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Tourismus zwischen der Türkei und Armenien

Detlef Meyer — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:53:56 +0000

Ein Gemeinschaftsunternehmen zweier türkischer Tourismusunternehmen (Tower Turizm und Tüten Turizm) plant für den August dieses Jahres organisierte Gruppenreisen aus der Türkei nach Armenien., obwohl die Grenze zwischen beiden Staaten seit 1993 geschlossen ist. Schon seit einigen jahren reisen türkische Touristen über Georgien nach Armenien. Grundlage für diese Angebote sind die regelmässigen Flugverbindungen, die Tower Turizm zwischen [...]

Tourismus zwischen der Türkei und Armenien is a post from: Roundtrip

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Tansania stoppt den Serengeti Highway

Detlef Meyer — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:52:59 +0000

Die tansanische Regierung soll die Arbeiten an dem heftig kritisierten Serengeti Highway gestoppt haben. Das 840 Mio USD Projekt hätte den nördlichen Teil der Serengeti auf 300 Meilen durchschnitten und damit die weltberühmte Wanderung (Migration) von mehr als 1.5 Millionen Gnus und einer halben Million Antilopen und Zebras teilweise unterbrochen. Naturschützer und Tourismusunternehmen haben diesen Plan [...]

Tansania stoppt den Serengeti Highway is a post from: Roundtrip

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Seat Review – Pacific Blue International Economy Class (Virgin Australia)

timsboot — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:24:00 +0000

Virgin Australia (nee Blue) may have rebranded and retargeted itself in a flurry of fancy press events and well crafted media releases, but when it comes to the product there is nothing fancy or well crafted about Virgin Australia’s Pacific Blue international economy class. It is a flight that gets you where you are going with a smile but the bare minimum of extras. It is low cost seat, nothing more. The BOOT rating for Virgin Australia / Blue International Economy is 1.5 stars out of 6 or "Bad Seat". Here is the detailed (other reviews and scoring system for airline seat reviews here)
Getting on board	Score 0
I am Velocity Gold (Virgin’s frequent flyer program), Qantas Gold, United Gold and Singapore Airlines Gold. But none of that matters or means anything when flying Pac Blue. There is no lounge access for anyone in any status or any class no matter what. I put a post on Australian frequent flyer hoping that someone knew a trick or twist…but had nothing but crickets in response. On the Virgin website under the lounge section they mention how for every other international flight they do on V Australia, Virgin Atlantic, Etihad etc. Velocity Gold is enough to get lounge access. If flying from NZ there was mention of some lounge with names I'd never heard of. But in ex-Sydney on Pac Blue nothing. This is a significant weakness in this product. Lounge access is a critical value to a top tier flyer. The absence of it is felt and sets the tone for this product. I did get access to a priority check in queue which saved about half an hour on the land side (but then without lounge access what am I actually going to do with that extra time airside). Pac Blue is pure low cost carrier in approach but does have assigned seats. However, they have not initiated online check-in for international departures. By phone they will not set aside seats for groups/families sitting together. I asked over the phone “can you guarantee that all four of us will be seated together.” The useless reply was “we cant guarantee but you will probably be able to sit together.” This means we had to be at the airport 2 hours ahead of time to guarantee being together which mean 1.5 hours in the airport with no lounge access. Pure LCC. Note - DJ have announced a tie up with Singapore Airlines which may deliver lounge access but press releases of future luxury do not remove the sting of having to pay $5 for a luke-warm coffee on a hard bench in an overpriced airport.
The Seat	Score 0
It is a economy seat on a low cost carrier so you expect it to be small and narrow. It meets that expectation. To be fair, the seat is a reasonable size for a economy class seat. The tray table is a fair size and adjustable. The arm rests lift, allowing children to easily sleep on the laps of parents. The seats are leather and pleasant on the eye. All acceptable stuff. What is not acceptable is how dirty the area is in and around the seats. Carpets stained with what I hope is food. Seats covered in what I hope is dust and seat back pouches filled with tissues, dirt, wrappings and what I hope is not human waste. Filthy and unacceptable. If is fine for low cost seat to mean small but it is unacceptable for it to mean unhygienic. What is also not acceptable is the slant. For some reason the head rest slants forward not back. It is understandable that the LCC economy class seat does not recline much but it is unacceptable that the headrest pushes forward - not lean backward. By pushing forward it makes sleeping impossible. If it could lean back just a few inches it would go from impossible to bearable.
Entertainment	Score 0
Virgin’s live2air service combines a live feed from Australian cable television companies Foxtel and Austar. Means 24 cable channels covering sport, comedy, drama and kids programs. There is also a movie channel with 3 movies running on a loop (set start times). Cost is $9.90. That is fair and reasonable for a low cost carrier but I am not sure why they chose live TV vs on demand TV. For live TV to be attractive there has to be something on at the time you are on. Taking a day-time flight means the TV channels are full of...well…day time television. Hardly appealing stuff. The decision to use live TV goes from strange to ridiculous on the return trip starting in international waters. Clearly Virgin or Foxtel have not secured rights to broadcasts starting in non-Australian waters. As a result return trips to Australia involve a number of hours of "service not available" until Australian territorial waters appear. Virgin should replace this as soon as possible with an on demand service
Food	Score 0.5
There is lots of food on board provided you are happy to pay. Again -completely acceptable on a low cost carrier. But it is completely unacceptable that there is no free water option. The only water available is $3 for 330ml. It is well accepted that you should drink a lot of water on planes. The official recommendation is to drink two litres per day. For a flight you should increase this 50%. Means for each hour of flying time you need to drink between 125-200ml of water. To do this on DJ long haul adds a minimum $12-13 to the price of the price of each ticket. It should be a regulatory requirement that airlines provide water. Regulations aside Virgin must immediately change this position and make water available for free. Another peculiarity of the food is the timing of the hot food service. My flight was a day flight lasting 7 hours. The first cart came passed a few moments after take off (ie in the morning Sydney time). It was only made clear to me later (maybe I missed it) that this was the only time hot food would be served. This does not work for me (and probably for most people) to get on a plane first thing and have to eat the only hot meal. As Sydney dinner time approached all that was available was day old wraps and cheese and crackers That all said, the quality of the food on offer is better than low cost carriers I have flown in Europe through the sourcing of snacks from higher quality providers.
Service	Score 1.0
The staff were fantastic. They out-shined all other elements of the product. The staff were pleasant and lively despite a flight at horror hours and children running everywhere. A tribute to air crew. The plane was full of children running everywhere yet the staff dealt with all with a smile, a sense of encouragement and filled with great humour
BOOT Factor	Score 0
The flight is factor-less. There is not a bell or a whistle or a twist.
Final Score	1.5

Crea tu perfil en Google+, pero no el de tu empresa

nando llorella — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 06:00:18 +0000

Cada vez que aparece un nuevo portal o sitio web que permite crear perfiles, aparecen un buen número de personas que, por desconocimiento o ganas de spammear, utilizan estos canales para dar a conocer su empresa y enviar invitaciones, interacciones y demás actividades con tal de dar a conocer su empresa, cueste lo que cueste.

Aunque parezca algo extraño, esta situación es habitual en redes sociales como Facebook, en la comunidad de Turismo 2.0, en la comunidad de Hosteltur y otros canales similares en los que, alguna persona, no puede resistir la tentación de promocionar su empresa a través de canales que no han estado diseñados para ese fin.

Google+ no iba a ser la excepción, y tras su reciente lanzamiento, Google ya ha tenido que tomar cartas para evitar que su nueva red social se llene de spam de empresas, por lo que ayer por la mañana empezó a eliminar algunas cuentas que habían sido creadas para dar visibilidad a empresas.

Os dejo unas citas que he recuperado de un post de Mashable en el que dejan muy clara la posición de Google sobre este tema:

“The business experience we are creating should far exceed the consumer profile in terms of its usefulness to businesses,” Oestlien says in his post. “We just ask for your patience while we build it. In the meantime, we are discouraging businesses from using regular profiles to connect with Google+ users. Our policy team will actively work with profile owners to shut down non-user profiles.”

Para aquellos que todavía tengan alguna duda sobre como utilizar Google+, os dejo un vídeo en el que un responsable de este producto nos explica los pasos que están preparando para poder lanzar, próximamente, una versión especial para empresas.

Pese a todos estos avisos, hay bastantes empresas grandes y notorias que no han podido resistir la tentación y han creado su perfil (siendo algunas de los perfiles más relevantes de la red social):

¿conocéis más ejemplos para recopilarlos en este artículo?

Enjoying London’s Royal Attractions

mTrip — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:04:21 +0000

In the days around July 4th in the United States, we’re all about beating the U-S-A! U-S-A! drum – and there’s nothing wrong with citizens celebrating their country’s independence. But for all our chest-thumping about how happy we are to be free from our one-time royal overlords, those royal attractions are top on our must-see list whenever we visit London.

There are, of course, plenty of reasons to visit London that have nothing to do with the monarchy – stunning collections in art galleries, spectacular cathedrals, top-notch theater offerings, countless pubs, and perhaps the world’s most famous clock, to name but a few – but a simple poll of Americans to find out how many of them got up pre-dawn to watch televised coverage of Prince William’s recent marriage (or, for that matter, his parents’ wedding) shows just how highly we still think of the British royal family.

When you’re planning a London itinerary, then, it’s likely to include plenty of royal attractions.

Travel Tip: No matter what your itinerary includes, don’t forget to plan your accommodation ahead of time – especially if you’re visiting during the summer high season. The hotels in London can book up well in advance during the city’s busiest months.

Buckingham Palace

There are the obvious ones that will probably be on your must-see list already. There’s Buckingham Palace, the royal residence, part of which you can visit when the royal family is on vacation. One of the Buckingham Palace attractions, however, is outside and year-round – the famous changing of the guard ceremony happens every day during the summer, and every other day during the rest of the year.

Tower of London

Then there’s the Tower of London, combining the monarchy with history. The Tower is an 11th century castle that’s most commonly known as a prison and the site of more than a few executions, but since many of the prisoners and those sentenced to death were members of the royal family it’s an historic site in London that’s impossible to visit without reflecting on royal history, too.

Beyond the obvious royal attractions, however, there are things like the Queen’s Walk – a lovely, tree-lined walking path along the South Bank of the Thames that was built for the Queen’s “Silver Jubilee” in 1977. Westminster Abbey has clear royal ties as the site of coronations as well as royal tombs, but don’t overlook St. Paul’s Cathedral’s royal relations – it’s the cathedral where Prince Charles married Lady Diana in 1981.

What’s your favorite royal attraction in London?

- by Jessica of BootsnAll

Download mTrip’s London Travel Guide!

photos by PhillipC, xeddix

Waiting to Exhale: PhoCusWright Releases Key U.S. Traveler Insights

phocuswright — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Waiting to Exhale: PhoCusWright Releases Key U.S. Traveler Insights July 7, 2011 As the second half of 2011 gets underway, U.S. travelers may finally be getting their groove back, according to a new report from travel industry authority PhoCusWright. After a tepid return to leisure travel in 2010, many consumers are eager to bid farewell to financial worries and get away for a well-deserved vacation. With traveler intentions predicting an uptick in both leisure trips and travel spend, 2011 should be yielding better results for travel companies across the spectrum. According to PhoCusWright's U.S. Consumer Travel Report Third Edition, 63% of U.S. adults with Internet access took a paid leisure trip in 2010, representing only a slight improvement over the prior year (61%). Yet the share of consumers traveling for leisure remained far below 2008 levels (71%). And although indicators of recovery were discernable across consumer metrics, the relief was...

Neu: Ihre Facebook-Seite macht Werbung für Ihre Konkurrenz

KarinSchmollgruber — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:51:45 +0000

Jetzt bin ich aber wirklich bass erstaunt. Da rufe ich nichtswissend meine Facebook-Seite für passion PR auf und sehe in der rechten Spalte – ähnlich wie bei den persönlichen Facebook-Profilen – Hinweise bzw. Werbung für “ähnliche Seiten”.

Nach einer Schrecksekunde – in der ich sofort Screenshots anfertigte – surfte ich auf andere Facebook-Seiten. Bei manchen habe ich noch keine Änderungen festgestellt, bei anderen aber schon. Mir scheint, die Änderung hängt von Fan-Anzahl und Alter der Seite an.

Was bedeutet diese Änderung nun: Dass wir a la longue auf unser “eigenen” Facebook-Seite Werbung für den Mitbewerb, pardon, Marktbegleiter machen werden.

Das ist natürlich höchst betrüblich. Der einzige Trost: Unsere Seiten werden von den Fans nach dem “like” ohnehin nicht mehr angeschaut. Diese betrachten eher nur ihren eigenen Stream, wo unsere Updates hoffentlich auftauchen.

Allerdings wird man jetzt doppelt überlegen müssen, ob man Facebook-Ads und Aktionen einsetzt, um User auf seine Facebook-Seiten zu locken.

Update: Bitte lesen Sie unbedingt auch die Kommentare.

200 millones de tweets diarios

nando llorella — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 07:00:38 +0000

Esta es la cifra que la semana pasada revolución la red una vez que se publicó en el blog oficial de twitter.

Muchas personas todavía siguen comentando si es conveniente invertir en las redes sociales, y si tal vez esto sigue siendo una burbuja que terminará explotando; pero por el momento muchas empresas se han adaptado a la realidad que estamos viviendo en estos momentos y buscan la manera de interactuar con una masa crítica de usuarios que quieren tener relación con las empresas a través de nuevos canales de comunicación y, por supuesto, con otros mensajes que se salgan del compra esto desde xxx€.

Mientras estas personas que dudan de las redes sociales siguen en sus trece, el resto de empresas van avanzando en este terreno, aprendiendo a base de ensayo y error, y ganando adeptos para poder comprender mejor su posición en este entorno, y ver si en algún momento se puede contar con alguno de estos canales como una fuente habitual de generación de ventas (por el momento deberemos esperar).

PhoCusWright Releases Key U.S. Traveler Insights

phocuswright — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Cathy Schetzina +1 860 350-4084 x380 cschetzina@phocuswright.com PhoCusWright Releases Key U.S. Traveler Insights PhoCusWright's Consumer Travel Report Third Edition and upcoming Webinar explore U.S. traveler behavior, attitudes and preferences Sherman, CT USA, July 7, 2011—As the second half of 2011 gets underway, U.S. travelers may finally be getting their groove back, according to a new report from travel industry authority PhoCusWright. After a tepid return to leisure travel in 2010, many consumers are eager to bid farewell to financial worries and get away for a well-deserved vacation. With traveler intentions predicting an uptick in both leisure trips and travel spend, 2011 should be yielding better results for travel companies across the spectrum. According to PhoCusWright's U.S. Consumer Travel Report Third Edition, 63% of U.S. adults with Internet access took a paid leisure trip in 2010, representing only a slight improvement over the prior year (61%). Yet...

London Street Photography Festival celebrates the city through unstaged photos

mTrip — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:13:44 +0000

An exciting new event in London’s cultural calendar, London Street Photography Festival will showcase the best contemporary street photographers, while honoring past masters and providing a platform for dialogue around street photography.

Taking place throughout July, with a diverse program of exhibitions, events, talks and workshops, activities will take place in and around King’s Cross. Chosen for its rich heritage as an industrial hub of London, King’s Cross will serve as the perfect spot to host this festival. Venues include: National Portrait Gallery, V&A, St Pancras International, the German Gymnasium and British Library. Satellite activities & exhibitions take place across London.

What is Street Photography?

As defined by the London Street Photography Festival…

“un-posed, un-staged photography which captures, explores or questions contemporary society and the relationships between individuals and their surroundings.”

With its first year of producing this event, the organizers of LSPF are dedicated to preserving street photography as an accessible art form, important tool for communication and method to document and reflect on society and human behavior.

“The newspaper lies, the radio lies, the TV lies, the streets, they howl with the truth.” Henry Miller

London Street Photography Festival runs 1st – 31st July at various venues, http://www.londonstreetphotographyfestival.org/

Watch the video: