We dropped by the 42nd Xenia, to see how it was this year and to catch up with some old (and new) friends.

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Going to Travel Blog Camp was an absolute pleasure this year. (We already uploaded a short video with a cheeky wi-fi question and answer)

Organised on November 9 by the excellent Darren Cronian (@travelrants and on his blog Travel Rants), it was an opportunity for Travel Bloggers, PR peeps and people like us to get together, listen to some excellent speakers and catch up.

Darren organises this during World Travel Market and you can see why. Most people interested in travel are in London either way so it makes a lot of sense, even if we were simply exhausted from doing the exhibition rounds all day. It’s a credit to the speakers and the crowd that we thoroughly enjoyed it.

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A video from the fourth day with Sofia and Manolis doing the rounds at some meetings and catching up with great companies at the tech section (we blogged about that one)

Stands with lovely people featured:

• pure360
• tripavisor
• booking.com
• hotel.info
• vertical group
• gta by travelport
• visit montenegro
• ENIT (Italy)
• the amazing Sara from Emilia Romagna Tourismo
• Nigeria Tourism

podsafe track:

One Summer Day – 28
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The lovely Ms. Sofia Bournatzi from the Halkidiki Hotel Association.

Watch out for:

• why Halkidiki has a stand independent from the Greek stand
• some views on the future of tourism in Halkidiki
• some suggestions about how hoteliers can deal with the tourism crisis in Greece

Our heartfelt thanks to Ms. Bournatzi.

podsafe track:
The Well-Traveled Gentleman – The Blind Eyes
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I bet you heard the news. Prince William is to wed Kate Middleton. The happy couple announced their engagement today with a wedding being planned for next year.

Make not mistake. London will make the most of the wedding. I just saw a lovely representative from Visit London on BBC London news (so sorry I didn’t get her name) saying how from past experience they know that London’s tourism will receive a huge boost. (read their blog entry)

The organisation estimates that the economic benefit to London could be between £30m and £50m from domestic and international visitors to the capital.

Apparently, thirty years ago, the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana brought an additional 600,000 visitors to the capital and with the popularity of Prince William and Kate this figure could increase significantly. (read the full Press Release)

Regardless of your politics, a wedding of this magnitude offers an amazing opportunity for the city’s tourism. Professionals from around the world will be able to see a real time campaign unfolding and take some valuable lessons.

(Photo by Niquinho)

Sofia, the SoMaFusion Wordsmith, gives a few words on why we are at the World Travel Market.

Among other things we go to the exhibition to

• keep up to date with the latest trends
• catch up with business contacts
• see the latest technological solutions that make sense for hoteliers
• negotiate prices and contracts on behalf of our clients with whole sellers and tour operators

If you’re interested, drop us a line.

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Read all our blog posts from World Travel Market 2010

Just a few thoughts on the Technology and Online Travel section of the World Travel Market 2010. Sofia tends to walk around with me at these sort of stands and introduce me as “the tech guy”. So, in time honoured “tech guy” tradition I wanted to just share a few of our observations.

Finally! A Technology & Online Travel section

It’s great to have a section dedicated to Technology and Online Travel. Sure, it was small but it’s still there.

It is also very interesting that new, upbeat and interesting companies are making a stand at World Travel Market. Interest was not exceptionally high but I’m hopeful. Some of the services on offer are still being analysed by hoteliers and tourism professionals. We’re going through some hard times so professionals tend to be extra careful.

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A video with some highlights from the second and third day at the World Travel Market.

Watch out for:

• Frida
• The girl from Indonesia
• Manolis convincing a journalist to visit Greece
• the ‘good mornings’ in the end

podsafe track:
Road Trip – Dust Rhinos
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Read all our blog posts from World Travel Market 2010

We met these three excellent and very polite volunteers at the Greek stand.

Manolis was very impressed by their smiling attitude and their obvious desire to help and find the information people wanted.

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We give you the excellent Mr. David Whitley (@mrdavidwhitley and on his blog Grumpy Traveller) answers Manolis’ question on what he would write if a hotel was not offering free wi-fi.

He says in a marvellous way two very simple things

1. Have a serious pricing policy
2. Know your guests

This is just a tiny segment from the excellent Travel Blogs Camp which took place on November 9. We are trully indebted to Darren Cronian (@travelrants and on his blog Travel Rants) for organising the event.

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Read all our blog posts from World Travel Market 2010