Un Viaje Fantástico

Un Viaje Fantástico

by Juli Pruden

Tú eres empleado(a) de una agencia de viajes. One of the benefits of being a travel agent is getting to take "fam" trips. These are trips you get to take to become familiar with a country or place. They are free or greatly discounted with the understanding that you will work hard to sell the places you’ve visited. In other words, it is your job to convince people that they should make the same trip.
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TASK

For this report, you will research the attractions in the fun and unique Spanish-speaking country you selected. They might be places or things—just convince us why we (your customers) would want to see them too. You will want to consider historical sights, activities, and natural wonders.
Visual aids would be very helpful—therefore you must have one. It can either be on posterboard or you may make a brochure.
In addition to your country’s attractions, we will want basic information such as its location (continent, bordering countries, surrounding bodies of water), physical characteristics (landforms, natural vegetation and wildlife, climate and weather), how it was settled (by which natives), by whom it was discovered (the person and country), when, and its capital.

You are welcome to include cultural information and tell us about the people in your country. We will present our projects in class. The reports should be between 4-8 minutes long. You will need to turn in at least an outline, the bibliography, and visual aid for your presentation. Have fun researching! I can’t wait to see where you want to take us!!
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RESOURCES

You can find information at the library--there are books on the countries, encyclopedias and culturegrams there. Don’t forget to check with local travel agencies. Some of them may be more willing than others to help you. You may also be able to rent a travel video. Your primary resource will be the Internet. You can use the Internet resources provided here and follow links to find photos and information that tourists will need to really enjoy a visit to this country. You must also make a bibliography that lists where you found your information. Here is a link to the bibliography page provided by the library.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com	Lonely Planet allows you to search for travel information (click on magnifying glass) about your country.
http://www.looksmart.com	Looksmart is very useful for finding sports, entertainment and general travel information. Use the search box.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/dest.htm	Lonelyplanet has excellent maps. Start by clicking on the world map in the general area of your destination.
http://www.excite.com/travel/	Excite has maps, sports, tourist attractions (historic sights). Use the directory along with the search feature.
http://travel.yahoo.com/	On entering Travelyahoo, start by clicking on either Caribbean, Central America, South America, or Europe. On the next screen, select your destination. The following screen will give you a link to a complete profile of the area. You should find useful information here. Don't miss the photos!
http://dir.yahoo.com/Recreation/Travel/	On this Yahoo Recreation screen, you can find links to travel photos.
http://yahoo.travelon.com	This Yahoo screen offers links to view vacation packages for various types of vacations -- cultural (for the historian) or sports (for the recreation editor).
http://www.graphicmaps.com/aatlas/world.htm	This is a world atlas site. You can find maps, flags and information about your country.
http://www.wtgonline.com	Wtgonline is a site that provides general information about the country, as well as history, sports and activities, the climate and some of the attractions in the cities.
www.fodors.com/miniguides/	Fodors focuses on specific cities and the attractions they offer.
www.gorp.com/gorp/location/main.htm	Gorp describes outdoor recreational activities that can be done in most of the Spanish-speaking countries.
www.interknowledge.com/	Interknowledge gives background information on some of the countries and highlights some of the cities.

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THE PROCESS

You will get to travel to your country over the next few weeks via the Internet and the library. We will spend class time at the library and in the computer lab. During this time, you will find information and pictures that you need. Some of the information can be written down by hand. You may also want to copy some information to your own Word file from websites. You must rewrite it in your own words!!!
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TEACHER NOTES

We wish to be well-informed about your country after hearing your presentation. This means telling us both the background information and also describing what it has to offer. There are also a number of things which don't concern me as a tourist: major exports, the number of roads, natural resources, land use, or industries, for example. While it may also be important for a tourist to be aware of natural hazards, this will not be a good selling point for you.
Your pictures for your visual aid may be labeled as to what they are, or you should be prepared to tell us about them. When you give your presentation, I suggest the use of notecards. They will help you organize your information and also allow you to maintain better eye contact with your audience. You do not need to actually prepare a written report, just an outline.
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EVALUATION

The following is the breakdown for how you will be graded:

Visual aid--Is it lively and attractive? Did you put some effort into it? Does it convey a sense of your country to the observer? (20 pts.)

Body--Did you do your research? Are you knowledgeable about your country's attractions? Did you put some effort into finding six places (two for each category) for us to visit? Were you enthusiastic? (30 pts.)

Background Content--Did you provide your audience with general information on your country: its location and what surrounds it, physical characteristics such as landforms, natural vegetation and wildlife, and climate and weather? Did you tell us how it was settled, by whom, and when? Did you tell us what the capital is? (20 pts.)

Outline--Did you provide me with an outline or other written material about your presentation? Was it neat and understandable? (15 pts.)

Bibliography--Did you complete a bibliography telling me where you found your information? Do you have adequate sources? (15 pts.)
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CONCLUSION

During this project, you have gathered information about a Spanish-speaking country and presented it as a neat place to visit. You have learned about some of the things it has to offer, as well as learning some basic information about that country. Through the presentations, that information is shared with the whole class. Maybe you will be inspired for future vacations!

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