Focus Page 298
UK’s winter wonderland opens for Christmas
No childhood memory quite matches the magic of meeting Father Christmas. And LaplandUK is the nearest you’ll find this side of the Arctic Circle.

Interview with Joobili boss Jared Salter - Part 2 - timed search, refinement and turnips
This is part 2 of my interview with Jared Salter, CEO of time based travel discovery and inspiration company Joobili (pictured here to the right of Joobili Co-founder Tamas Gabor).

Two Biggest Hotel Chains Explore New Industry Move into Teleconferencing
I like it when a business doesn’t define itself too narrowly. So it’s a round of applause this morning for Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Marriott International as they get into the teleconferencing game.

Top 5 Botched Destination Tourism Promotion Campaigns
When a botched tourism promotion campaign goes viral, it’s not a pretty sight.

Is China Fertile Ground for the GDS Model
Can the Traditional GDS Model Thrive in China’s Emerging Online Marketplace?

Hotel Revenue Management Action Steps 3
We have to start with a budget or forecast before we consider working on our pricing. But how do we forecast accurately. Here some hotel revenue management implementation action steps to help you out.

Are you asking yourself the right questions?
Last week I started to dream the perfect Website and handheld application for our tourism business.

Mickey’s 10 Commandments
I’m working on an idea I’ve had for a long time with the working title “Disneyworld as the perfect DMO”.

Twittering from PhoCusWright Orlando
I will be twittering all week at PhoCusWright in Orlando. Follow me @timothychughes or watch hashtags #phocuswright and #pcw09.

SkyMall Follies: “brightening the room” with WWII Chess
Plenty of reasons to hate domestic travel in the US - age of the aeroplanes, on board food (or lack of it), the “no way am I going to pay $25 to check this, it will fit in the overhead locker” attitude that has added 25 plus minutes to the boarding process etc.

5 Steps to Getting Started with Social Media in Travel
I had a really great conversation with Barbara Vega, founder of I Heart BackPackers, a tour operator who specializes in backpacking tours all over the World.

International Tourism Decline on the Upswing, If U.S. Doesn’t Sabotage Recovery
Tracking organizations say the rate of decreases in international tourism is slowing — or, put another way, fewer folks are not globetrotting lately, which lends hope these numbers could climb out of the red and into the black in the near future.