the following:

The fulfillment of the digital brochure’s criteria
The quality of the material included in the digital brochure
The content and organization of the digital brochure, to include listing information representing at least 6 different websites listed in the Resources section
Collaborative creativity used to execute and complete the group project
Zero typographical errors in the text included in the digital brochure
Overall group presentation

Conclusion

The World Wide Web can be a very quick and fun source for people to investigate travel options by getting information quickly. “Traveling” on the Web can be just as exciting as it is for on ground tourists.

By completing this webquest, you have collaborated with your peers to gain knowledge about your selected destination, demonstrated your technological skills to create digital products and practice public speaking. Awesome job!