Vacation Planning: A
WebQuest
Introduction
 Job Title – Travel Agent
 Does being a travel agent sound like a fun job? Would you like to plan
vacations everyday for others to enjoy? Who uses a travel agent, only the
wealthy? No. Many people use a travel agent to help them plan a
vacation within a certain budget. With access on the Internet today to so
many travel discount sites, many people are planning their own vacations,
thus becoming their own travel agent. Today, you are going to be your
own travel agent and plan a vacation for yourself and one parent or
guardian. You will have to stay within a given budget and plan a trip that
will be both fun and educational making sure that you think of all
expenses.
Task
1) You will be given a choice of southern states to visit for a fournight vacation for yourself and one adult. The budget for the
entire vacation is $1200.00.
2) You must map out the trip, figure the mileage, gas costs, lodging
costs, meal costs, and attraction costs per day.
3) You will create a budget and an itinerary of your trip.
4) You will give a presentation to your class using a poster you design that
showcases your trip and all the different elements of your trip.
Process
(Destination)
1. Decide where you want to go on vacation by clicking
on the tourism links of the states given on the next
slide. You need to decide what city or cities you want
to visit keeping in mind that your total travel budget
is $1200.00 for 4 nights. You must come close to
spending that amount, but you cannot go over that
amount.
Process
(Tourism Websites)
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http://www.exploregeorgia.org/
http://www.visitflorida.com
http://www.visitnc.com
http://www.discoversouthcarolina.com
http://www.tnvacation.com
Process
(Mapping)
2. Once you have chosen your travel destination, go to www.mapquest.com
and click on directions. Enter Dahlonega, GA as your starting location
and whatever city you choose as your destination city for ending
location. If you choose to visit more than one city, you must do this for
the other city or cities as well. For example, if you choose to go to
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina then onto Charleston, SC, you would
need to make Dahlonega, GA the starting location and Myrtle Beach,
SC your ending location on your first search. Then, you would need to
make Myrtle Beach, SC your starting location and Charleston, SC your
ending location. Your third search would be from Charleston, SC back
to Dahlonega, GA. Next, click on get directions, and step by step
driving directions will come up as well as a map with the route marked
for you. Print all of this out.
Process
(Mapping Continued)
3. Use the map first to figure the miles you will have to drive. To do
this, use a ruler to measure the scale of the map. Then, use the
ruler to measure the distance from Dahlonega, GA to your
destination. Be as accurate as you can be considering that most
routes are not straight lines. Use the map scale to convert inches
into miles using equivalent ratios. Compare this mileage to the
mileage figured by mapquest. How close did you get to the
actual mileage?
4. Go to the gas prices link at the top of the page. Click on it and
put in the city or cities of destination to make sure you are using
a price per gallon that will cover the highest price.
Process
(Hotel and Attractions)
5. Now go to both www.travelocity.com and www.orbitz.com. Use
the two sites to compare hotel prices for the city or cities you
want to visit. You can stay in one hotel the entire trip or you can
move around if you plan to visit more than one city. Make sure
you pick a hotel that fits into your budget. Once you pick a
hotel, check both sites to make sure you are getting the best deal.
Note: There is a 12% hotel tax per night, so make sure you
figure this into your budget. Price comparisons need to be
recorded.
6. Go back to the tourism site for the state you chose and find some
attractions that you would like to visit. Two of the attractions
have to be educational, such as an historic site, but you can also
choose some free attractions like the beach. See next slide for
websites.
Process
(Tourism Websites)
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http://www.exploregeorgia.org/
http://www.visitflorida.com
http://www.visitnc.com
http://www.discoversouthcarolina.com
http://www.tnvacation.com
Process
(Food)
7. Decide on a food budget for the trip. Some hotels offer free
breakfast. That might be a good way to stay within your budget.
What type of food will you be eating at lunch and dinner?
Figure the price range. Choose some restaurants and print a
menu to back up your food budget. If you will be eating fast
food at times, you do not need to print a menu. You can estimate
that cost well, I’m sure. Also, don’t forget to figure in snacks and
drinks into your food budget. You might get thirsty during the
day!!
Process
(Budget and Itinerary)
8. Now that you have all budget items figured, use an excel
spreadsheet to itemize the vacation budget and get a total cost.
This will be part of the final project, so give it a title and make it
very understandable.
9. Create an itinerary from the start of the trip to the end of the
trip. List all travel time, attractions, restaurants, and of course,
hotels. The itinerary needs to be in order from the first of the
trip to the end of the trip. Organize the itineraries by days.
Process
(Poster and Presentation)
10. Make a poster to present to the class that includes the
budget, the itinerary, pictures of hotels, attractions,
restaurants, etc. Pretend that you have to convince
your audience that they want to take this trip. You
will present your poster while talking about your trip,
so make sure you know all about the different parts
of the trip. Go back to the tourism site for the state
you chose and get some pictures for your poster.
Presentation needs to be between 2 and 3 minutes.
Rubric
Category
Itinerary
Itemized Budget
Maps
Poster
Presentation
5 – Excellent Work
3 – Good Work
1 – Poor Work
Trip times and events are
recorded in an organized way
from the beginning to the end
of the trip. All spelling and
grammar is correct.
Trip times and events are
recorded from the beginning
to the end of the trip, but
organization was confusing.
Not all spelling and grammar
is correct.
Itinerary was done, but not
all events of trip were
included and organization
was confusing. Spelling and
grammar are not correct.
Vacation budget is detailed,
includes all expenses, is
organized on excel
spreadsheet and easy to read.
Vacation budget is detailed,
and no more than two
expenses were left out. Excel
spreadsheet is done correctly.
Vacation budget lacks detail
and has more than two
expenses left out. Excel
spreadsheet is done correctly.
Maps are marked with routes
of trip. Mileage is figured
using map scale and
compared with mileage from
mapquest. All math is
correct.
Maps are marked with routes
of trip, and no more than two
mileage figures are incorrect.
Comparison to mapquest
mileage is incorrect.
Maps are marked with routes
of trip, and more than two
mileage figures are incorrect.
Comparison to mapquest
mileage is incorrect.
Poster includes itinerary,
budget, pictures of hotels,
attractions, and other sights.
Poster is neat and attractive.
Poster includes itinerary,
budget, pictures of hotels,
attractions, and other sights.
Poster is not attractive.
Poster includes itinerary and
budget, but it does not
include pictures of all parts of
trip. Poster is not attractive.
Presentation is interesting
and not read from a script.
Presentation shows
knowledge of destination and
attractions.
Presentation is read from a
script and is boring, but
presenter does show
knowledge of destination.
Presentation is read from a
script, is boring, and shows
that presenter does not have
enough knowledge about
destination.
Conclusion
 This WebQuest has given you the opportunity to do the job
of a travel agent and plan a vacation on a specific budget.
Through this experience, you learned about a southern travel
destination, planned all parts of a vacation, and investigated
the prices of different travel necessities, such as
transportation, lodging, food, and attractions. Do you think
that there are enough resources on the web today to help
people plan any type of vacation? Do you think these
resources have decreased the need for travel agents?