Yogyakarta, May 14th 2020 – Center for Digital Society or CfDS Fisipol UGM held a program known as Digital Discussion #20 on Thursday (14/5). This online discussion that has been held through WhatsApp Group brought a theme, “Holiday after Pandemic! Easy Tips to Manage Itinerary from Mobile Phone” and presented Ruth Tarullyna S. as the Event and SocMed Staff of CfDS as the discussion starter. The discussion was started at 03.00 p.m and was moderated by Made Bayu Agus Sudharma, Event Assistant of CfDS.
Before the discussion started, the moderator introduced himself and the speaker first and explained the rules of discussion. As an introduction, Bayu asked the audiences about what needs to be prepared in managing itinerary. The audiences explained the important points before travelling, such as the destination, budget, arrival and departure schedules. It was not uncommon for someone to be more interested in following the travel agent’s itinerary, even though it could be more effective if we make our own plans when we travel. Ruth explained the main advantage of making our own itinerary is that we could be more flexible in choosing the destination that we want to visit. Whereas, if we go with the travel agent, we could have more considerations because of the different desires from the other participants, and many more things. Usually, using the travel agent itself would cost more, because we should pay the services from the travel agent as the ‘travel designer’.
Ruth explained, one of the easiest ways to choose the destinations that we want to visit is by categorizing it based on (1) budget, (2) the location or country, (3) favored types of tourism/entertainment object. “You could do this way by comparing, your traveling budget on the total value of basic expenses, you could add up the main expenses, there are: transportation costs, accomodation (hotel), and food costs,” she said.
After choosing the certain countries or locations as the destinations, Ruth gave tips to get cheaper tickets, there were:
- Comparing the ticket price on various platforms (such as Expedia, tiket.com, Traveloka, kiwi.com, skyscanner). Make sure to check it on the Google Flights as well. This is important, because all of the platforms do not cooperate with each other, so each of them has their own algorithms.
- Based on the analysis of Skyscanner in 2019, airline companies usually lower the price on Monday night. So, Tuesday morning is a right time to buy the tickets.
Apart from based on budget, we can also choose the destination based on our hobbies. “Some of you might be interested in marine tourism, including diving and snorkeling, or you are interested in historical tourism and visiting cultural heritage, or maybe some of you claimed that you are an adrenaline junkies? There are some of things that can be your options, such as bungee jumping skydiving, or arctic expedition in the pole,” Ruth said.
To help us manage the itinerary to be more effective and more attractive, Ruth also recommended some mobile applications that can be used to design a fun itinerary, such as TripAdvisor, Visit a City, CityMaps2Go, Rome2rio, Tripit, Culture Trip, and TripScout. Generally, those applications will help to find an interesting attraction in our chosen city destination, also with a map, transportations and routes that we could choose based on that attraction. “Based on my personal experience, I often make my own itinerary using Google Itinerary, because it linked to my calendar on my handphone,” Ruth said.
Ruth admitted that using Google Itinerary was relatively easier because we could make itinerary using map feature on Google Maps, then we could decide where the interesting locations are. “For me, the plus point and the most useful feature on Google Maps are the suggestions of various important places such as nearby ATM, nearby hotels or restaurants, gas stations, etc.,” she added.
Actually, by using Google Itinerary, it is almost the same as if we made a check-lists of the destinations on the paper or book. The difference is, by using Google Itinerary, it makes us easier because it already connected with GPS and reminder applications. Other than that, everything gets easier because all of our needs already available on our handphone.
After finishing the explanation, the moderator opened question and answer session. Some of the audiences asked about the speaker’s personal experience as a travel enthusiast, meanwhile Ruth answered clearly. The discussion was ended at 05.00 p.m.