Whale watching with the Marriott

I was lucky enough to score an invite from Marriott hotels to join them for a day of whale watching on the Gold Coast on Saturday. This was the second time I've been whale watching as I had a similar invite back in 2006.

I was a little concerned the morning before when the weather was overcast and windy but we were lucky enough to get a beautiful day with calm seas. The boat itself was a luxury catamaran part of the Tallship Island Adventure fleet and the Marriott had a lovely seafood buffet for us to enjoy as we boarded.

We had about an hour out in the ocean checking out the whales before heading back to the calm of the canals and enjoying cocktails, canapes and some entertainment and McLaren's Landing.

It was a fantastic day and a big thank you to the teams at Surfers Paradise Marriott and Brisbane Marriott for my invite and their generous hospitality.

Helpful Hotels: 15 Great Examples of Remarkable Service That Earns Social Media Attention | ehotelier.com News Archives

A good article on how hotels are using social media to make memorable guest connections.

Adam's favourite was this one:

Social Media Increases Loyalty at Accor


According to Nancy Trejos at USA Today, Accor Hotels tried something cool at its Sofitel and Novotel properties in Philadelphia, Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. – identifying loyalty members checking into the hotels that month, and then checking (public) social media profiles to identify the guests’ interests. A gift was then selected to “Take guest recognition to the next level, to a more powerful level,” said Magali Jimenez Bervillé, director of e-commerce North America for Accor.

Some examples?

•For the guest who likes fine dining, an all-day behind-the-scenes tour of Tru in Chicago along with a night at the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower.


•For the guest who likes fishing, an eco-friendly fishing trip in the San Diego Bay.

•For the guest who likes luxury cars, a certificate to drive a Ferrari and Lamborghini.

•For the guest who likes lounging in spas, a day at the Hela spa in Washington, D.C., plus an overnight stay at the Sofitel.

•And for the guest who likes sports, VIP tickets to a hockey game between the San Jose Sharks and the Red Wings.

  Helpful Hotels: 15 Great Examples of Remarkable Service That Earns Social Media Attention | ehotelier.com News Archives

Many Websites for Booking Hotels, But Little Competition | ehotelier.com News Archives

Have you noticed? Online hotel prices are becoming as homogenized as a quart of milk.

Big travel sites have gobbled up competitors. Discounters have bought other discounters. The concentration of nearly all travel booking engine websites ensures that most of them are reliable and efficient -- but tend to have exactly the same price.

Many Websites for Booking Hotels, But Little Competition | ehotelier.com News Archives

Ekka holiday - closed

Just to let you know, its a public holiday tomorrow (August 15) in Brisbane for the Ekka. Since there's nothing major going on at the moment we will take the day off and enjoy the midweek break.


If its not too urgent, please feel free to leave a voicemail message or e-mail me and we'll get back to you first thing on Thursday morning.

The Bourne Legacy

Adam and I were lucky enough to get an invite to a special preview screening last night of The Bourne Legacy at the Dendy cinema at Portside. A big thanks to Stephen from the Stamford Plaza for our invitation and for being our gracious host for the evening.

No spoiler alert needed in this post other than to say that the Aussie cameo half way through was hilarious and the whole cinema burst out laughing.

International Geology Congress

Why is Brisbane so heavily booked you (and everyone that has rung in the last 2 weeks) ask? See the article below.

A decent size conference for Brisbane is anything over 1000 people attending, so 5000 is MASSIVE! We haven't seen a conference this size in the city since the Woolworths convention back in 2008.


5000 to hit Brisbane for geology summit

GEOLOGIST and BBC presenter Iain Stewart will be among 5000 delegates expected to descend on Brisbane this weekend for a global geology summit.

The 34th International Geological Congress was last held in Australia in 1976, in Sydney.

The last congress was held in Oslo four years ago.

Organisers say it will inject $18 million into the Queensland economy and will be the first event to book out every single meeting room in the city's Convention Centre.

More than 3000 speakers including Iain Stewart will appear over six days from Sunday.

Stewart is filming a series in the region and will speak during a session that focuses on the impact humans have had on the earth.

Channel Nine's Ray Martin will host a forum of international resource ministers which include Australia's Martin Ferguson and the resource ministers of Russia, Vietnam and China.

The Congress's president Neil Williams says the forum will stimulate a "truly global discussion" about managing the world's increasing use of resources.

Climate change is also expected to be a hot topic at the congress.

It will test the city's ability to host major events ahead of the G20 summit in 2014 when 7000 delegates and media are expected to flock to Brisbane.