The United Kingdom continues to be one of the most popular destinations for travelers (3rd most popular for U.S. travelers) from all walks of life—from families to solo travelers to history buffs to outdoor adventurers and everyone in between. While it can be a bit daunting to decide where to go and what to do in the U.K., VisitBritain, the national tourism agency responsible for promoting Britain as a world-class destination, takes the guess work out of planning your trip. Expertly created itineraries and useful products, such as transport tickets and sightseeing tours, allow you to plan a trip that is fun, customizable and full of must-see attractions.

TravelMuse is thrilled to announce its partnership with VisitBritain. Starting today, TravelMuse will be featuring an array of incredible trips to the U.K. created by the experts at VisitBritain on TravelMuse’s home page, within the “Destinations” pages, and also on relevant “Trip” pages. People planning to travel to England, London, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can use these trip plans as the basis for their trip.

For more information, please read our press release at www.travelmuse.com/about/press-releases/travelmuse-pr-06-28-2010.htm.

Happy New Year! We hope you had a great holiday season. As soon as one vacation is over, I usually start plotting my next getaway–so what are you waiting for? It’s time to start thinking about your travel plans for 2010!

British Virgin Islands:Best Virgin Gorda resorts, restaurants and attractions. Photo courtesy of the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board.

Here are 10 New Year trip-planning resolutions for you to consider:

1. Give up your daily Starbucks, stop buying shoes you’ll only wear once or forgo another indulgence so you can take a vacation.
Use the Trip Budget Calculator to find out what you could give up!

2. Don’t go back to the same destination again! Get inspired and go see the world.
Use the Inspiration Finder to match what you like with where you should go.

3. Get organized!
Start a new Trip with the TravelMuse Planner so you can keep all your travel ideas and information in one place.

4. Save bookmarks from other travel Web sites.
Add the TravelMuse Bookmarker to your browser so you can easily save Web pages to your Tripfolio.

5. Collaborate with your co-travelers on planning the ideal Trip.
Invite friends and family to join your Trip so they can add items, comments and contribute.

6. Avoid relying on random reviews written by people you don’t know; get advice from friends you trust.
Ask Friends on Facebook for ideas and advice on where to stay, eat and play.

7. Cut through the clutter and read useful travel information.
Read articles guides and tips from local experts and seasoned travel writers. View other member’s Trips and bookmarks.

8. Easily take your travel information and notes with you.
Create and print a free custom pdf travel guide with all your travel information.

9. Have fun, save time and plan your best trips ever in 2010.
TravelMuse is here to help!

10. Let us know how we’re doing so we can make your travel-planning experience even better!
E-mail support@travelmuse.com

TravelMuse is excited to launch Ask Friends where TravelMuse users can tap into their network of Facebook friends to ask for suggestions and tips for their next trip.

People planning trips regard recommendations from friends, family and co-workers as the most influential factor in making travel decisions¹. Also, people trust online recommendations less because they come from strangers they know nothing about. So with more than 300 million active users² on Facebook, you’re sure to find a few friends who’ve been there, done that and are eager to share their personal recommendations with you!

We’ve also implemented Facebook Connect, so you can easily sign in to TravelMuse from Facebook and sync up your accounts. To sync an existing TravelMuse account, sign in to TravelMuse first, then go to your profile page and click the “fconnect” button.

To round out our Facebook release, we added a simple TravelMuse app that lets you start a New Trip or Get Advice within Facebook, or jump straight to TravelMuse to Get Inspired or view My Trips.

How does Ask Friends work?

Once you’ve entered your chosen Trip destination on TravelMuse you’ll reach Step 1.of the planning process where you can begin finding and saving information to your Tripfolio. Click on the new button “Ask Friends”.

You’ll be prompted to connect through Facebook Connect where you can then add a personal note and ask for travel advice on your Facebook wall.

Friends can respond to your call for advice by clicking on the Help link and following a few easy steps to recommend specific items for your trip.

Friends can choose to post results they enter to your wall.

Most importantly, recommendations and notes from your friends are automatically added to your Trip on TravelMuse.

More about the TravelMuse app

The TravelMuse app can be found at http://apps.facebook.com/travelmuse/ and provides a handy way to start a New Trip or Get Advice for a trip. It can also link direct to TravelMuse so you can Get Inspired or view My Trips.

We hope you enjoy these newly integrated Facebook tools and that they help you to plan even better trips this holiday season!

Let us know what you think!

Information Sources:
1.     US Online Planning and Booking, eMarketer, August 2008
2.     http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

Now you can plan a trip with multiple destinations in one travel plan on TravelMuse.  This has been the most requested enhancement and we’re delighted to show it to you.

How to Plan a Multi-Destination Trip:
1. From the TravelMuse homepage simply click the Start here>> link next to Multiple destinations.

2. Fill in your primary destination and click on Add destination to add other places you plan to visit on your trip.

3. Once you’re inside your Trip plan, use the handy sidebar on the left to switch destinations.  As you do, you’ll be able to find hotels, restaurants, and attractions.and save the ones that interest you to trip.

For more information on Multi-Destination trip planning visit the help section.

Also In This Release – Updated Homepage Features Top Trips
We’ll be featuring some of our favorite trips — created by users and our staff — on the homepage each month.  This month, the TravelMuse homepage highlights these great getaways:

•    An Insider’s guide to San Francisco
•    Experience the Aloha Spirit in Maui
•    Windy City Getaway to Chicago
•    A 3-day Parisian Escapade

Did you know that there are now more than 12,000 public trips on TravelMuse?  Each of these trips can be copied and personalized.   To copy and personalize a trip, just click the “Copy This Trip” button and then customize the itinerary to your liking by adding and removing items.

Let us know how you like these new capabilities on TravelMuse and as always we welcome your feedback so we can continue to improve TravelMuse.

Thanks and happy travels,

Kevin and the TravelMuse Team

You don’t have the time. You don’t have the money. The recession has got you down. The litany of excuses on why golfers hesitate taking a golf getaway these days is seemingly inexhaustible.

My advice: Start planning your next golf getaway now.

Maybe these words by golf great Ben Hogan will get you going. “As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round,” said Hogan.

Photo by Ed Schmidt Jr.

So, how do you start the planning process?

First, answer these questions:

• Whom should I go with?
• What is my budget?
• When is the best time to go?
• Where have I always wanted to tee up?
• How can I get the best rates?
• What type of courses do I like to play?
• What type of experience do I want in terms of other resort amenities?
• Do I want to walk or ride a cart?
• Do I want a resort with caddies?
• Do I want to visit a golf destination with a variety of courses or a secluded resort?
• Do I want to drive or fly?
• Should I use a golf tour operator?

Obviously, the previous list is a short one just to get you started. No doubt, other questions will come to mind.

The most important component in designing a successful golf getaway is determining the type of trip theme you want to execute. Are you seeking a romantic getaway with your spouse where golf is just one of many activities you’ll pursue, or do you want a trip with your golf buddies where you’ll chase the white dimpled ball from sunrise to sundown and throw down a few brewskis afterward? Other getaway themes include family trips, where you play golf while your spouse and kids enjoy other resort activities; a golf instruction getaway, where you attend a resort golf school for an intense, multi-day program to upgrade your skill level; a walking-only golf experience at a resort that features a caddie program; and a budget trip, when the sole concern is saving money.

If the entire planning process proves to be too time-consuming and confusing, I suggest contacting a tour operator that specializes in golf excursions. Some of the best I’ve worked with previously, include: Haversham & Baker, Golfpac, PerryGolf and Myrtle Beach Golf Packages.

For more golf travel tips, check out http://www.thegolftravelguru.blogspot.com.