Focus Page 310

Google Launches Place Pages for Google Maps
Google has enhanced the functionality of Google Maps with an exciting new tool – Place Pages for Google Maps. Each Place Page has all the relevant information – photos, videos, reviews, related websites, popular attractions, maps, directions, etc. – listed on one single page.

Travel insights 100 launches first survey, “All about Twitter”
On Monday, September 21, 1009, Travel Insights 100 officially launched, it is officially described as a partnership between UpTake, Sentias and BootsnAll Travel Network. But it is more than that, it is really a partnership of 100 members interested in learning about and informing others about all aspects of travel.

Want to fly on the Air France inaugural A380 flight? Oui Oui!
Air France has just announced details of their plans to offer seats on the inaugural A380 flight from Paris to JFK and, a day later, JFK back to CDG.

Hyatt offers new jobs to all fired boston housekeepers
The Hyatt responds to the public outcry, just announced they will offer positions to their recently fired staff.

Barbados Month: Totally Barbados glitters at the World Travel Awards
Totally Barbados is a classic online success story - a website that started small but has grown a mass following. It capped a year of unprecedented success last December by winning “World’s Leading Travel Destination Website” at the 2008 World Travel Awards Grand Final in Turks & Caicos. So how did the site for all things Barbados do it?

Tapping the network – business implications of social media
Respondents to a recent survey published by Beresford Research ranked social networking as more important than reading books or watching TV. It is no secret that social networking is a popular use of our time. Respondents spend an average of 22 hours per week on social networking sites. Yet, some still remain skeptical of social networking’s value to commerce.

Online travel is as strong as ever
Travel Web sites are performing well in the midst of the broader travel industry downturn. PhoCusWright’s Online Traffic and Conversion Report, a new study conducted in partnership with Compete Inc., shows that monthly traffic and conversion is up in almost all travel categories in the second quarter of 2009, compared to the same quarter of previous years.

Boston up in arms over Hyatt housekeeping firings
Hyatt Hotels Corp. is in trouble in Boston, with labor protests and calls for boycotts from local authorities and individuals in response to Hyatt’s mass firing of 130 housekeepers from the three Hyatt hotels in Boston – the Hyatt Regency Boston, Hyatt Regency Cambridge, and Hyatt Harborside Hotel.

DMOs and OpenTravel standards
During the OpenTravel Alliance half day session at Eye for Travel’s Distribution Summit in Chicago, we had an opportunity to discuss new and emerging distribution channels including, believe it or not, destination marketers.

Thank you Qantas
It has been a very difficult week for the BOOT and family. Within moments of turning up for TRAVELtech in Sydney

Royal Caribbean throws home parties to sell cruises
Will the Tupperware model work for the travel industry? Royal Caribbean tried this marketing strategy in late summer to see if it would float.

Travel Stocks Takeoff on Wall Street
The great subprime recession is over. Federal Reserve Chief Bernanke says so. Wall Street says so. Airlines are gearing up for a massive recovery. Hotel stocks are getting buy ratings from analysts. Vegas is back. Travel stocks across the board are zooming into the stratosphere, and we’re now in the initial stages of a sustained recovery.