New York City Becomes a Beach Town

With a total of more than 2.5 acres of sand, steps away from the world’s busiest financial center, the hustle and bustle of midtown Manhattan and within view of the United Nations, New York City’s three (3) Water Taxi Beaches have transformed the Big Apple from a concrete jungle into a Beach town!
By day, Water [...]

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Rebound in Bookings Lifts Expedia to 4Q Profit

Online travel company Expedia Inc. said Thursday that higher bookings lifted it to a fourth-quarter profit from a year-ago loss and declared its first-ever quarterly dividend. The news is another encouraging sign for the travel sector, which has struggled during the economic downturn as business and leisure travelers tightened their spending.
Earlier Thursday hotelier Marriott International Inc. [...]

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Forget Facebook And Twitter, Focus On Payment Systems

The travel industry is putting entirely too much faith and energy into online social networking when there is little demonstrable positive return on investment. There is another issue that should be moved to the top of the agenda. That issue is payment systems, which is the real driver for online sales. Says Feature writer Ken [...]

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Google sees travel searches surge 21%

Google has seen stronger growth in travel searches in January 2010 compared to January 2009, the search engine reporting a 21% increase in queries and a 7% increase in clicks.
Travel queries in January 2009 saw only a 9% increase year-on-year.
Cost-per-click rates on travel keywords fell in 2009 with average CPCs now 7% less than this time last year following [...]

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AT&T and Expedia partner for hotel bookings

AT&T Interactive and Expedia entered a distribution agreement that helps travelers conveniently check hotel rates, room availability and book rooms on AT&T Interactive’s YELLOWPAGES.COM and YP.COM local search websites.
In addition to AT&T Interactive’s comprehensive business listings, user reviews, and video profiles, the new hotel booking functionality supports AT&T Interactive’s ongoing content growth. The booking feature [...]

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Where US Travelers are Headed in 2010

With US leisure and business travelers factoring in value and price for their travel plans at the start of 2010, London and European favorites – Rome and Paris lead hotel price comparison site HotelsCombined.com’s 2010 top ten international destinations for US travelers.

Top 10 International Destinations for US Travelers for 2010

Top Cities

Average Room Rate (US)

1.   London

$166

2.   Rome

$148

3.   Paris

$197

4.   Hong Kong

$100

5.   Sydney

$171

6.   Bangkok

$77

7.   Barcelona

$154

8.   Playa del Carmen

$240

9.   Cancun

$192

10. Dubai

$227

Top [...]

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