Mobile Apps for Tourism

Lately I have been involved with the Mobile world and there is an amazing amount of great mobile apps for tourism available (one of my favorite is what MySwitzerland has to offer).

And now I found this article:

7 Ways Mobile Apps are Enriching Historical Tourism

Some of the most famous historical sites would be just another old house or pile of rubble if you didn’t have any background information about their significance. Tourists have always had options for educating themselves about what they’re looking at. They can read relevant books beforehand, they can hire a tour guide, or, if everyone in the group has the patience, they can take the time to read every plaque and sign on the premises.

Now, many programmers are also offering tourists the option to learn about these sites via their smartphones. While many of the world’s significant historical locations have some sort of interactive app connected to them, the seven we picked below are among the most innovative and impressive.

To read the full story simply visit Mashable / Mobile.

Enjoy this,
Chris

Negotiating with hotels

I found an interesting document for associations on the ICCA website:

Ideas and advice for meeting planners to obtain a better understanding of the hotel business objectives that drive hotel negotiating positions.

Most hotels have limited experience of dealing with associations, and are more familiar with corporate meetings and intermediary agencies, whose needs and buying behaviour can be very different from those of association planners. Many buyers in the association world have limited experience of negotiating with hotels, and do not clearly understand the business objectives that drive hotel negotiating positions. Most guides on the subject of negotiating concern themselves with the corporate market. These three facts add up to the need for a simple guide to assist the international association buyer to speak the same “business language” as the hotel sales representative, and to obtain a fair deal that reflects the importance and value of their event.

More here:
Negotiating with hotels

World's Sexiest Rooftop Pools

The rooftop garden at the new Marina Bay Sands Hotel, perched atop three towers 660 feet above Singapore and totaling more than 15,000 square feet, has the feel of a paradise that's off-limits to mere mortals. (Although, for $20, non-guests can visit the observation deck.)

As if the sheer magnitude of the place weren't intoxicating enough, the 500-foot-long guests-only infinity pool—one of the largest urban pools in the world at that height—feels equally endless, and a little dangerous, too. Add to that an international crowd of beautiful people lounging on white daybeds beneath swaying palm trees, and the whole place takes on a floating-in-the-heavens kind of sex appeal that makes you want to strip and drift through the water in your birthday suit.

There are also rooftop bars and restaurants, in case, you know, the gods get hungry.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel
10 Bayfront Avenue
Singapore
Tel: 65 6688 8888
Thanks http://www.concierge.com for the article

Art may be everything, except being boring - Case study

“Art may be everything, except being boring”- St. Moritz Art Masters 2010/ Engadin St. Moritz, Switzerland

This case study is written by our guest authour Irina Trofimovskaya.

From the 27th of August until the 5th of September the third addition of the St. Moritz Art Masters took place in St. Moritz and in other villages in the Upper Engadin. National and international painters, photographers and sculptors exhibited their works in churches, hotels, banks, galleries, museums, lakes and other public places easily accessible to the visitors and free of charge. This was a great collaboration between the organization committee and the local partners.

From the event visitor point of view, what type of marketing will attract you to visit this event? Is an advertisement in the national and international newspapers and in train stations will attract your attention with advertisement slogans like – “St. Moritz Art Masters- the leading Art event in the world”? Probably not. Important to mention that this event is open for everyone who is interested in fine arts, good atmosphere, socialization, mobility, education and all that in a wonderful destination called the Engadin St. Moritz.

During the marketing campaign, the brand St. Moritz Art Masters was mentioned just in small letters on the left side of the advertisement posters. The advertisement posters carried amusing, provoking and clever statements which attracted the viewer attention. Every person could identify himself with at least one of them or relate it to someone they know. For example, when speaking about art, which person wouldn’t identify him with the statement “the best is yet to come” or “in few years no one will remember the bad critics”? And to whom you can relate the statement “I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying”?

Another attraction was the Angels and Demons sculptures by Alain de Lille (2008) posted in St. Moritz village several weeks before the exhibition. The statements and the sculptures were so attractive that people made photos and published them on the social media platforms. This type of publicity gains easily the buzz effect or the WOM- word of mouth, when people start to discuss the topic and exchange experiences.

The question now is, if the camping fulfilled the visitor’s expectations? It definitely did! When arriving to St. Moritz, the visitor was in a totally transformed village. There were directing signs to visiting the venues where works of art were presented. A detailed brochure with the description and location of the exhibiting artists was produced in English and German and allowed the visitor to move independently on his own pace through the venues. In most of the venues additional written information and interpretation was provided about the arts.

There was art for every taste, age, mood and interest. This event was once again one of the highlights of Top of the World destination Engadin St. Moritz and brought many visitors just before the end of the summer season. I highly recommend visiting this fascinating event next year. For forward information visit the St. Moritz Art Masters official web site http://www.stmoritzartmasters.com.

Irina Trofimovskaya

Project Partner
Manfred Ritschard & Partner LLC
Corporate training & Marketing
http://www.manfredritschard.ch