| EUROPE |
Hotel Masseria Cimino – Pouilles – Italy, 55 km from Bari airport. 15 rooms, swimming pool, 18 hole golf course, restaurant – www.masseriacimino.com
Bodrum, the St Tropez of the Turkish Coast, Hotel Kuum, designer ‘cool’, really the place to be. The pictures speak for themselves! – www.kuumhotel.com
The Europe Hotel & Resort, Killarney, Ireland. A conference & event centre, but don’t forget the spa. Best new spa 2009 – www.theeurope.com
| WORLDWIDE |
Thailand becomes a talking point. Design Hotel & Spa Siam@Siam in Bangkok is the place where the in-crowd hang out – www.siamatsiam.com
Spend the night in the 1001 nights camp, in the heart of the Libyan Sahara. The camp offers high standard of comfort. An authentic desert experience – www.magiclibya.com
Namibia. For many it’s Africa’s most beautiful country. This hotel is in the middle of nowhere, and is a perfect spot for safaris. Wolwedans Boulders Caomp – www.wolwedans-namibia.com
Diva Maldives. Paradise is made of this! A breathtakingly beautiful island surrounded by a crystal-clear lagoon and miles and miles of ocean – www.divamaldivesresort.com
| BENELUX |
Hotel ‘Odette en Ville' has only just opened its doors in Brussels, but we're already big fans. It's also got a restaurant for breakfast, lunch, afternoon teas, dinner and Sunday brunch. Parisian chic with a dash of English cosiness - www.chez-odette.com
Hotel Bloom in Brussels for its trendy restaurant Smoods – www.hotelbloom.be
Hotel The Dominican Brussels for its design, but also for its participation in good initiatives, like last month’s Think-Pink action – www.thedominican.be
Built in 1872, located in the heart of Bellegem (Belgium), there’s a really romantic B & B, ‘Het Verloren Gedicht’ (The Lost Poem). 3 rooms, 3 poems, 3 unique experiences. A conference room is available for max 20 persons, 100 euro for the entire day – www.hetverlorengedicht.be
Le fabuleux destin: a beautiful barge converted into a hotel. Hasselt – www.chambresbhotes.be
In the Ardennes, 5 minutes away from the Molignee Valley we’ve found the perfect place for your seminars, teambuilding, brainstorming, etc. La Classe, an old village school converted into a luxury gite. 7 bedrooms – www.laclasse.be
A hotel suite and meeting room in an aeroplane in Teuge near Apeldoorn, The Netherlands - www.hotelsuites.nl
| Really short news |
INVITATIONS – MICE AGENDA |
|
| • | Northern Ireland invites to EXPO 2010, the Business Travel Fair taking place in Belfast on 14-17 January 2010. Are you an Association or Corporate Planner and interested to participate as a hosted buyer? Click here for more info. |
| • | Do not forget BTExpo on December 9 & 10 in Brussels at Tour & Taxis. Registration on www.btexpo.com |
| • | Should you be interested in visiting Conventa - the meetings and incentive trade show for the region of South-East Europe, on 21 and 22 January 2010 in Ljubljana/Slovenia - as a hosted buyer, please visit www.conventa.info |
| • | The International Summit on Tourism, Sport & Mega Events will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa February 24-26, 2010 in conjunction with Meeting Africa. www.meetingsafrica.co.za/summit |
| • | The 5th edition of the B&B EXPO will take place on March 13 & 14 in the new location of Tour & Taxis in Brussels - www.bbexpo.be. |
| • | KITF, the Kazakhstan International Travel Fair http://www.kitf.kz/ru/ celebrates its 10th anniversary and is looking for hosted buyers for this edition taking place in Almaty 21-23 April 2010. Interested? Contact Karine.Sogomonyan@ite-exhibitions.com |
| • | The 32nd edition of the ‘Internationaal Vakantiesalon Antwerpen’ opens on 22 January till 27th January. Guest Country is Cyprus and over 600 different exhibitors! www.vakantiesalon-antwerpen.be |
| • | Consult BBT Online’s MICE agenda, and don’t miss any event - www.bbtonline.eu/agenda.php |
| • | GSAR Marketing informs that the XVI edition of MITM Americas, Meetings and Incentive Travel Market, will be held for the second time in the city of Quito, Ecuador from October 6th to 8th, 2010. Are you interested to join BBT Online as Hosted Buyer? Mail us at info@bbtonline.eu |
MISCELLANEOUS |
|
| • | IAPCO reacts against EU statement to declare war on business trips in view to curb gas emissions; they advocate ‘responsible’ travel in order to avoid further problems down the road. For full details, contact IAPCO head office at info@iapco.org |
| • | Ireland and more specifically the Irish Brogue is so popular and considered super sexy that Cork has become a top 10 city trip destination! www.discoverireland.com |
| • | From 30 November 2009 till December 6, 2009 several high class restaurants will serve an exquisite three course gastronomic dinner for only 27 euro’s and a three course lunch for only 20 euros. - www.restaurantweek.be |
| • | World Travel Market has asked some of the worldwide travel industry’s most senior executives to predict the next three decades of the travel and tourism industry. The trends include underwater travel, portable hotels, home stays and sports tourism. Read more behind this link, click here. |
| • | The Visit Malta office has started its own series of podcasts to help illustrate the different aspects of tourism on the island. http://www.visitmalta.com/podcasts |
| • | The city of Hasselt-Belgium introduces a culinary tour of the world during a walking dinner in the city where participants use a GPS to go from one destination to the next. Info on www.t-nav.be |
| • | Do not forget that till the 17th of December this year every Thursday night 7 different Brussels Museums stay open till 10 pm; for more info, mail to info@brusselsmuseums.be |
| • | The much discussed photography exhibition “Controverses” in Brussels’ Botanique has been prolonged until January 3rd, 2010. More info, click here. |
| • | JUMP!, The woman’s forum, offers a series of Woman’s Academy Workshops. For more info, go to www.womansacademy.be. The objective of the Woman’s Academy is to offer Women practical workshops for the development of their competencies and professional knowledge. |
HOTELS |
|
| • | Brussels is booming! A new boutique hotel has just opened in Brussels near the Place Stefanie: Vintage Hotel. 29 rooms. www.vintagehotel.be |
| • | The Holiday Houses specialist Euro Relais, since years active on the growing market of Holiday Homes, continues under the name Belvilla, market leader in the Benelux. www.belvilla.be |
| • | For the second year running, Sofitel is partnering the Paris Tourism Office in their charm offensive ‘Paris by Soldes” from 6/1/10 until 10/02/2010 during the Sale period. www.sofitel-ShopandChocAddict.com |
| • | The Barsey Hotel in Brussels has launched its Tea Party concept daily between 3 and 6pm, an old tradition honored! |
| • | Earlier this month 4 Noordwijk (The Netherlands) hotel directors shared a bed for one night only. Joost van Beek (NH Conference Centre Leeuwenhorst), Eugène de la Croix (Palace Hotel), Stephan Stokkermans (Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin) and Jaap Liethof (Hotels van Oranje) crept fraternally under the covers to fire the starting pistol for the "Noordwijk Nights" campaign. For more info, go to www.noordwijknights.com |
AIRLINES |
|
| • | In view of the economic crisis and the low uptake of Business Class on short distances, Air France has launched ‘Voyageur’ for the rate conscious traveler and ‘Premium’ for the business traveler in quest of more flexibility ad quiet – www.airfrance.com |
| • | Schiphol: because of the recent abolition of the much discussed ticket tax, Schiphol is no longer one of the most expensive airports in Europe and moves down into 5th position in Europe. |
| • | Virgin Atlantic has launched an anti-fear of flying application for iPhone and iPod. The software is based on their course “Flying without Fear”. Virgin Atlantic also started lines between London Gatwick and San Juan (Puerto Rico). |
| • | Jet Airways re-introduced its comfortable, new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on the Mumbai-Brussels-Newark sector. Effective December 2, 2009, Jet Airways will connect Mumbai with the Nepalese capital city of Kathmandu - www.jetairways.com |
| • | Mexicana, the largest airline in Middle America has joined the Oneworld Alliance. |
| • | Brussels Airlines future partner United Airlines announced the launch of a new transatlantic Chicago O’Hare – Brussels service next spring. www.brusselsairlines.com |
| • | Qatar Airways has launched a special telephone number (02 511 85 30) for better service to its Belgian passengers; travel agents also have their own dedicated line 00800 80052800 - www.qatarairways.com |
PEOPLE |
|
| • | Club Med: General Manager for Benelux Jeff Van Bever leaves Club Med end November and hands over to Frenchman Philippe Mahouin (39) who will take up his new position on January 1 after leaving his current position in Japan. |
| • | Marianne Impens has left the Incentive Agency Mind and Motion and is starting up her own company. She can be reached Mob: + 32 / 495 79 54 55 | Mail: marianne.impens@skynet.be |
SOMETHING FUNNY |
|
| • | Proof that promotional clips can be fun! |
Karin de Graauw – Editor BBT Online
Rue Van Eyckstraat 29 – 1050 Brussels – Belgium
info@bbtonline.eu – www.bbtonline.eu