It was after my first visit to Brazil to attend the annual Carnaval festival in 2000 that I realized something special, I was in love! From that point on, I made it my priority to visit the country several times a year until 2006, when I decided the time had come to move to Brazil. Since then, I have lived in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
For me, the people, the food, the culture and beautiful natural landscapes were what kept me going back for more and it made me realize just how special Brazil is. With my knowledge and general love of the country, I decided to start a company which would help other travelers plan trips and get about with minimal hassle.
When visiting Cidade Maravilhosa (the Marvelous City) for the first time, this is an experience that you will never forget. The city is famed for its natural beauty, breathtaking beaches and rolling hills and with endless things to see and do, residents and visitors alike will have many happy memories.
Of course, being a tourist is not without its frustrations. For example, try booking a tour to Pão de Açúcar. You might not be sure what the best price to pay is, perhaps you are worried about communicating clearly in Portuguese or maybe the prospect of spending hours trawling the Internet for the best deal with a reputable service provider fills you with dread.
Problems like this are understood only too well and lead me to founding Touristaz, a travel company that will not only help solving all of these dilemmas. People should benefit also from the huge discounts on offer.
The idea is designed to utilize social networking, which will help provide links for tourists who will be traveling to the same place at the same time. Being in a group means that travelers will have access to greatly discounted prices from tour operators, retailers and property owners.
With group buying, users could receive a discount of up to 90%. Everyone wins with Touristaz. The tour company or travel-services provider has the benefit of gaining hundreds if not thousands of new clients, and our users get an opportunity to save up to 90% on travel deals.
The process of organizing, booking and paying in advance for tours and trips prior to a vacation will save time and money. A lot of tourists complain about the high prices of local activities and tours, as well as not being able to take care of the payments for activities with a trusted source prior to arriving in Rio. This is where Touristaz can help.
With the Touristaz service, users will be able to have all aspects of their trip sewn up and paid for before their departure, which will mean more time to think about what to put in their suitcase.
It will definitely save people time. As opposed to a user needing to search the web to find different providers, compare prices, and worry about finding reputable providers. Touristaz does all the work for them and then just emails them the deal.
Following a successful and enjoyable trip, leaving feedback and general tips for other users is an ideal way of ensuring that good businesses receive credit where it is due, and this also means that any budget conscious traveler will be able to pick up money saving tips from fellow adventure-seekers that have visited the same destination previously. After giving feedback, travelers will be rewarded with points which can be redeemed against any other deals offered through the site.
People will find that a large majority of information on the site is provided by its users and Touristaz will provide tailor-made travel packages at a fraction of the usual retail price.
With both the World Cup and the Olympics on the horizon, Touristaz has already lined up some great deals which are going to be announced in the New Year. Also, with more Brazilian cities due to be added very soon, the chance to travel to some of the greatest places in Brazil at a discounted price is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
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This article was co-written by Eric Willis and Anna Fitzpatrick. Eric Willis is the co-founder of Touristaz. Anna Fitzpatrick is a freelance reporter.
