July 14, 2008
Five [Golden?] Rings for Beijing Hotels
In just a few weeks, tens of thousands of tourists, media, athletes and officials (“the world”) will descend on Beijing to experience the Games of the XXIXth Olympiad. This will be my sixth travel experience to an Olympic Games (the fourth for a work assignment), and though there have been a different pre-Games reports leading to China’s first hosting duties, some of the travel buildup to this Olympiad seems to closely parallel all the other Games in my repertoire.
About a year out, media seem to report extensively on “no available rooms” and “the Olympic City is oversold” or a general sense that it will be tough to find housing in the host city (from my perspective, this is usually more true of Winter Olympic host cities as they tend to be smaller markets with fewer hotels – though Torino and Salt Lake were larger than Nagano and Lillehammer).
Then, 2-3 months out, this tends to shift to “very few hotels available” and then “deals still available” but a general sense of panic seems to prevail in coverage. It’s been a little bit different for Beijing, with reports about the challenges for visitors to get travel documents to China, and its effects on the hotel industry in Beijing reported by the Associated Press. Athens was an exception since post 9/11 security was a widely reported pre-Games issue – here in the U.S., it seemed to me like reports were a frenzied attempt to dissuade travel to Greece.
I predict that during Beijing’s Games, like every Games I’ve experienced, outlets will eventually report on “surprisingly wide availability of rooms” during the Olympic festivities – this is normal because some of the host organizers start to free up unused rooms dropped from sponsor room allocations. In fact, a friend tells of embarking last minute to Barcelona during the ’92 Games – during the good old days before online bookings were possible – and he found very nice accommodations on Las Ramblas with ease (thanks to a sponsor delegation checking out for a few days to go sightseeing).
At least one recent host city, Sydney, appears to have benefited from an audit of hotel occupancy both pre- and during-Games. No matter what happens in China, it will be interesting to see how the hospitality industry there rates the Games experience compared to other past host cities. And here’s hoping The Windy City’s vast selection of hotels will help Chicago secure the 2016 Games!
-- Nicholas Wolaver, Edelman Atlanta (posted via Tiffany Fessler's log-in)
Posted by tiffany.fessler at 8:53 AM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2008
Tourism Society launches Facebook group
According to Travel Daily News , The Tourism Society, professional group for tourism industry, has launched a discussion group on 'facebook', with 66 members already. Interesting the other tourism related groups that exist as well - Sustainable Tourism, Space Tourism and the Noorat Foxy Lady Appreciation/Tourism Society, group that "embraces the unique culture of this special town and the foxy ladies who live there..." There's something for everyone!
Posted by claire.woll at 9:55 AM | Comments (0)
June 6, 2008
Travel and Music
So I was finishing up the slideshow for my Mum's 60th birthday last night and had to pick out some music to fit. We asked all of her friends to share with us pictures of her they may have had. My parents grew up in Scotland, so we have a lot from her travels in Europe, mostly to Spain. I guess I never realized how much of a traveler she was until putting this little project together. It's just not how I view her given that doesn't seem that adventurous now. But then I thought, well she was brave enough to take a leap over to America to give life a shot here. As I searched for song ideas to pair with her travel pictures, I found a fun poll on Traveler's Point about your top five all time songs to travel with. Then, feeling inspired I started to explore some blogs of people who just decided to, like my mum had done, take a chance on moving to another country and really live through travel. It's inspiring how many people do this. The stories are captivating and so compelling that they're even on a list of the 100 Best Travel Journal Blogs, a great list in its own right. All in all, a great night of online exploration led me to information I needed, things I didn't know, entertaining tales and an inspiring experience, which ironically is exactly what travel does for you.
Posted by claire.woll at 9:55 AM | Comments (0)
June 5, 2008
Travel and Movies: when a movie literally moves us
Have you ever planned a trip just based on the idea of being in the very same place where a famous scene of a movie took place?
No one can deny that films have a tremendous influence on the modern culture and in many ways we know about life and traditions in other countries thanks to a movie.
I recently had the chance to travel abroad for the first time and I realized how strong the film culture has influenced my life because I chose countries that I had fallen in love with after seeing a movie. Europe was my destination and according to my budget I decided to visit three main cities: London, Paris and Rome.
When thinking of London, for example, I couldn’t help but wishing to be right where Julia Roberts met Hugh Grant in Notting Hill. In Rome I just kept thinking 'will the Coliseum still look like in Gladiator?'
The more I thought about the countries I was going to visit, the more movies came to my mind: Casablanca, Devil wears Prada, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Four weddings and a funeral, Only you, Amelie, Woody Allen’s Match Point and even The Da Vinci Code. All of them showed me pictures of places that became must go on my trip!
I’m sure you will agree with me in some of my 'scene motivations' to pick a place to travel to, but if you don’t, give it a try and think of your very own!
Now, a couple of months after my trip, whenever I see a picture I still remember: “I was there…” This couldn’t be better, two of my favorite things - travel and movies - joined to create a whole new wonderful experience.
Posted by marcela.carmona at 6:31 PM | Comments (0)
Don't let gas prices deflate your traveling wheels
While the price of oil remains a hot topic and continues to affect consumers and the airline industry especially (Continental today just pulled 67 aircraft from its daily operations), less expensive travel options are becoming more popular. One interesting cost-saving solution to this may be Couch Surfing, a social networking site that connects travelers with a local resident offering up their couch as a free place to stay. This gives travelers a unique insight into the "real" destination. It's considerably cheaper than a hotel or hostel, because it’s free. I've never tried it myself, but i've heard good things from friends and their peers.
Also, guides like Rough Guides offer the typical budget travel guide, but also offers a podcast so you are never without your guide book; Lonely Planet offers the budget list, but a splurge list as well for those days when you can afford to do so; and my personal favorite for U.S. destinations is Not For Tourists, a travel guide created specifically for those who wish to move around a city like a local. Avoiding tourist traps is a sure way to save money when on vacation.
Hopefully you'll not only save money but have an opportunity to experience life as a local during your vacation this summer. Happy Vacationing!
Posted by courtney.clegg at 4:02 PM | Comments (1)
May 30, 2008
A picture is worth a thousand words
The mesh conference took place last week in Toronto. Founded by a number of Canadian entrepreneurs and journalists, this three-day event focused on how the Web is changing the way we work, live and play. Sponsored by Edelman, I’ve been lucky enough to go every year and learn about trends and insights in the new media space.
One of the mesh founders, Mark Evans, formerly of the National Post, works with an interesting travel site called PlanetEye. It’s a resource designed to help travellers quickly “research, organize and share their trips” using both a community of contributors and local experts.
What caught my eye when I first visited the site were the jaw-dropping travel photos at the top of the main page. They are all geo-tagged and mapped out to each of the destinations. Browsing the destinations brings up a nifty, zoom-able map with bubbles of the photos taken in each part of the city, country or world you’re currently looking at.
It’s an excitingly visual way to plan travel and search destinations. Imagine choosing which attractions, hotels or restaurants you visit based on how visually appealing they are? I came across a photo of a fruit market on Gage Street in Hong Kong, not far from where I used to live, that immediately brought me back to that wonderful part of the world. Not to mention that it made me think about going there again!
PlanetEye also builds on that premise with community user reviews and rankings of different hotels, restaurants and attractions. Currently some parts of the world have more photos uploaded than others, but if you believe a picture is worth a thousand words when it comes to travel, then take a few minutes to explore this site.
Posted by rob.manne at 5:02 PM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2008
Parlez vous Francais?
I recently decided to brush up on my high school French in preparation for an upcoming vacation to France and Brussels. Through i-Tunes , I discovered some very useful podcasts from Survival Phrases.
The short segments provide enough language lessons to help you get by on a trip. Rather than learning how to conjugate the verb "to be," you learn how to order a meal in a restaurant or get directions to the train or bus. Additionally, the host provides helpful cultural hints such as tipping habits.
When you visit the web site, which you are encouraged to do during each lesson by a friendly host, you can download a written lesson in PDF format.
Survival Phrases offers a number of language lessons depending on where you might be traveling. In addition to French, you can learn Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Filipino, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Vietnamese.
I would highly recommend Survival Phrases if you’re headed to a foreign country on vacation or a business trip and you don’t speak the language.
I leave for France tomorrow, so I will let you know how my French fared upon my return.
Au Revoir!
Posted by mia.casey at 4:10 PM | Comments (0)