Top Stories
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Meetings and conventions bookings sluggish compared with trips for vacations
DigitalWith the economy on the rebound, Americans once again are cracking open their pocketbooks to take family vacations and other leisure trips. But corporate managers in charge of spending for business conferences and conventions remain tightfisted with their money.
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Santa Fe gets the jump on “Lone Ranger” tourism, hosts press junket
DestinationsSanta Fe could see a surge in hotel room rentals and restaurant customers next week, as some 300 journalists are expected in town to take part in an array of media-related events tied to Disney’s upcoming release of The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer. The city has licensed its Buckman Track ATV/MX [...]
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TripAdvisor promotes Jetsetter and kills its SniqueAway flash-sales brand
DigitalLess than three months after acquiring Jetsetter, TripAdvisor is phasing out its home-grown private-sales brand, SniqueAway, Skift has learned. When TripAdvisor acquired Jetsetter in April, the spin was that the two brands, Jetsetter and SniqueAway would co-exist, but sales director Kathleen Hanefeld has emailed hotel partners, informing them that “as of June 28, SniqueAway.com will [...]
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Inside New York City’s eleven tourism Twitter accounts
DestinationsWhy is NYC & Company not a leader in social tourism promotion? It has eleven tourism-related Twitter accounts, but doesn’t openly discuss its social strategies or engage with visitors on a large scale. The city’s official tourism marketing organization uses Twitter to promote events including restaurant week, the CitiBike launch, sports events, and museum openings. Of the [...]
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Foursquare maps four years of users’ travels with new History feature
DigitalFoursquare has partnered with Samsung for My History, a new feature that will provide users with infographics based on their check-in histories. The individualized heat maps are branded with Samsung’s logo for its latest high-end smartphone the Galaxy S4 and features a tab titled “The Next Big Thing” in which users can receive recommendations on [...]
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No one will ever miss the hotel phone
DigitalAt least the public payphone is dying a public death, right in front of everyone, in the streets. The one in that hotel room is still there, sitting on that bed-side table along with the quaint paper pad and alarm clock, atrophying from disuse, used only as a glorified intercom to order room service and [...]
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The cheap, real-time translation service that’s not quite there yet
DigitalAn Israeli startup says it has come up with a way to overcome language barriers when conducting international business: an automated service that provides quick translations between English and seven other languages with nothing more than a telephone. Lexifone allows people to get translations without paying hundreds of dollars for human interpreters. The service translates [...]
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Oyster hotel review site fires staff and hopes for asset sale
DigitalOyster fired most of its staff, and is hoping to hang on with lower overhead costs until it can find a white-knight buyer. Skift broke the news June 1 that the hotel review site had put itself up for sale, and ValleyWag reported today that Oyster had fired most of the edit staff. A handful [...]
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UberX slashes fares to compete with taxi e-hail and ride-sharing services
TransportOn-demand transportation startup Uber is making a serious commitment to its UBERx service, making on-demand rides with hybrid cars and community drivers less expensive. Today on the Uber Blog, the company confirmed what we reported last week — that it will be cutting fares on UBERx rides in an effort to be more competitive with [...]
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Hotel searches for Brazil spike up to 126 percent ahead of World Cup
DigitalBooking inquiries for hotels have more than doubled in some Brazillian cities this year, as interest in the country gathers pace ahead of the World Cup. Figures from the hotel comparison website Hotels.com suggested that searches for accommodation in Salvador have more than doubled in the first half of 2013, increasing by 126 per cent [...]
