Samantha Shankman

Articles posted by Samantha Shankman

19 May 2013

  • Top ten iPhone apps for business travelers

    Digital

    Travel is high-tech – especially for business travellers who need to stay in touch with the office and keep communications secure. An iPhone or iPad can be a handy tool to finding your way around an unfamiliar city, but now it can also be used to check in at your hotel – as our feature [...]

18 May 2013

  • Do Hailo and Uber taxi e-hail apps defy a NYC judge’s orders? Nobody knows

    Transport

    New York City’s much-anticipated e-hail app program was cut short by a temporary restraining order (TRO) just days after launch, but that hasn’t halted the operations of the two startups that were already approved for participation. Hailo and Uber‘s cab drivers continue to pick up passengers via the companies’ mobile e-hail apps every day. Why do they [...]

  • Indian circuses struggle to stay alive without children and wild animals

    Destinations

    In the early morning heat and dust, daily practice at the Rambo Circus is in full swing. A trapeze creaks as two performers perfect their throws. A Colombian daredevil shouts to his colleagues scrambling atop a giant set of spinning wheels called the Ring of Death. Looking on with worry is circus manager John Matthew. [...]

  • Verona considers charging tourists to see Romeo and Juliet’s famous balcony

    Destinations

    Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet, is hoping to cash in on the enduring appeal of Shakespeare’s “star-cross’d lovers”, by charging two euros (£1.68) per head to see the famous balcony. Tourists who want to enter the courtyard to see the balcony from where Juliet was supposedly wooed by Romeo could soon have to [...]

17 May 2013

  • Best travel ads this week: Holland argues it’s cooler than Brooklyn

    Transport

    Trave ads seek to inspire and excite viewers into booking a trip. The methods used to elicit such sentiments include fast-paced music, flashy images, and emotional voiceovers; and ultimately they aim to convince viewers that a better time is just a plane ride away. This week Holland defends its traditional way of life as the [...]

  • China prime minister worries tourists are ruining country’s reputation abroad

    Destinations

    While tour operators and department stores from New York to Paris court Chinese visitors to boost their coffers, one of the country’s top leaders has warned that ill-behaved tourists are damaging the national image. Wang Yang, one of China’s four deputy prime ministers, said that while other countries had welcomed Chinese tourism, the quality of [...]

  • River cruise line Viking adds first ocean voyages with two new ships

    Transport

    Viking Cruises Ltd. ordered two vessels to start an ocean cruise business, a first for the company, which has focused on river voyages, Chairman Torstein Hagen said. The 928-passenger ships are being built by Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani Spa and will sail beginning in 2015 and 2016, respectively, on European itineraries, Hagen, who leads Woodland [...]

  • The Chinese firm that wants to cram an entire city into the world’s tallest building

    Destinations

    A Chinese firm best known for building air conditioning units is constructing a vertical city. Broad Sustainable Construction (BSB) said this week that next month it will finally break ground on its the tower that will not only be the world’s tallest but could, according to BSB, become a model for how China deals with mass urbanization. The 838-meter-tall (2,749 [...]

  • Amtrak upgrades Wi-Fi giving business travelers another reason to choose rail

    Digital

    Coming soon on Amtrak: fewer excuses to not work while commuting. The national railroad, which operates 21,000 route miles, is upgrading its Wi-Fi service to 4G on many routes across the country. Amtrak says the aim is to offer increased wireless speeds and greater reliability. Hopefully, this will enable a wider set of online features [...]

  • Luxury hotels personalize wake-up calls to build brand loyalty

    Rooms

    In the ever-competitive race for loyal customers, however, many properties, especially luxury and boutique hotels, are now getting creative with the wake-up call, he says. Some boutique hotels even have recordings of celebrity voices. Personalizing the wake-up call, Chekitan Dev, an associate professor of marketing and branding at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration says, is [...]