What's Next After Black Friday? Cyber Monday!

Cyber Monday is coming soon and hotels hope to cash in the spending spree with point and click vacation gifts. Historically, shoppers are focused on tangible gifts not purchasing trips during the holiday season but hotels are hoping that may change when they see the new promotions designed to distract just in time for Christmas. The Hyatt has launched their version of a ‘wish list’ complete with the ability to forward on a potential itinerary with items or activities the traveler would like. The idea is that friends or family can peruse the list and purchase what is within their budget, perfect for the hard to buy relative or friend. Not to be outdone, Hotels.com is adding to the joy of the season by offering a 50-percent discount for a four-night stay for more than 200 hotels in 100 different locations. For jolly shoppers with extra money to spend, vacations are just a click away. For more information please visit: http://tiny.cc/F8pDW

Westin Brand Gears Up For Worldwide Expansion in 2009 and 2010

The last six weeks of this year are going to be busy for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., as they open six new Westin properties before 2009 comes to a close. With their current focus on international expansion, three of the six hotels will open in India, one in China and two in the United States, but they won’t stop there. Following in 2010, the Westin brand will continue its expansion with 12 projected openings all over the world, including Canada, China, Greece, Japan, India, Mexico and the United States. Although economic times are difficult, Simon Turner, President of Global Development for Starwood Hotels & Resorts is committed to opening the best-in-class hotels and predicts success in both their current and emerging properties. Currently 111 of the 163 existing hotels are located in North America; however with the predicted increase of business and leisure travel to Asia and the Middle East, we can be sure that the Westin Brand will continue to expand their hotel base to maintain world-wide recognition and ensure company success. http://tinyurl.com/y8mj3hm

Give Grandma a Break this Thanksgiving; Let The Hotel Carve your Turkey!

Looking for a less-traditional option for this Thanksgiving’s turkey dinner? Many hotels throughout the country are offering packages that will leave both your wallet and stomach full for the holiday! If you are in the Miami area, the Four Seasons will cook you dinner and bring it to you ‘a la home service.’ That’s right; the hotel brings the feast to your home! This out-of-hotel dining experience, that includes a full staff of assistants, covers every dinner detail including post-event clean-up, and the ability to customize a menu to suit your family’s taste! If you are really looking to go outside of the traditional ‘Plymouth Rock’ themed dinner, head over to the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, CA. The hotel is offering a ‘Wild Turkey’ Package that includes a stay in a studio room or a suite, a $40 dining credit at the hotel’s Mary Jane’s diner, and to top it off, you will receive a complimentary shot of Wild Turkey premium bourbon whiskey. Cheers!
To find out where you can gobble-up these great packages, visit: http://tinyurl.com/ybgtnxs

A ‘New Moon’ of Hotel Deals

With the highly-anticipated release of the ‘Twilight’ sequel ‘New Moon’, many hotels are taking the opportunity to celebrate the movie premiere by offering vampire-inspired deals! The Hotel Triton in San Francisco invites guests to their property to explore the gothic side of Nob Hill. For their package of $103, guests will receive a pair of tickets to the Vampire Tours of San Francisco, a night’s stay at the hotel in a room with blacked-out windows, a bottle of red wine and cherry-filled chocolates, AMC movie passes, a New Moon welcome amenity, and a choice of either sunscreen (for the vampires), or a garlic necklace (for the mortals). Want to celebrate the premiere on an island? Head over to The Westin St. John where they will be offering ‘The Bites of Twilight’ package. Guests can select their favorite Twilight amenity including the ‘Twilight’ movie DVD, ‘New Moon’ in paperback, and the already chart topping soundtrack from ‘New Moon’. Despite the fact that the packages do not include ‘Edward’ or ‘Jacob,’ these deals are hot and are booking-up quickly! Do not miss out if you are a fan! http://tinyurl.com/yfbpb3a

This Winter’s Hottest Hotel Amenity is Cold as Ice

If you thought free yoga classes or a complimentary cappuccino were as good as it gets when you stay at a hotel, think again! Lace up your boots and get ready, because this winter, many hotels have decided to go on an Ice Capade! Hotel Del Coronado, located on the beach in San Diego, will be offering ‘Skating by the Sea’ packages during the holiday season, including a Family Holiday package that even includes a cheery mug of hot chocolate. Some others to look-out for include the W Hotel Los Angeles Westwood where you can purchase an ‘Ice Skate, You Skate, We all Skate’ package, that will get you rink tickets and winter-themed cocktails, as you skate on the hotel’s completely transformed pool area. Don’t miss out on this season’s opportunity to sleep and skate!
For more information on which hotels you can go to and practice your double axel visit: http://tinyurl.com/ydveh4s

New Marketing Campaign Hopes to Have “Luck of the Irish”

Coming to the end of one of the most difficult tourism years in Ireland’s history, Tourism Ireland has launched their new marketing campaign for 2010! The campaign was celebrated with an afternoon of entertainment displaying the best of Irish hospitality, which included a performance by the cast of Riverdance, Irish storytellers, and live traditional music. The campaign, which was launched at the international travel trade show, targets both the leisure and business tourism communities which have suffered due to the economic climate and fluctuations in currencies. Tourism enterprises from across the island have joined forces to start the promotional drive and hope to significantly increase the number of visitors from Great Britain to Ireland this next year, as well as, make the island a clear choice for buyers seeking high quality and good value venues. Luckily, the campaign has another great vehicle to promote itself: St. Patrick’s Day. Their goal is to have this holiday be the biggest consumer event of the first quarter in 2010. As part of the campaign, Tourism Ireland is also excited about the new assets and infrastructures that will be opening up over the next two years. Be sure to look out for the new Terminal 2 in Dublin Airport, which will greatly improve passenger comfort, as well as, Dublin’s Aviva Stadium and the Centre Dublin! Sláinte! http://tinyurl.com/yly4y88

And the winner is...InterContinental Hotels and Resorts!

Often referred to as the ‘Oscars’ of the global travel and tourism industry, the World Travel Awards are becoming instrumental in increasing international brand recognition. This year, the 167,000 voters consisting of travel tourism and hospitality professionals, gave the title to InterContinental Residence Suites Dubai Festival City. The hotel is the group’s first luxury residences in the United Arab Emirates, specifically designed to cater to the needs of extended stay guests. Congratulations to InterContinental Hotels and Resorts for receiving the World Travel Award 2009! http://tinyurl.com/yg5frvl

The Revival of Radisson

CEO Hubert Joly of Carlson Hotels previewed a project to draw more of a distinct line between Radisson’s upscale and upper upscale within their properties. The project, to be launched by the company early next year, also seeks to import successful service concepts from overseas. Carlson plans on introducing this distinction beginning in 2010, which is a line of ‘Green” hotels (upscale around primary and secondary cities) and “Blu” (upper scale properties). The hotel group will also be introducing design standards for Radisson properties for the first time and will be launching service concepts that have worked well internationally to North American properties. Stay tuned in 2010 to see if Radisson’s New Year Makeover is a success! http://tinyurl.com/yzz2ytf

Miami Insomniacs Have Something to Look Forward to Every Year

The City of Miami hosted the second annual, 13-hour Sleepless Night art extravaganza this past Saturday. The exhibit is a definite departure from the standard bar scene late night venue and boasts a plethora of art installations, exhibits, galleries, and dance and music performances. The event began 6 p.m. and completed 7 a.m. Sunday. The event was intended to be easily navigated and to ensure this the city was split up into 4 areas with about 80 venues in total. This year the city also called for more buses for the convenience of event goers. According to event planners from last year, the number of interested onlookers did increase. More than 100,000 patrons visited the event despite heavy winds and some cancellations due to safety precautions. For more information on the event, please visit http://tiny.cc/lR26J

Tools to Ensure Your Company is Technologically Savvy in 2010

If you thought Twitter and the iphone were as technologically advanced as we could get, think again! 2010 promises to be an impressive year for both technology devises and online social networking tools. Computer trends are turning to both smaller and lightweight Netbooks, with new updated operating systems. Microsoft will be coming out with Windows 7, and will be competing with Google, who will be making its first attempt at an operating system, called Google Chrome. Google will also be competing with Mozilla on new social networking devices. Google will be launching Wave, a device that is part instant-messaging, part email, and part social-media integration. Interestingly, Mozilla will be launching their device called Raindrop, which includes all of the networking capabilities of Google Wave, but also integrates Twitter and Skype. Lastly, Google will try to out-do Apple with their launch of Droid. A smart phone that has some enthusiasts saying it could replace computers altogether. Which devices will live up to their potential and enhance your business in the New Year? Stay tuned in 2010 to find out!
To find out more go to: http://tinyurl.com/ykctr4n