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Johan Svanstrom: 'Ultra-aware' customers are the future of travel
Japanese stores offering foreigner-only discounts
Lucky New Year: 4 near misses for Aussie travelers
50 beautiful places to visit in Korea
Alexis Ong: Singapore needs to encourage ‘bad behavior’
Gallery: World’s busiest port
Up close and personal: 10 touchy Aussie zoo tours
Shopping in Singapore is better than Paris
Sydney Festival First Night takes over city center
6 peculiar European destinations sought by Chinese tourists
50 foods that define the Philippines
Best Shanghai day trips

Johan Svanstrom: 'Ultra-aware' customers are the future of travel

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 09:33 PM PST

"Consumers are putting on the travel agent uniform themselves."

That's one of Johan Svanstrom's key observations after almost seven years as the vice president and managing director for Asia of hotel booking site Hotels.com.

From a small telephone service in the United States 20 years ago, the company has grown into a worldwide online booking site with around 140,000 properties in its books.

Currently operating 85 country sites worldwide, Svanstrom started 2012 with a bang -- by announcing a new loyalty program that gives customers one free hotel night for every 10 they book through Hotels.com.

But it's the next five to 10 years that Svanstrom thinks will really see the travel booking process turned on its head.

Japanese stores offering foreigner-only discounts

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 09:28 PM PST

In the latest in a very long line of moves designed to encourage overseas tourists to return to Japan post-March 11, several major retailers have decided to offer discounts to shoppers based on the color of their passports.

According to today's Nikkei newspaper, department-store giant Isetan Mitsukoshi is knocking off 5 percent at the register for shoppers from "China, Taiwan and other foreign markets."

Oddly, said folk have to hold one of a selection of credit cards from their home countries, but must pay cash in Japan, as their cards won't work when they're overseas anyway.

Trending topic

Elsewhere, popular gadget- and white-goods store Bic Camera has already kicked off a scheme to reward foreign folk snapping up waffle irons and whatnot from its shelves.

It is, apparently, separate from Bic's longstanding point-card scheme for domestic shoppers, if you're curious.

Lucky New Year: 4 near misses for Aussie travelers

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 06:43 PM PST

2012 may well be a lucky year indeed.

Airplane dramas, unplanned free falls, crocs and sharks -- no worries.

That's all just a lot of fun, as long as you live to tell the story.

Qantas passengers hit the roof

All travelers enjoy a free flight, but Qantas' offering was a little over the top.

For half a minute onboard the A380 from London to Singapore, travelers were probably wishing the airline was still grounded.

50 beautiful places to visit in Korea

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 02:00 PM PST

by Cin Woo Lee

Some 25 million South Koreans -- about half the population -- travel abroad at least once a year, but it's safe to assume that most haven't seen all the beautiful sights within the country.

Seoul only takes up a mere 0.6 percent of South Korea's territory: here are 50 stunning photographs from the other 99.4 percent of the country that are all worth a visit.

Here are the flowery spring landscapes, sandy beaches, rocky mountains and quietly stunning historic sites on your new Korean travel bucket list. And just in case you were wondering, they are in no particular order. Feel free to add some suggestions of your own in the comment box at the end of the article.

1. Seongsan Sunrise Peak (성산일출봉)

Seongsan Sunrise Peak Cue the cinematic music. Hydrovolcanic eruptions formed this majestic volcanic crater 5,000 years ago on Jeju Island.

A UNESCO world heritage site, the peak is famous for many things, including numerous rare plant species, but is best known for the magnificent sight of the sun rising over it (hence the name).

Alexis Ong: Singapore needs to encourage ‘bad behavior’

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 02:00 PM PST

by Alexis Ong

Singapore is a creative deadsville. Or that's pretty much the view of Apple's Steve Wozniak.

In a recent interview with the BBC, he stated that a company like Apple couldn't "emerge in societies like Singapore where 'bad behavior is not tolerated' and people are not taught to think for themselves."

At first glance, it made the small pseudo-patriot in me annoyed, but for the most part, the great and mighty Woz speaks the truth.

It's true, Google is setting up in Singapore, but it's a fancy, shiny new data center.

Fitting, when you reflect on Wozniak's comments focused mainly on the social limitations of "structured societies" like Singapore, where individuals aren't truly free to express themselves and experiment with institutional boundaries.

Gallery: World’s busiest port

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 01:57 PM PST

by CNNGo staff

With the rapid rise of towering skyscrapers, massive shopping malls and glamorous restaurants, it's easy to forget Shanghai's original function –- the city was established as a port.

Named after the phrase "going to the sea," Shanghai is China's largest port and it recently consolidated its title as the world's busiest port in 2011.

Shanghai Daily reported that the city's port handled more than 30 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) in the past year.

That statistic makes Shanghai the world's busiest port for the second year after the city overtook Singapore in 2010. It's also a new record in the world's port history.

Although Shanghai Port comprises three container terminals -- Wusong, Waigaoqiao and Yangshan -- Yangshan is the only deep-water port.

Up close and personal: 10 touchy Aussie zoo tours

Posted: 09 Jan 2012 11:59 AM PST

by Bruce Holmes

There's often a divide between the animal kingdom and humans.

But touchy tours offer travelers the opportunity to get a little more friendly with some of the world's most mysterious beasts.

Placing their trust in zoo keepers, tourists are at the mercy of animals during these 10 tours.

Feed rare pandas in Adelaide

Panda and Friends, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia

Wang Wang and Funi are pretty special: they're the only giant pandas in the Southern Hemisphere. They live in Adelaide, but were born at the Wolong Giant Panda Research Centre in China.

Shopping in Singapore is better than Paris

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 12:04 AM PST

How many shopping trips truly turn out to to be the idyllic experiences your friends promised they would be?

Presence Mystery Shopping, a Paris-based market consulting company, thinks it has found 30 places that really truly can offer shopping heaven. It has published a report ranking the welcome and service for the world's most famous shopping streets.

"We surveyed the quality of retail service on iconic shopping streets that tourists are told they just need to visit," says Presence Business Development Manager, Leslie Kambourian.

Over 30 main avenues were visited, and nearly 400 individual retail outlets were observed, including perfume shops, restaurants, ready-to-wear outlets and showrooms.

Orchard Road in Singapore came out in first place, Venue de la Liberté in Luxembourg followed in second and PC Hooftstraat in Amsterdam took third spot.

Sydney Festival First Night takes over city center

Posted: 05 Jan 2012 08:44 PM PST

If you are in Sydney this weekend, you're here at the right time. If you're not, plan your holiday for the first week in January next year to enjoy Festival First Night.

The street party that ushers in the long-running Sydney Festival is now in its fifth year and has come to define summer in Sydney and the cultural idealism of the harbor city.

Hundreds of thousands of people will arrive in the city center for an artistic celebration.

Elizabeth Street, Macquarie Street, College Street, Hyde Park, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and The Domain will host an array of acts.

Starting with the kids

Who says that festivals aren't for kids?

6 peculiar European destinations sought by Chinese tourists

Posted: 05 Jan 2012 06:00 PM PST

by CNNGo staff

Approximately four million Chinese traveled to Europe in 2011, and the number is expected to grow over the next few years.

It's no news that these deep-pocketed tourists enjoy shopping in Harrods, posing on the Champs-Élysées and drinking wine in Bordeaux.

But what else is on the agenda?

According to a recent post on gadling.com, Chinese tourists have charted a unique route to celebrate communism and classic culture in Europe.

Here are six off-the-beaten-track destinations explored by thousands of Chinese tourists.

50 foods that define the Philippines

Posted: 05 Jan 2012 02:01 PM PST

by Maida Pineda, Candice Lopez-Quimpo

Filipino food may not be as famous as that of its Thai and Vietnamese neighbors. But with more than 7,000 islands and a colorful history, this archipelago has some delicious dishes of its own.

Blessed with an abundance of seafood, tropical fruits and creative cooks, there's more to Filipino dishes than the mind-boggling balut (duck embryo).

You just have to know where to find them and how to eat them.

Don't miss: World's 50 most delicious foods

Best Shanghai day trips

Posted: 05 Jan 2012 01:57 PM PST

by Kellie Schmitt

After touring Shanghai's downtown for a few days, everyone needs a break from the car horns, jackhammer drills and blasting TV screens on public transport.

With the upcoming Lunar New Year rush, retreating into nearby suburbs and lazy water towns become a convenient way to gain inner peace.

And here are five of the best Shanghai day trips.

Best Shanghai day trips We dare you to take a basket of xiaolongbao from the bottom.