Argophilia

Αργοφιλία: For the love of the journey.

Keynote Competitive Research Chooses hotels.com

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Hotels.com has been named the Best Overall Customer Experience in a study by Keynote Competitive Research. In an examination of nine of the top online travel websites in the US, Keynote selected Hotels in several categories where actual customer responses were used.

Great Singapore Sale 2011 Kicks Off Today

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In news from Singapore, the Great Singapore Sale (GSS) kicks off today there. This annual shopping fiesta slash frenzy is one of the biggest such events anywhere in the world, projected sales topping $5.5 billion SD.

Beach Party Novalja Style – Beach Blanket Bingo 2011

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If you’ve ever visited the beaches of Dalmatia in Croatia, then you know the party never ends along this amazing stretch of coastline. You don’t have to be a naturist either to want to have a good time. And of all the beaches (nudist or otherwise) Croatia offers the fun and sun crowd, it was our content partners and sponsors Europe After Dark, that introduced us to Novalja – in the running for party down town of all the Adriatic.

Dreamticket Becomes UK Traveler Nightmare

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And in case you thought your nightmare vacation was the worst you ever heard of, when Selsdon Travel, aka Dreamticket, shut its doors the other day, and hundreds of UK travelers found themselves stranded at destinations across the Middle, East, Africa, and on Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Allegro High Speed Between Finland and Russia Booming

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Since we reported on the Russia-Finland Free Visa issue, visitors to the Russian Federation via high speed rail have increased by 22 percent over the same period a year ago. According to the news, some 100,600 rail passengers traveled between Finland and Russia in the first quarter of 2011.

Travel Republic Now Open In Spain

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Travel Republic, one of the top online travel sites in the UK and around the world, has announced their expansion into the Spain market. Our friends at Travel Daily News reported on this last week, outlining Travel Republic’s strong ties with Spanish hotels, and the obvious benefits of engaging that space.

Orbitz International Flight Deals Celebrate 10 Years

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Orbitz continues celebrating their 10 Year Anniversary with some exclusive deals for their customers. For the Summer, Orbitz is offering discounted International Flights, and International hotel deals. Be sure and check out Argo’s “Quick Booking” evaluation.

The India – China Hotel Room Bottleneck

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Where growth in the hotel business is concerned, the Asia hospitality sector is overdue for even more spiraling expansion. Believe it or not, China and India are the most underdeveloped hotel markets in the world outside the US, according to a report from STR Global. Accordingly, there are over 100,000 rooms under construction in China and 30,000 in India.

Hidden Gems – Turi Beach Resort

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Today’s Hidden Gem is the Turi Beach Resort in Singapore. Situated in the Northeast part of Batam Island, Turi is just 35 minutes from Singapore, but a world away from the cares of man. The lush land and seascapes of this boutique resort could literally liberate you.

Monterey Wine Country Phone App is Vintage Useful

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Browsing the news this morning, I ran across a very nice smart phone app that wineries in Europe could greatly benefit from. By emulating the functionality of one the Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association created, other producers can add great visibility and value for their products digitally.

Europe After Dark Co-Star Eva Galani

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Last Summer we covered a fascinating story about Europe After Dark, an upcoming series covering the European party scene. Today we revisit the upcoming series with one of the Co-Stars, Eva Galani. Eva, gracious as ever, granted Argophilia this exclusive interview where she talks about the series and her own budding career.

Seamlessly Topguest Hypes Best Western Union

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Okay, I have finally had enough. Looking into the travel tech footlocker of startups out there, potential is about all there is out there at the moment. And for Best Western and a company called TopGuest, a bit of scornful ranting due from a Web 2.0 evangelist from the early days. The reason, someone out there in PR land still thinks everything needs to be “seamless” in its integration. BS

A Taste of the Rhine With eWaterways

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If you ever dreamed of seeing the castles along the Rhine, the people at eWaterways have a sampler barge tour you should consider. The world’s best provider of custom and selective cruise experiences, eWaterways offers unparalleled variety in waterborne excursions around the world. And, no wayfarer’s log of travel experiences should be devoid of a cruise along Germany’s fabulous waterways.

Rihanna and Milla Jovovich Help Shakhtar Celebrate

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In news from Ukraine, Shakhtar Donetsk just celebrated their 75th birthday with special guests pop star Rihanna and Ukrainian-born actress Milla Jovovich. The country’s top football side, Shakhtar reached the quarter finals of this year’s Champions League this year. Their new stadium packed to the rafters with 51,000 adoring fans, Saturday’s party for the team is the talk of the region.

Malaysia Lures Singaporeans with Low Cost Holiday Promise

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Malaysian tourism chiefs underlined how important their near-neighbors in Singapore are to the country’s tourist trade earlier today when rolling out new incentives to try and attract more visitors from across the straits. Zalizam Zakaria, director of Malaysia Tourism Singapore admitted “Singapore is a very important market for us”. Singaporeans made up almost 53% of […]

Sabre Launches AgentStream Germany With Resounding Thump

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In travel news from Germany, online travel giant Sabre Group has announced the launch of a social networking platform here in Germany. AgentStream is theoretically designed for travel agents in Germany to be able to engage the social web, at least this is what the over four thousand global participants at AgentStream hope. But aside the obvious PR push of this, is the platform really all that social? It looks more like a push to keep up with Travelport than anything.

Join Google and Women on the Bridge This Women’s Day

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From the Millenium Bridge in London, to Brooklyn Bridge, on the Golden Gate and to the far reaches of the world – literally – Google, and many others, stand together to try and improve the lives of women around the world.

Bing-Kayak: Travel Search or Dumb Meets Dumber?

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The still raging war for online travel supremacy continues with news from Microsoft and Kayak. The pending sale of ITA to Google has spurred some fairly ridiculous allegiances and deals, not the least of which is the latest Bing “slash” Kayak pairing. Let’s face it, Microsoft has already spent two king’s ransoms trying to beat Google, and now this?