24 hours in Berlin

Where to next, meta-search and will technology rule the day? Yeoh Siew Hoon recaps her first day at ITB Berlin. And oh, by the way, 23,000 bookings in one day for Accor Super Sale.

One down, two to go. I've just finished my first full day at ITB Berlin, and what a packed 24 hours it's been.

I arrived in Berlin midnight on March 9 and right away, the morning after, headed to Hall 7.3 to attend the PhoCusWright conference at ITB.

I was curious to hear about the new developments in Europe. Turned out we may be on different continents but essentially we face similar issues and challenges. MORE

"YourSingapore" whips up chatter at ITB

The launch of STB's new brand and digital strategy has gotten travel bloggers talking. Some call it innovative, one wonders whether it is too whizzy. The proof is in the durian pudding, as we may say in "YourSingapore". Yeoh Siew Hoon picks on the buzz after last week's launch.

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) launched their new brand and digital strategy at ITB Berlin yesterday, and already the blogosphere is abuzz with chatter.

Following WIT's posting and its posting in TNooz, travel technology pundits have shared their comments on the move by a tourism board to move towards a customer-direct and largely digital approach. MORE

A Ghost by any other name

Yeoh Siew Hoon catches up with Rolls-Royce Asia Pacific's outgoing director, and finds out how the newest model of the luxury brand will take the company to the top in Asia, never mind Chinese superstitions and all that.

It costs more money than I will probably see in my lifetime. And it's called Ghost. You would think with a name like that, it wouldn't sell in Asia with its superstitious beliefs. But Rolls-Royce is expecting that it will see the biggest take-up of its newest model in this part of the world. MORE

O-M-G ARE YOU IN NEED OF 1-2-1 T-L-C?

Small Luxury Hotels of the World ^TM (SLH) has developed an iPhone app which allows guests to Discover, Enjoy and Share some ‘GR8 TLC' in its 500 plus properties in over 75 countries.

The new app is available to download from http://itunes.apple.com/app/small-luxury-hotels-world/id359024705

Customers will be able to book any hotel and share their favourite choices with friends and family. The SLH app also helps find nearby points of interest including tourist attractions and other rich cultural and culinary experiences through the augmented reality function.

‘‘The free iPhone app was developed with our guests' needs and wants expressly in mind,'' says Paul Kerr, CEO of Small Luxury Hotels of the World. ‘‘It provides a highly flexible and easy way to search, browse and book a hotel whilst on the go. MORE