Focus Page 291

Online Share of French Travel Market Grows During Downturn
The French online travel market remains stable amidst global economic challenges.

OTAs vs. Hotels: With the Recession Comes a Major Reset
The U.S. hotel industry has suffered greatly amid the U.S. recession. Total hotel room revenue has been in freefall with double-digit declines for 2009.

On a world-class mission
Mission Hills is spearheading golf development in China and is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the largest golf club in the world, boasting an incredible twelve 18-hole champion golf courses. It achievements were recognized at the recent World Travel Awards Asia Ceremony where it was voted “Asia’s Leading Golf Resort”.

A new level of luxury in South and Central America
Online specialists Intelligent Leisure Solutions (ILS3) and the Discover.Travel Group are blazing a new trail in providing highly-personalized travel solutions to South and Central America. BTN discovers more about their innovative strategies that are making them leaders in these regions.

Headlines and Heroes from The PhoCusWright Conference 2009
The PhoCusWright Conference concluded last Thursday with a champagne toast announcing Amadeus IT Group as the PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit Winner.

The ultimate natural cure
Nestling in an idyllic corner of southern Brazil, Kurotel has forged a reputation as a world-leader in spa and wellness. BTN finds out more

FlightSearch.com: An Interesting Twist on Search Aggregation
Does the world really need another search aggregation website? Well, we are about to find out. FlightSearch.com has gone live (in beta) with an interesting approach to searching multiple travel sites.

Buy your hotel room or car with SkyMiles at Delta.com
While trolling around Delta.com this afternoon looking to burn some of our hard-earned SkyMiles we came across a new (or re-launched) feature called the SkyMiles Marketplace

Facebook Ads let you target Friends of your Fans
Do you have a Facebook Page, Group or Event? If you do, you will be super excited about the new opportunity Facebook is providing today.

Trip Advisor makes a cash grab with enhanced Business Listings, can small business afford not to inv
TripAdvisor is leveraging the power of its network of travelers… some 25 Million Monthly users in order to pull cash from the wallets of business listing members.

Congress Hearing on Cuba Travel Ban
At 10.00 am on Nov 19, 2009, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs is going to hold a hearing titled ‘Is it Time to Lift the Ban on Travel to Cuba?

Planet Hollywood Hotel Mirrors JetBlue’s All You Can Jet Pass
Over the weekend, we noticed an interesting promotion from the Planet Hollywood Hotel in Las Vegas that reminds us of JetBlue’s wildly successful (at least on the PR side) All You Can Jet Pass.