Dubai to open new Cruise Terminal next month

Dubai is going to open on February a new cruise terminal which can handle four ships simultaneously.

What impressed me the most is that next to the most advanced and modern facilities (money exchange, ATMs, post office, duty free shop, souvenir shops, gift shops, business centre with internet access and Wi-Fi) this cruise terminal associate the tradition and the heritage of this country as a maritime center.

In fact, the major architectural elements of the exterior facades show traditional domes, arches and carvings, which best represent the Oriental culture.

I like the way this new modern countries are able to develop an equilibrium point between Western modernity and Oriental heritage.

We can see this kind of loyalty and pride in all the new masterpieces of the Eastern countries like the Petronas twin tower in Malaysia and many others.

In my personal opinion Europeans have a lot to learn from this culture, which try to keep their real originality and diversity. I think that we have too easily abandoned our personal style because we think that to be modern you need to use iron, glass, unusual forms and colors.

Travelocity launches Deals Toolkit

Travelocity announced a Deals Toolkit that makes it easier for consumers to find the best travel deals based on their preferences and flexibility.

Victoria Treyger, chief marketing officer of Travelocity said: “Travelers are telling us they want to be able to more quickly identify and select deals based on what matters most to them. Our deals toolkit answers their calling with a totally new framework for shopping that helps them filter through thousands of options to hone in on only the best, most customized results without spending a ton of time.”

What does it means?
In my personal opinion, it means of course a better customization which really worth the traveller both in an economic sense and in an applicative one.
Moreover, it means that all these providers are doing a technological war between them.
To achieve the best result they are investing a lot of money in successful proprietary algorithm.
All this aspect are positive but if the providers business is so profitable who is paying the price for that?

In my opinion, in an indirect way, hoteliers are losing a lot of money, which means a weakness in their own offer’s power and on the competition sector.

Ignazio SUTERA

'Aggregator' Travel Sites

- Definition of an aggregator travel site (http://www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=536&category=13)

- The benefits of using an aggregator site( http://studenttravel.about.com/od/discounts/qt/bookingbuddy.htm )

2 aggregator sites comparison:

1 Orbitz

2 BookingBuddy

- How do travel experts feel about meta search travel sites ( http://www.etravelsuccess.info/2009/11/metasearch-sites-travel-conversion.html )

- MY perspective on the contribution of meta search sites to the travel experience

The worlds' tallest opens and renamed - Aramai hotel for later.

On March 18 Giorgio Armani is going to open a luxury hotel in the spectacular Burj Dubai tower. In fact, it is the first in the series of hotels, resorts and residences designed by Armani. Moreover, the group is going to open the Armani Hotel Milano and at least ten hotels and resorts in next ten years.

It is not the first time that a fashion designer takes care of the interior of a hotel: in 2005 Christian Lacroix designed the Hotel du Petit Moulin in Paris.

In my personal opinion it represents a unique marketing strategy: it matchs the tallest tower all around the world and the ace fashion designer

Does it mean that Giorgio Armani could do a better work than an interior designer? Of course, the interior design is a sector which is quite different from the fashion one but this marriage can satisfy the need of a customer which is looking for a luxury style of life

Does it mean that a fashion designer could sign cars or airplans? Yes, from an economic point of view, not all the time, from an artistic one.

Harvard Business Review article post

- The skills needed for contemporary career success are: The ability of managing self-organized human networks, the ability of succeed in the relationships seeking process which is useful to connect people between groups.

- Today human networks give power to people; on the contrary, in the past, the formal hierarchies gave people their own power.

- You can learn managing human networks by a strong willingness of making relationships, passing on information and communicate across groups.

- The relationship is that nowadays it is not enough to succeed in the formal assignments to make career, you have to be a real "connector" to have success.