4-Hour Guides

Here's a great idea - Business Traveler (US version) have put together a number of online travel guides for a range of popular business destinations worldwide. These provide an overview of the area, with specific places to visit and directions to get there. Especially geared toward the business traveller or anyone with a little time to spare and a new place to explore outside their hotel door...

Or if you prefer the UK edition, Business Traveller also have a section offering slightly more detailed city guides with helpful maps included.

ABTA Magazine

The August issue of ABTA magazine is jam-packed as always with news from the travel industry. Adventure travel is the cover story in this one with examples given of various activities and links to tour operators. Destinations in focus are the Red Sea Riviera, Argentina, India and Chicago. News stories include air travel, technology, business travel and hotels. A profile of Sunvil Holidays is given. Just some of the other topics discussed are homeworkers, business travel and high-speed rail travel across Europe with samples of destinations.

Conferences and call for papers

CFP Heritage in Asia - converging forces and conflicting values: Singapore, 8-10 Jan 09

Globalization, Development and Tourism: Mega Events and City Tourism: Shanghai, 6-9 Nov 08

IIPT First European Conference on Tourism and Peace: Netherlands, 21-24 Oct 08

International Conference on Tourism Development and Management: Kos Greece, 20-23 June 09

National Sports Development Seminar: Sheffield, 3-4 Sept 08

RSA Tourism 08: Developing tourist destinations: Denmark, 26-28 Nov 08

SportBusiness.com publish a journal which focuses on events, marketing and media within the sports industry. Within these sections articles cover a range of sport-related matters, including:
  • education
  • event management
  • finance
  • hospitality
  • law
  • gaming
  • sponsorship
  • sports tourism
  • technology
  • ticketing
  • TV rights
The website provides a list of various sporting activities which link to related news articles, or there is the option of searching articles by country. News stories have also been archived.

For email alerts on contents of the latest issues, subscribe by entering your email address at the top of the page on the website. The print journal can be found in print at Summer Row library.

Joint Ventures: Blues & Villa

Birmingham has taken an historic step by becoming the first city to sponsor two of its local football clubs - Aston Villa and Birmingham City. Marketing Birmingham have signed a 3 year contract with the teams in a project which will promote the visitbirmingham.com brand, in order to boost tourism in the city. The Chief Executive of Marketing Birmingham Neil Rami commented, "Football has a global audience of 3.13bn and is a major influence on tourism, helping to shape people's perceptions of a city, particularly with international visitors...it's the first time that a city has supported its football clubs in this way and we're very excited about the project." more...

Key facts:

  • 31.9m visitors to Birmingham in 2007, 1.5m more than 2006
  • The campaign is to launch in September
  • Visit Birmingham - the name of Marketing Birmingham's new leisure campaign
  • Birmingham City Council is to fund Marketing Birmingham over 3 years

Always leave 'em laughing

Way back at the end of June, I had an opportunity to satisfy my somewhat obsessive-compulsive nature and end this blog on a Significant Number (144 posts, to be precise). I chose to linger rather than leave, feeling I had more left to say. Perhaps I should have seized that moment when I could, because now, a little more than month and only two posts later, The Recreation Annex is indeed drawing its curtains closed.

I have started a new blog on WordPress called WalakaNet that combines a few of my outlets into one source; comics will no longer be the sole focus of the site, but will have its own section. You might say I am moving the dial a little bit away from the Fortress of Fortitude end and toward the Estoreal end. (As long as I don't move into Capespotting territory; where the heck are ya, Cap?)

I want to thank everyone who has come by or offered support. Realizing that over the past two and half years people have paid something like 40,000 visits here to see what I was up to makes me feel like I was a small but real part of the comicsweblogosphere. I hope some of you come by the new place for my occasional observations.

And now, two short videos, both (coincidentally) with political themes, that made me laugh.

An example of hard-hitting investigative reporting from San Diego, with surprising results:



I don't know how to categorize this, but that doesn't mean it's not cool:



Well, so long, and as Stan The Man used to say, Excelsior!




Before, during and after: London 2012

This paper by DCMS forms a legacy plan which sets out in detail what they hope will be achieved by holding the Olympics in London, including regeneration and its aims
to engage all sections of the community. There is a chapter which explains how the legacy will be delivered across Great Britain with tips for employers, local government and the public on participation and taking advantage of opportunities created by the upcoming event. An illustrated time-line is included to show the activity programme upto 2012. Results to research carried out on the awareness of and attitudes towards the Olympic Legacy and its aims, are also shown.

With the Beijing Olympics also now underway, the official website is a one-stop info point. Here you can find out the latest news, schedules, live results, details on athletes, sports and venues. Also includes videos, photo gallery and an educational section.

Journals Roundup

International Journal of Sport Marketing and Sponsorship (Olympics special edition via Infotrac):
  • Coca-Cola China’s Virtual Olympic Torch Relay Programme at the Beijing Olympic Games
  • Olympic sponsorship: evolution, challenges and impact on the Olympic Movement
  • Selection of leveraging strategies by national Olympic sponsors: a proposed model
  • Winning the Olympic marketing game: recall of logos on clothing, equipment and venues at the 2006 Turin Olympics
  • The Olympic Equestrian Games: brand collaboration and associations occurring within a destination and a sports event
  • Olympic Games host and bid city marketing: exploring issue management in the relationships among event stakeholder group

Hidden Europe:

CTCC Newsletter - latest edition

On the Road magazine - latest edition