Tips From the Times Travel Show

This weekend was The New York Times Travel Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, where exhibitors, some clad in native costumes, dole out brochures, advice and even free Thai noodles. And for the second straight year, I was a panelist. Also for the second straight year, I was faced with a difficult post-presentation choice: stay backstage to feast on the tray of free chocolate chip cookies put out for speakers, or roam the exhibition hall upstairs, grilling the travel industry representatives for money-saving tips that don’t appear in brochures.

Luckily, I had time to do both. After stuffing myself with cookies, I gleaned advice from dozens of chamber of commerce, tourist board and travel company representatives. Below is a selection of 10 of those tips.

A caveat: With only two days between the show and the publication of this post, I was unable to verify each piece of advice. (Would you believe The Times wouldn’t fly me to Uzbekistan? See tip No. 6.) So if you think any of these items aren’t realistic, or have better tips to share, please add a comment below .

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