Meeting Bookings Made Easy With The New Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts Meeting Website

Event and conference planners and meeting organisers will be pleased to learn that Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts has launched a new meeting website at www.swissotelmeetings.com which is designed to be easy to navigate and offer a time-saving booking process.

Whether it is a small meeting with just a few participants or a large conference attended by 1000 delegates that is being planned, the extremely user-friendly new site provides decision-makers with an easy and convenient way of booking their event. One particularly useful feature is the function that enables organisers to compare three different Swissôtels at once from the international hotel chain's portfolio, to ascertain their capacity at a glance, and to check availability directly online.

Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts offers a complete range of room and conference facilities in central locations all over the world, providing ideal venues for meetings and events of every kind and every size. The high-quality service, modern technology and creative gastronomy are tailored to the needs of the customer and make for successful, top-class conferences.

Capsule Hotel for Shanghai

China's first capsule hotel is set to open in Shanghai, targeting budget-conscious travellers in the country's glitzy commercial capital and close to the central railway station.

Capsule hotels, whose rooms have just enough space for sleeping and little else, originated in Japan for tired and overworked "salarymen". Today, they are low budget accommodation and appeal to travellers and renters alike.

"We are targeting single travellers who are looking to spend less, about one-third or two-thirds less than the prices of a regular hotel," Ta Zan, a 32-year-old Shanghai resident and owner of the hotel who got the idea working at a capsule hotel in Tokyo as a student.

The hotel will offer a rack rate of 68 yuan ($10.24) for a stay of 10 hours and 88 yuan ($13.26) for 24 hours.
Ta will only offer rooms to male guests initially and he hopes his hotel will open before summer as he works with the local government to gain all necessary approvals.

"There's nothing like Australia" Campaign Wins Top Industry Awards

Tourism Australia's global tourism campaign, There's nothing like Australia, has received international industry recognition, with two category wins at this year's Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Awards.

The campaign, which was launched in May 2010, picked up the top 'Grand' award in the overall marketing category as well as a 'Gold' award for its interactive website, www.nothinglikeaustralia.com, an integral part of the overall campaign.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy believes that using Australians to promote Australia overseas has been a critical element in the campaign's success.

"These awards are really a pat on the back for the people of Australia, who brought their country to life by sharing their favourite Australian place or experience with the world," Mr McEvoy said.

"Australians are very proud of Australia and told us that they wanted to help promote their country to people overseas.

"They are the experts on what makes Australia unlike anywhere else and getting them to share their stories and experiences has helped make this campaign the huge success it has been.

"This is a campaign that has been designed to last for years. The line, There is nothing like Australia, will be our tagline for many, many years to come.

"Winning awards is nice but it's important tourism campaigns work - and this one is. Australia's inbound tourism achieved solid growth of six per cent last year despite major economic challenges in many of our key overseas markets - a very credible achievement when many of our competitors have suffered declines," Mr McEvoy said.

There's nothing like Australia was developed in distinct phases. During the first phase, Australians uploaded nearly 30,000 stories and images to www.nothinglikeaustralia.com to show the world why they should visit - making it one of Australia's most successful consumer-generated promotions ever.

For the next phase of the campaign, Tourism Australia used all the entries to create an interactive digital map of Australia, made up of the things Australians think are special about the country. Located on www.australia.com, which attracts more than a million unique visitors each month, and also at www.nothinglikeaustralia.com, it is searchable by experience type, location, and by 1,000 keywords.

The marketing campaign and website were launched at the end of May 2010, alongside print and digital advertising, plus a video advert broadcast in cinemas and online.

Globally, 26 of Tourism Australia's 33 overseas markets are now running their own language version of the campaign website, which collectively receives more than three million unique visitors each month, each spending an average of 2.73 minutes on the site. So far, 4,983 photos have been uploaded by international visitors to Australia.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a non-for-profit membership association for the Asia Pacific travel and tourism industry. Tourism Australia has been a member of PATA since 1951.

The 2011 PATA Gold Awards are sponsored by the Macau Government Tourist Office and recognise the achievements of 20 separate organisations and individuals. This year's awards attracted more than 223 individual entries from 102 organisations and individuals worldwide.

The awards ceremony will take place on Monday, April 11, 2011 at China World Hotel during the PATA 60th Anniversary and Conference, Beijing, China.

World Resorts of Distinction Appointed as Representatives for Te Vara Nui Village, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

World Resorts of Distinction have been appointed representatives for Te
Vara Nui Village, the Cook Island ultimate unique cultural attraction.Te
Vara Nui Village is Rarotonga's newest cultural attraction and stunning
entertainment venue. The Village offers a range of services including
unforgettable cultural experiences and a fantastic venue for wedding and
functions.

Te Vara Nui Village is an intimate venue for weddings and functions,
catering up to 250 seated guests and up to 300 for cocktails. Te Vara Nui
Village is without a doubt the best venue on Rarotonga with beautiful
cascades and tropical volcanic rock gardens surrounding small islands over
a lake.

The village tours and night shows are spectacular and make you sit on the
edge of your seat! Learn about the Polynesian history, traditional medicine
preparation, ancestral fishing and navigational techniques, legends and
believes, local artisans, crafts and "dances of the legends." The combo
deal includes both village tour and night show with a mouth watering dinner
and include transfers. This ultimate Cook Islands experience is not to be
missed.

Fiona Wozney, managing Director of WRD advised "we are very pleased to be
working with such a diverse product that not only offers a great cultural
experience, amazing entertainment and food but also one of the most
desirable locations for a weddings or events in the Cook Islands".

WRD will be working with the Ta Vara Nui Village in both Australia and New Zealand, for further information please contact World Resorts of
Distinction on email sales@wrd.com.au or visit www.tevaranui.co.ck

SYDNEY AIRPORT RAISES QUESTIONS OVER ACCC REPORT

SIA Airbus A380 at Sydney Airport (Sydney Airport Corp)

Sydney Airport notes the release of the ACCC's annual airport monitoring report and its finding that passengers rated Sydney Airport as satisfactory (p36), but has concerns about the report's methodology.

Sydney Airport last week released two expert reviews of the methodology used by the ACCC in preparing its report. The two reviews were independently undertaken by the University of Melbourne's Statistical Consulting Centre and the professional research firm GA Research.

"Sydney Airport is committed to providing passengers and airlines with the high quality facilities they need, which is why we value their feedback on ways we can improve," says CEO of Sydney Airport, Russell Balding.

"However, Sydney Airport has long been concerned about the poor methodology used by the ACCC in its monitoring reports. This year's report does not contain basic, indeed fundamental, methodological information such as sample sizes, margins of error and response rates."

"Without this essential methodological information, it is not possible to meaningfully interpret research.  I would welcome a more transparent approach from the ACCC," Mr Balding said.

Club Med Lindeman Island to re-open February 7th

Club Med Lindeman Island sustained no damage during cyclone Yasi last week.
Although for precautionary reasons the island was evacuated, it will re-open fully for business as usual on Monday February 7th 2011.
Bookings will be taken as normal on 1800 258 263 or www.clubmed.com.au

Melbourne to Launch International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association - Australasia

As local membership of the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) continues to grow; the official launch of the Australasian division is set to take place in Melbourne on Wednesday 16 February 2011.

Writers from around the country have been quick to realise the benefits of belonging to a global association, which provides a rich source of story leads and markets together with international recognition.

Kevin Moloney, Australian Chair of IFWTWA says "Australians are known for their travel addiction and love of food and wine. The explosion in consumer awareness of food in the region and an ever-increasing penchant for travel has spawned a thirst for quality travel, food and wine journalism."

Within the membership base, several special interest groups are being formed. IFWTWA member and Vice Chair, Graeme Kemlo is heading up a group of specialist business events writers - a niche travel writing segment in the Australasian business tourism space. "This is a first in Australia and the group is already receiving professional recognition as an important component of the business events industry" he said.

US-based President of IFWTWA, Maralyn Hill will be in Australia to officially launch the Association at a cocktail party to be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

"It's a very exciting time in the region and the Australian operation has established itself as the model for all other regions of the IFWTWA around the globe. There is a lot of energy in Australia and their plans are substantial," she said.

Realising the positive impact that a relationship between a destination and the IFTWA can produce, the Melbourne Convention and Visitors Bureau has thrown its full weight behind the Association and has offered extensive support by including the launch as an official component on the AIME calendar.

For further details on the Australasian division of IFWTWA and its official launch, contact :
Australasian Chair
Kevin Moloney
kevin.moloney@iinet.net.au
www.ifwtwa.org