1. Uptake.com launched it's public beta a week or two ago and the buzz is that it's a great leap forward in travel information search applications. Uptake assists your travel planning efforts by pooling information from both commercial and user-generated or informational websites. The goal is you get more info all in one spot. It's a pretty lofty goal and the site is quite limited in it's breadth and depth, but it's certainly worth a look-see. I personally liked the aggregation of customer reviews for various hotels.
2. Watch Orbitz.com this month. In a recent Goldman Sachs internet conference, the #3 online travel giant spoke of a new "innovative way to address aspects of searching and purchasing travel online" it plans to launch in June that would have a "significant impact" on it's financial results for the rest of the year. The travel pirates have been long waiting for one of the "Big 3" (Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia) to break from the pack. Could Orbitz be onto something new and different? We anxiously await more details.
3. Starwood Hotels and Resorts' Westin brand is launching a new, environmentally friendly hotel chain called Element. The first one opens next month and Starwood plans 20 by the end of 2009. Each Element hotel will be designed and certified from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design; have a comprehensive recycling program; use chlorofluorocarbon-free refrigerants for heating, cooling and ventilation systems; and offer priority parking for those driving hybrids.
4. My current favorite travel show, Three Sheets, wraps it's third season on the HD channel MOJO this month. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and seek it out on your cable box. Zane Lamprey travels around the world learning about (and, of course, drinking) local drinks and drinking customs. He's my new personal hero. I tell you the travel pirates invented this idea and have practiced it for years, we just got too drunk to make a damn show. Zane can hold his liquor far better than me, so I'll just watch his travel adventures with beer in hand. If you don't have MOJO, Three Sheets is also available on iTunes.
5. For this month's "Gee, that's a pretty website" award (which obviously the Travel Pirates will never win. Actually we don't care...as we're pirates!), click on over to Selective Asia. Selective Asia is a British tour company and while they certainly want you to book your business with them - and their tours sound absolutely fabulous - there is a wealth of destination content, photos and travel advice available on the site. Borneo (pictured above) is in my "Top 10." I'd really love to make it there someday soon.
Know of any cool, new, updated or recently launched websites? Leave a comment and we'll check it out. If it meets the pirates' code, we'll add it to a future monthly review.
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