Travelport, Monmouth, and twitter trolls
Business service provider, Travelport, announced a new partnership with social media experts, Digital Visitor, in what is thought to be the first agreement of its kind for a global distribution system. Travelport Regional Director, Simon Ferguson, said that the partnership is ‘a ground-breaking relationship’ for the travel industry.
The Welsh town of Monmouth became the world’s first ‘Wiki-Town’ this week, thanks to its rich cultural history. Visitors to the birthplace of King Henry V can use their smartphones to scan 1,000 barcodes at various locations and download articles and about the history of the town.
The student dubbed a ‘twitter troll’ after he posted racist remarks about footballer Fabrice Muamba following his cardiac arrest in March blamed ‘drunken stupidity’ for his actions. Liam Stacey, who was sentenced to 56 days in jail, said that the tweets were a "stupid, massive, massive mistake".
Facebook shares continue to drop in value today after the company launched on the stock market last Friday. As the social network’s value continues to fall, critics question founder Mark Zuckerberg’s integrity and his long-term vision for the company. The swift decline in share prices and claims that Facebook didn’t give investors the full picture has also sparked a number of lawsuits and government enquiries. But it’s not all bad news for the dotcom billionaire…he tied the knot with his long term love in a secret ceremony announcing the news on the social networking site.
David Cameron has been in the firing line again this week as members of the Labour party criticised his leisure habits saying that they explain why ‘the economy is in such a mess’. This comes after reports that the PM is addicted to playing ‘Fruit Ninja’ on his ipad.
And finally, Google’s annual Zeitgeist conference began this week with expected high profile guests including former US President Bill Clinton and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. The gathering aims to bring together the great minds of our time to discuss a range of issues from politics to the arts. Our invitation must have got lost in the post….
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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