Frankfurt – It seems like this year’s Formula 1 TM SingTel Singapore Grand Prix will be able to catch up to the outstanding success of 2008. Despite the ubiquitous global economic crisis, tickets are in great demand. Especially those for the Paddock Club – the exclusive Formula 1 area with access to the pit lane – are greatly sought-after, with 60% already sold out. Seeing how the tickets have only been available since February 6 and are already in such high demand, fans of Formula 1 should quickly secure theirs.

There’s some cause for cautious optimism in the tourism and travel industry across the Asia Pacific region, according to PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Director John Koldowski.

The PATA Tourism Forecasts 2009-2011, to be published this month, suggest growth in international arrivals for many destinations across the region – despite the global economic downturn. The Forecasts indicate a very mixed bag of results with significant variations across Asia Pacific.

by editorial office, ch

Good hotels are by no means exclusive to the luxury class. Heinz Horrmann, the internationally renowned hotel critic hailing from Berlin, states the most important factors to spot a top establishment by: Flawless facilities without gaudiness, as well as cordial service. “When there is both, the hotel-related offers and service personnel fulfilling their guests’ wishes even before they have actually voiced them, I speak of a good hotel”, says the successful publicist, who will be launching his new live documentary on RTL on April 5.

Serbia is home to a large number of buildings, monuments and nature reserves, some of which protected by UNESCO. About 7,500 square kilometers are registered as national and nature parks. This is in part due to the fact that 30 percent of Serbia’s surface is forested, most of which untouched by man. With so much greenery, accentuating it for tourism stands to reason. The most recent product in this respect is the new fold-up map “Grünes Serbien”, or “Go Green Serbia”, issued by the National Tourism Organization of Serbia.

The flier emphasizes six Serbian regions in particular, including the contact data of the parks: The Tara national park and the upstream part of the river Drina, the so-called “Iron Gate”, a border-crossing national park right and left of the Danube, the nature reserve by the river Uvac, the Stara Planina nature park, as well as the biosphere reserve in the Golija Mountains.

The Radisson Hotel Bangkok Sathorn recently announced the launch of its pre-opening campaign billed as “It Must Be City Life: Two Towers, One of a Kind.” This campaign is focused on introducing the Radisson Hotel Bangkok Sathorn as crisp, captivating,cool.

The hotel is set to be the first Radisson-managed property to open in Bangkok in mid-2009 under the Radisson Hotels & Resorts portfolio, the leading upscale, full-service brand managed by Carlson Hotels Worldwide – Asia Pacific. This new campaign is set to convey the three distinctive points of the hotel: the location, the two-tower structure landmark and the guest experience – all within the context of city life.

by editorial office, chd, Top Hotel

What distinguishes a good hotel? Heinz Horrmann, the internationally renowned hotel critic, lists the most frequent annoyances that made a negative impression on him during his worldwide hotel visits (without regard to hotel stars and categories):

1. Queues at check-in after an exhausting journey and badly trained personnel at the reception (it took me more than an hour at Fontainebleau Miami)
2. Searching for one’s room because guests are not being accompanied, a welcome lacking geniality, the guest as a mere number
3. Long wait for the luggage (general limit for the suitcase service: 6 minutes!)
4. Poorly prepared rooms: not ventilated, no welcome, no flowers, no plants, no complimentary mineral water, shortcomings in cleanliness (traces of foam on the shower wall, streaks on the mirror, no sanitized tooth brush glass)