To anyone reading this (which granted is still possible since this will syndicate on RSS to facebook and eventually twitter), we’re retiring the PRIDE Travel blog. We’re also laying down digital tarp on our website pride.travel for renovation and overhaul which is why it hasn’t been updated either (sorry about the expired travel info!)
After one year of not posting ANY new blog entries, it’s more than overdue. Actually, since most our blog posts are quite Thorough (Monica Poling, online editor of TravelAge West magazine, please note the capital T), to say the least, they never were ‘bloggish’ but more online magazine and PR releases combined.
Today, I ran across the last posting on the blog of Carlo Alcos, the editor of Matador Network’s Brave New Traveler channel. He posted four months after inactivity to let his readers know that he’s moved on to bigger and better things, namely to edit BNT for Matador, and I was inspired.
So why the sudden halt on the blog and website? Primarily, we’ve been so focused in the travel agency on client business, and online in social media (our facebook page is still active and growing). We’ve also been traveling more. Most important: our lead writer (yours truly) and photographer (Nathan) have been publishing full-fledged travel articles like crazy. Take a peek at my online profile with NATJA -the North American Travel Journalist’s Association- for links to my work and you’ll see. Why, even today, my new article on Thailand’s northern cuisine and temple in Chiang Mai was just published by TravelAge West.
So, in the great tradition that mimicry is the best flattery, Carlo, with this post I salute you!
In announcing its nominations for the prestigious TrendSetters Award, industry magazine TravelAge West has nominated PRIDE Travel’s S. Nathan DePetris in the category of Travel Agent SuperStar. The nomination marks the second category out of four that PRIDE Travel is being honored for at this year’s gala ceremony; Marc R. Kassouf was previously named as a nominee in the Best Community Service Effort category.
Two days before the news broke about escalating violence in Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok, PRIDE Travel owner Marc R. Kassouf was putting the finishing touches on a premier ad to launch the new marketing campaign in San Francisco’s theatre district. By many accounts, a resolution to mounting tension was being reached in negotiations with incumbent government officials and the demonstrating “Red Shirt Army” opposition movement. The advertisement, a full color page featuring a Thailand Gay Group with multiple departures throughout the end of 2010 and beyond, was to be PRIDE Travel’s debut into the San Francisco market in print advertising and is slated to run for four weeks in May and June. What better product to feature, thought Kassouf, than a customizable program to the Land of Smiles, where warm gracious hospitality sets the bar for the world to follow, and a destination that has been welcoming the gay traveler warmly for decades. But, when the news two days later reported the death and purported assassination of one of the opposition movement’s key figure, PRIDE Travel’s management was faced with several difficult decisions.
In announcing the winners of the 31st Annual Telly Awards, the Silver Council recognized PRIDE Travel with one of its highest awards, a bronze Telly Award, for the independent in-house. The commercial was produced in-house by PRIDE Travel’s owner and CEO Marc R. Kassouf using only readily-available media tools found on a standard office PC. The original footage was provided by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, and Mr. Kassouf initiated the project last year in order to promote the destination with a short commercial video at trade shows and events, and add it to other similar destination videos. “We’re very excited that PRIDE Travel has won a Telly for the Amazing Thailand commercial” said Kassouf, adding “this makes the second major creative industries award that the video has won, including a Gold Davey Award last year. The Amazing Thailand commercial is available for online viewing on YouTube directly via the following URL : 
In announcing the winners of the 2009 Davey Awards, the International Academy of Visual Arts recognized PRIDE Travel with its highest award, a Gold Davey, for the independent in-house production of the “Amazing Thailand” commercial promoting Thailand as a travel destination. The commercial was produced in-house by PRIDE Travel’s owner and CEO Marc R. Kassouf using only a standard office PC, readily available home and office video editing software Roxio, and old fashioned trial and error until the final finished product was attained. The original footage was provided by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, and although informative was not intended as an audiovisual whole or to be used as a commercial. Mr. Kassouf initiated the project in order to promote the destination with a short commercial video at trade shows and events, and add it to other similar destination videos. “I am ecstatic that PRIDE Travel has won a Davey Award for the Amazing Thailand commercial” said Kassouf, adding that “to win a Davey is a great honor, a Gold Davey even more gratifying as recognition for all the work done and many hours spent on the production” The Amazing Thailand commercial is available for online viewing on YouTube directly via the following URL : 
he spectacularly serene Bo Seong green tea fields, and making his own Kimchi at the Nam Do folk food museum. In Seoul, just a few of the many facets sampled were tours and stays at world-class ultra luxury hotels and resorts such as the Grand Hyatt Seoul, the W Hotel Walker Hill, and the JW Marriott, with cultural visits to the Gyeong Bok Palace, Nanta show performance, TODES performance, and a cultural cuisine kaleidoscope experience at the Korean House center.
For the month of October 2009 PRIDE Travel will join thousands of cruise-selling travel agents in World’s Largest Cruise Night, an exciting event designed to showcase the incredible choice, diversity and value of cruise vacations. Travel agencies across North America will team up with 24 member lines of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) to provide consumers with information on cruise vacations and exceptional offers.
This week’s TravelAge west magazine, the leading trade magazine for travel agents and the travel industry in the 14 western states, announced the 2009 Trendsetter awards as the feature article on the cover of its magazine. Among those honored, Marc R Kassouf and PRIDE Travel were awarded Best Community Service –runner up, for their exemplary and continued contributions to the Center of Long Beach. The Center, which provides extensive community and health programs to the local and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Queer community, has been the beneficiary of Marc’s and PRIDE Travel’s contributions individually and as a company for almost a decade. Contributions have helped the non-profit charitable organization raise in excess of $100,000 to supplement its annual budget enabling programs such as youth suicide prevention, health awareness and disease prevention, counseling and mentorship, elder-care, and numerous other local programs benefitting the community.
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