Do you judge a hotel by its Internet Security?

Well – very interesting article I came across in the Herald the other day.

As per the story – a hacker hacked into a hotel server, left a data stealing trojan that gave him access to all the hotel customer data information!! The hotel in question (for logical reasons) has completely downsized the enormity of situation, saying “it only affected 10 customers”!
Super dangerous dont you think? considering credit card details etc.

All these stories convincing me to ration my credit card use both home and overseas!

Read more here

Rugby World Cup 2011

I was fortunate to attend Thrive 2008 at Aotea square on Thursday and was quite fascinated with what Martin Snedden (CEO Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd.) had to say.

With the obvious concerns regarding whether New Zealand had the infrastructure to deal with and event of this scale he seems to have the right attitude – pointing out that this is our chance to show the world what a ‘small country like New Zealand’ can do!

The was a very concerned message that the recent media portrayal of the average New Zealander is ‘something we should try not to be’ …. was not sure exactly what in particular he was referring to, but I liked his pun when he said “New Zealand is mad about Rugby, look back at the last few months and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about”.

I reckon Transfercar is just what New Zealand needs to cope with all that travel over the World Cup – I mean, driving around relocation cars for free between matches…this could be New Zealand’s new ‘tourist attraction’!!….’Transfercar, makes up for God giving us crazy aas petrol prices!’ =P

ps – bad news: expect ‘international ticket prices’ with the humongous costs involved in the bid for hosting rights!

Read a related article @ RugbyHeaven.co.nz

Get your hands dirty!!!!

I had the plessure today to be invited by Dr Shuyuan Wu as a guest lecture for a undergrad paper at AUT in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. One of the objectives of the paper was for students to generate a business idea and present it in front of a panel – just like Dragons Den. I used my own company, Transfercar, as a case study to demonstrate how an idea was turned into a new venture.

I was amazed with the quality and diversity of the ideas that these students have generated – but gee – what happend to good old fashioned market research? Not that the student have not done any market research – they had been told to identify their competitors and estimate the market potential – simple Google research – but none have actually been out getting their hands dirty. None have actually been out talking to real people – real customers – real suppliers.

I guess it is not the students fault – but maybe academics should spend less time teaching students how to do regression and Porter’s 5 forces – and spend more time teaching them how to use their network and communicate with people – because at the end of the day – isnt that what entrepreneurs do.

What is your best traveling tip?

Source:

‘Don’t forget to take your body and soul with you, but leave your laptop and cellphone at home.’ Kiwiswiss (Kaikoura)

Beautifully put don’t you think? So is the next….


‘Try not to get too wrapped up in other people’s tips about travelling, people (all of them including you & me) are weird and have weird ideas about stuff (vaseline up the nose?). Just enjoy yourself in the way that suits you best and be nice.’ – John Paul Moss (Auckland)

My personal (more of a ‘tip’sy tip) – a scan of all important documents (passport, drivers license, visas etc) saved onto your email, just in case your wallet or suitcase happens to get ‘castaway’

Read more @ New Zealand Herald Travel Section

The Olympic Gold of ‘Favourite Destination’

After 4 consecutive years at the top of the Lonely Planet Travelers Pulse survey of ‘favourite destination’ Australia have been dethroned by The United States of America – but maybe for the best reasons!

“Lonely Planet Marketing Analyst Adam Stanford said the United States had become an increasingly popular travel destination because of the exchange rate of the American dollar”

Australia have otherwise topped every year running since the Loney Planet started conducting the survey since 2004

New Zealand moved up to 5th place from 9th (in 2007).

The survey includes the opinion of over 17,500 respondents from 132 countries – the largest of its kind

Read more
@ Lonely Planet website
@NZ Herald website