October 2007

The Travel Bug - Issue 32

Vanuatu TV New Video

Vanuatu TV website has just finished a new video in Mandarin Chinese and is now available for view online! Click here to view video. Vanuatu.TV is an internet based TV station dedicated to bringing Vanuatu customs, tourism and business via professionally produced television programming via the Internet. (Source: Vanuatu TV 17 October 2007)

Successful South Pacific Fest 40

Tahiti Tourisme North America (TTNA) and Tahiti partners participated in another successful SPF40 (South Pacific Fest 40) in Long Beach, California. This year marks the 3rd annual SPF40, which was the culminated efforts of eight South Pacific National Tourism Offices representing: the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, and Vanuatu.  SPF40 was launched to provide a cost-effective and highly focused training event. SPF40 is a three-day training and networking event. The first day was dedicated to Retail Travel Agents while the remaining two days were dedicated to Tour Operator Staff. (Source: Tahiti Tourisme North America – Partner Update 27 September 2007)

BBC Worldwide Acquires Lonely Planet

BBC Worldwide, the international arm of BBC, has acquired Lonely Planet, the well known Australia-based travel information group. The amount of the deal was not disclosed, but Lonely Planet founders Tony and Maureen Wheeler get to keep a 25% share in the company.

Lonely Planet has been creating travel guides and programming for channels like Discovery for some time now, and with its recent initiatives for providing online content and communities, it's not surprising that it's been acquired. These recent developments include LonelyPlanetTV, which launched earlier this year, and released a Facebook application not too long ago. BBC is also working on growing its own online presence, from the iPlayer to a potential deal with Microsoft for distribution of content for the Xbox. Online properties like LonelyPlanetTV should fit nicely with the BBC's efforts. (Source: mashable.com)

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