About eTrips

'e' is for Extraordinary. At eTrips we want to help you have an extraordinary travel experience. Whether you're looking for a six-month round-the-world junket or simply need to quickly book a flight or find a hotel, eTrips is dedicated to serving all your travel needs. In addition to trips, ticketing and reservations, on this site you'll find travel news, access to maps and weather, community forums, and our on-line travel store. We also feature a growing library of travel video, essays, journals, and photo collections. If you become a member of the eTrips community, you can upload to the archive, as well as participate in special forums, contests, and promotions. At eTrips your experiences are valued and we will reward you for your contributions of video, photos and stories.

'e' is for Experience. eTrips.com is part of the Shangri-La Group of companies, founded in 1980. We're one of the world's premier travel providers with offices around the globe, so wherever you travel, it's our backyard. We specialize in unique packages and theme trips for almost every interest and budget, and all of our trips are developed with the hands-on expertise of seasoned travelers, working with local providers. Each tour is carefully crafted to be a truly unusual and engaging opportunity for you to dive into the world at large. Whether you seek a culinary trip through Asia or an exciting eco-safari to Africa, we'll help you realize your wildest dreams. Why eTrips? We think people are looking for a different kind of tour. So we put our passion for travel and our collective experience to work designing just that. Our worldwide network of travel professionals and expert guides has enabled us to design trips with stunning advantages, only possible with local insider know-how. These are deals that travel industry insiders usually save for themselves.

'e' is for Easy. Imagine being able to relax and enjoy your vacation without having to worry about where to eat, stay, where to go and how to get there each day. Let eTrips see to all the details and make all the arrangements for you - from hotel reservations and airline tickets to museum passes and multi-lingual guides. We do the work. You play! What could be better? Of course we realize that everyone's needs are different. That's where our custom trip department comes in. If you don't find exactly what you're looking for among our packages, just let us know and we'll get to work designing a trip that's specifically tailored to your interests, travel schedule, and budget. We can put together safe, mind-expanding, truly unusual and surprisingly affordable packages for individuals or groups, anywhere in the world.

'e' is for Enriching. We love to take in the sights too, but at eTrips we think a great trip should include more than sightseeing. We believe in engaging with the cultures we visit. And that means more than catching the hula show at the hotel. We approach other cultures with sensitivity and a deep respect for the people, society, and environment. Most of our tours have a locally inspired theme, such as a focus on history, or wildlife, health, or cuisine, with local experts on hand to share their knowledge with you. From archeology, to butterfly farming , to photography, to winemaking, you'll get involved with the culture in a way most tourists never do, and truly get an insider's perspective.

'e' is for Exceptional Service. From your first contact with us, you'll be matched with a professional Travel Consultant who can tell you about our destinations, help you choose a tour, make reservations, and advise you on everything from packing tips to entry regulations for your destination. And once you've arrived, our experienced professional Tour Directors are at your service at all times. We book your flights only with major international airlines, reserve your rooms in the same charming locally-owned hotels that we love to stay in when we travel, and choose restaurants based on quality, hospitality, local culinary traditions, variety, taste, and nutrition. We try to keep itineraries loose; always providing time for spontaneity and individual explorations. Our goal is to help you get away from the tourist crowds and experience the authentic culture.

'e' is for Excitement. With eTrips you'll reap the benefits of group purchasing power, yielding a much better package price than you could fold together on your own. But perhaps the biggest advantage of our theme trips (our clients tell us time and again) is the theme concept itself. Through sharing travel experiences with a group of people who share your interests and passions, you'll forge lifelong friendships. We design packages for an almost endless variety of interests, but they're all trips that we'd like to take, and we do. So we know what to expect and can offer you assurance and peace of mind.

'e' is for Eco-Tourism. At eTrips we believe that travel can be a genuine tool for conservation and sustainable development. As a supporting member of The Eco-Tourism Society, we are committed to environmentally responsible, sustainable tourism. We believe that responsible travel helps us grow in appreciation of one another. When individuals come to better appreciate the astonishing depth and breadth of human culture and experience, the whole planet profits. Discover the world, and yourself too, with eTrips.

We hope you'll find this site well organized, entertaining and informative. Please contact the webmaster with site comments.