Cornwall and Devon – Travel and Recreation

Looking for a holiday destination that is affordable and helps you alleviate your stress? Have deep interest in legends and history of ancient English knights? Located in the south western area of England, Cornwall and its neighbour Devon offer a perfect retreat for you from the droning lifestyle. With some of the most exquisite beaches to its credit and one of the longest coastlines, running into hundreds of miles of serene shores, Devon and Cornwall are two of the most famous destinations among the tourists.

The celebrated King Arthur is also supposed to have lived in Cornwall, in a diminutive town known as Tintagel. Their history and cultural heritage is numinous, primeval and highly intriguing for the historians as well as people who have profound curiosity in mythology. Tourists can also visit the famous Slaughterbridge, the same area where King Arthur battled Mordred. Another place of interest can be the Dozmary Pool, where the famous sword Excalibur is seated. The small urban settlements and townships were often named after the Christian missionaries who influenced that area. This is enough proof for the rich cultural heritage that Devon and Cornwall enclose. Owing to these facts, UNESCO has already allocated some of the well known parts as world heritage sites. People are extremely proud of their traditions and legacy that they are surrounded with.

Some of the must visit destinations include the remains at Tintagel, Plymouth, Dartmoor National park in Devon and Torbay. The places are a feast for travellers who pry for stunning panorama and distinctive harbour towns for an unruffled vacation. Along with these superb beaches, the countryside and the lush green plains persuade people to visit Devon and Cornwall again and again. There is a wide variety of accommodation like hotels, B&B’s and several comfortable guest-houses available to suit all your requirements and budgets.

Devon offers the perfect archetypal rural experience for those who enjoy taking a break from their customary lacklustre routine. The best part about Devon and Cornwall is the weather. The weather is pleasant all throughout the year and one of the finest to be found anywhere in the United Kingdom. The tourism industry is flourishing with each day and there are many tourist information centres being set up to assist the travellers. These centres help people with all the queries they have like booking information, assistance with accommodation, places to visit etc. making it trouble-free for holidaymakers to completely take pleasure in their stay.

Devon and Cornwall are also known for their outstanding gardens that are home to some of the rarest and the most exclusive fauna. The summers are the best time to visit these gardens as the flowers and plants are in full blossom, scattering the effervescence and radiance all around. Travellers can enjoy the scenic beauty of Devon and Cornwall with a variety of seafood available at seaside cafĂ©’s and not to forget the local cheese with chilled wine from their own backyard to go with. Visiting Devon and Cornwall will definitely leave you enthralled with its beauty and magnificence.

The Risks of Hotel Points and Reward Programs

Whoever came up with the first point reward system knew that consumers are eager to earn freebies. From airlines to hotel stays, consumers rack up massive quantities of points that can be redeemed for merchandise, free stays/travel, or in some cases cash. It’s a bonus program system that boasts huge participation levels.

The reason these programs work so well is that consumers often forget to use them. In a recent survey of frequent travelers, 47 percent have never redeemed points or rewards earned through airlines and hotels. Since most points systems are set up with definite expiration dates for earned rewards, millions of free comps are being left on the table. Great news for hotels, but what’s it doing for your business reputation?

If your hotel runs a rewards program, your guests may not understand the limitations of that program. To alleviate any misunderstanding or unnecessary upset, make sure to communicate in writing, using bold print in a prominent place, your rewards program expiration policy. Also, if your rewards customers are expecting a rebate and your policy is to give them rewards cards redeemable for merchandise, make sure you’ve communicated that very clearly. Case in point – former cell phone service provider Cingular (now AT&T) was sued by customers for sending Visa rewards cards that required merchandise purchases instead of the promised $50 rebate.

Lawsuits surrounding such programs are on the rise. According to the Better Business Bureau, rebate complaints tripled in less than four years – from 900 in 2001 to more than 2,700 in 2005.

Because rewards programs hold a strong potential for legal action, you as a hotel owner should consult legal advice when putting together or implementing such programs. Also, check with your hotel insurance broker to understand the types of coverage available to protect against any losses associated with such programs.

Big Fortune Awaits at Online Lottery Results

Lottery is played throughout the world since hundreds of years. The word ‘lottery’ has been derived from ‘lotto’, an Italian world, which means fate or destiny. It is a kind of gambling in which many people buy tickets or tokens and participate in a draw. A percentage of the generated revenue is offered as prize money to the people who win the game.Considerable excitement can be seen among the participants on the day lottery results are to be announced. Different organizers choose different ways of displaying their lottery results. They may either be displayed on cable TV or in local newspapers or through community radios. The latest method of announcing lottery results is through the Internet.Learning lottery results by sitting at homeThis medium has proved to be one of the most reliable sources of information as far as online lottery results are concerned. All the well-known and big lotteries around the world have their own sites on which they can display the prize amounts, winners’ names and numbers drawn.There are some other third party websites which offer links for checking results of lottery conducted in a particular state. Apart from displaying online lottery results, some websites also offer advice about beating the odds and allow the players to play free of cost.People who want to try their luck with such should keep track of the lottery results and claim the won money without delay. This is because of the reason that most of the lotteries have a specific period of time after drawing the results and if anyone does not claim the winnings, the amount is either used for a good cause or the lottery is declared as null and void.Online lottery comes packed with many lucrative benefitsThe most important advantage of finding their results through the Internet is the convenience provided. The players do not need to go to the lottery office, buy a local newspaper or keep tuning in the radio or TV channel to find out the lottery results. It is only once in a while when you win a lottery and your name appears in the lottery results. So, it is wise to search for lottery results on the Internet so that you can save your money as well as valuable time.Most of the websites also provide you the option to claim your winnings if your name appears in the online results. This means that you do not need to do that extra work to claim for your winnings. Usually, your winnings are posted to you through check and you need not bother about carrying the cash around in a brief case which could have otherwise invited the thieves and burglars to have a bad eye upon your winnings.With your regular work, you can earn a lot out of this part time business. Online lottery results are extremely helpful as they can access their lottery results from their home or office only. All they need to have is a computer or laptop, along with an Internet connection.

The Ultimate Guide to Taking Paid Surveys Online

You may have read countless articles, advertisements, and stories about internet users who get paid for surveys, but you remain dubious about the entire money making scheme. Many of us today have become alert for the malware and other scamming tactics that is rampant in the worldwide web, so it is perfectly understandable that you refuse to dive right in with the rest of the crowd. However, it is not enough reason to turn it down. With adequate caution, you may find paid surveys to be worth the trouble of tackling the internet.All you really need is the proper guide that will give you an overview of the reason behind paid surveys, the payment processes, and the steps needed to enjoy its benefits.The Agenda of Paid SurveysTaking surveys for money may be your motive, but the surveyors have a nobler motive for running their panels. The websites they operate belong to marketing research companies who are hired by a variety of corporations in an international sphere. Their job is to collect the views and opinions of the masses regarding a certain product, project, or service. This information are organized and given to their clients so they, in turn, will know what changes have to be made and how their merchandise will be received in the market.By answering surveys, you are contributing to the improvement of consumer goods that millions of people will surely benefit from.The Money to Pay YouOnce the research companies have compiled your feedbacks and drawn conclusions, this information are delivered to their clients. Satisfied with the data, they pay the researchers, and the money they receive is the money they use to reward you for making their jobs easier for them.Interested?If you have overcome your doubts and have awakened your adventurous spirit, you may want to attempt the wonderful idea of getting paid to do surveys. Your first task, then, is to become a researcher yourself.Scroll through articles and forums discussing paid surveys, and extract lessons from the experience of others. Both the fortunate and the unfortunate will be sharing tips that will prove to be useful in your endeavor. Until you have read unbiased views on the matter, avoid going directly to panel websites, as all of them have well-written descriptions and promises that are structured to entice you into joining them. Do this only when you are knowledgeable enough about the basics of paid surveys.Join PanelsTo take part in surveys, you need to become a member of a lot of survey panels. This is necessary in order for you to distinguish the panels that work to your advantage and operate in a manner that is stress-free.Authenticating PanelsYou will want to perform a background check on the panels you plan to join. There are simple ways you can determine the legitimate from the false, so you will not be wasting your precious time on something that gives you no worthy results.When you review the background information of these panels, take note of their transparency. Are the names of their founders included? Do they have an address and contact information included? If they do, the next way to test them is by contacting them. Do they respond quickly and professionally? Those that take days to give a reply should be removed from your list. Lastly, use common sense in regards to their offers and promises. One thing is for certain: you can’t provide for yourself and for others through paid surveys alone. Hence, if they tell you that you can or make offers that are along those lines, forget about them.Fill-up Your ProfileFilling up your profile is a crucial task. Some required information will be your birthday, location, marital status, occupation, family members, and activities. Do not worry; these are necessary facts for the surveyors to fit you into your proper demographic, which will make it easier for them to identify the surveys that are right for you.Remember that they are doing these for the development of products and services that are yet to be launched in the market, so getting credible feedback on their performance is a must for them. Cases wherein your security will be put at risk should not be taken lightly, however. Never gamble your safety. Follow your instincts and opt out immediately.Your RewardsParticipants are rewarded differently, depending on factors such as the pointing system of the panels, and the amount of surveys you take. Payments are more efficiently processed through PayPal, although it does not eliminate the fact that you still have to wait for it for at least four weeks in order to receive them.

Mobile Casinos Are the Next Big Thing in Online Gambling

If you thought it was convenient to play blackjack online 24/7 at home, just wait till you try mobile gambling. The mobile casino is the next logical step in the online casino industry, bringing your favorite online games right to your iPhone, iPad, or Android phone. There are even a few older model phones that support mobile gaming, but for the most part, it’s geared toward today’s smart phones.Mobile web casinos mean that you can play wherever you can get a 3G connection. Until recently, it was a big enough deal that you could gamble any time using your computer at home, but now you can pretty much gamble anywhere as well. There are three basic approaches to using your mobile device for online wagering: using the mobile version of the site itself; using an iPhone app; or using an Android app.In many cases, you can use your smart phone simply by going to the mobile version of your favorite casino’s website. If it doesn’t already have a mobile version, it probably will soon: the market is just too lucrative to ignore. You would play on your handheld device just as you would on your computer at home. Everything’s smaller, but you have access to the same games, same prizes, and same bonuses.iPhone apps are slow in coming, though they do exist. The UK’s Betfair, Ireland’s Paddy Power, and Austria’s Bwin are three European sites that offer iPhone betting apps specific to their sites. Betfair and Paddy Power apps work only in the UK and Ireland, while Bwin’s only works in the UK and Austria, as of late 2010, though other countries are expected to be added rapidly.Android mobile casino apps look like they will be more abundant, due to the non-proprietary nature of the Android operating system and the growing popularity of Android phones in Europe. The Irish Betdaq is staking its fortunes on Android apps, on the belief that while the iPhone has fueled the expansion of smart mobile devices in general, Androids may be the better long-term option, not least because getting an app approved for the iPhone Apps store is not easy.There is little doubt about the future of mobile gambling. While currently only about 5% of the bets placed online are done on mobile devices, this number is expected to rocket to more like 50% over the next three to five years. A recent survey by Juniper Research on mobile gaming markets shows that mobile casinos are expanding rapidly, and could see mobile wagers exceeding $48 billion by the year 2015!For the most part, the most popular games on mobile devices mirror the most popular games in internet gambling in general: slots, poker, and blackjack. An Android app titled “Video Poker,” which is not a web casino game, did not take long to garner 50,000 downloads. Another non-casino game, “Cherry Slot Machine,” is a free Android app and is also one of the top Android gaming apps. Clearly there is a hunger for these games, and it’s just a matter of time before online casinos embrace mobile casino apps en masse.