You have started recently in the marketing role at Venere. What are you bringing to Venere.com and what exciting new things are you planning to do in the next few months?

I have a broad background in Online travel, Marketing and E-Commerce and I believe the experiences I have gained over the past 11 years in the tourism- and hotel industry in different parts of Europe will enable me to have a real impact on the Venere-brand.

Venere.com has been a pioneer in the European hotel industry since the very beginning of the online travel revolution (going back to 1995) and I am planning on building on that great heritage of innovation and ‘true’ customer focus.

We are currently going through an ‘exploration’ phase and looking at our customers’ needs- and desires in more detail, which will then help us to focus our ‘innovative brains’ on those things that will have the biggest impact on their experiences. I strongly believe that ‘true’ customer-focused innovation doesn’t necessarily have to be ‘loud’ nor involve adapting the latest technology gadgets, but small incremental enhancements that just make their online buying experience a positive part of their whole travel journey are often worth much more.

There are no detailed plans we want to share here – just yet – but rest assured we won’t rest and continue providing a great service to our customers – whether it’s on the web, on the phone or on a mobile device. Stay tuned!

How do you feel about the Facebook and Twitter revolution? Do you think social media are going to have a big impact on the travel industry? How are you planning to further develop social media engagement for Venere?

Social media has already had a big impact on the Travel Industry – just think about the impact sites like Tripadvisor have had on the way we purchase travel today. Travelling is a very engaging and emotional activity and people love to talk about it afterwards and share their experiences.

Social media is a great enabler to make the sharing of those experiences even easier, more exciting and more valuable for others. Social media also enables people to let others ‘participate’ (at least partially) in your experiences while you’re going through them … just think about the number of people who now send regular photo- and status updates to their Facebook profiles while still ‘on the road’.

In the past people used to have to wait until their back from their trips to share those experiences – now it happens in real-time.

What is your favorite holiday destination? What is your best travel experience ever?

I don’t really have a particular destination, but I love holidays in the mountains (i.e. Alps) during Winter- and Spring and I prefer activity-type holidays (i.e. Water sports, Golf, mountain biking etc.) during the summer months.

One of my best travel experiences in the recent years was the wedding of a good friend of mine in India. It was a traditional Indian wedding that went on for several days and we were a great group of friends travelling together to the different venues throughout Rajasthan.

You are German and lived in London, UK, until recently. How do you like your new life in Italy? What do you like the most about living in Rome? Are you learning Italian?

The short answer is ‘I love it!’ I had a great time living in London for the past 10 years, but I felt it was time for a change and Rome has always been at the top of my list of favorite cities in the world.

The lifestyle is quite different here, but I feel I have already adapted to it fairly quickly – almost too quickly when I look at the way I am driving now – there is a chance I lose my license next time I am back in Germany

I have started to learn Italian as I think it is an important part of exploring a new culture, but thus far the progress has been a bit slower than I had hoped…

In his new role Hoffman will be responsible for spearheading the development of Venere.com, continuing its growth from a leading European enterprise into a global player in the hotel accommodation booking arena. He will work with a dynamic and experienced team based in Rome.

David Roche, President of Hotels.com Worldwide and Venere.com, comments, “It is a great coup for us to have brought Arthur onboard, he is an experienced travel professional with a proven track record in developing and growing businesses. His considerable experience will be highly beneficial to the Venere.com brand and we look forward to seeing it develop from strength to strength under his leadership.”

Hoffman brings with him a wealth of experience in the travel market. For the past five years he has held the position of Managing Director for Expedia Asia Pacific. In this role he has been responsible for overseeing all Expedia’s operations in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and India, as well as the continued growth of the Expedia brand across the APAC region.

Prior to joining Expedia, Hoffman was General Manager for Qantas Holidays, a role which saw him take responsibility for strategy, e-Commerce and IT for the brand. During his time at Quantas, Hoffman oversaw the development and implementation of a new IT platform, which included online booking tools for both the consumer and travel trade.

During his career Hoffman also served as a strategy consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton and Arthur Andersen. Hoffman holds an MA in Science from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands and an MBA from INSEAD in France.

Hoffman takes over the Managing Director role at Venere.com from Emmanuel de Rycker, who leaves the company to become the European Managing Director of Circles, a company recently acquired by Sodexho Alliance, based in London. Roche continues, “Emmanuel has made real progress in developing the Venere.com business and integrating it into Expedia after the acquisition last year, and he now passes on the baton to Arthur. We wish Emmanuel every success in his future endeavors.”

Hoffman will continue to serve as a Director on the board of eLong, Inc., the second largest online travel provider in China, of which Expedia, Inc. is a major shareholder.

Exciting news for hoteliers looking to optimize their distribution and receive more hotel reservations.

Expedia today is introducing the new Expedia Easy Manage program, a hotel partnership option with a commission model for qualifying hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa. These hotels can quickly and easily sign up to offer their hotel rooms on more than 70 Expedia and Hotels.com sites, as well as on Venere.com.

This great news also represents the integration of the Expedia and Venere.com hotel inventory following Expedia’s acquisition of Venere in 2008.

Hotels interested in learning more about working with Expedia and Venere.com, please visit joinexpedia.com.

Great Travel Tweets

We’re happy to know that our Twitter account Venere Hotels is in the Telegraph top 50 best travel tweets to follow.

Motorcycle Rental in Andalusia

If you’re planning a trip to Spain and are a fan of motorcycles, book a room at the Kempinski Hotel Bahia Estepona. This luxury beach resort in Andalusia offers Harley Davidson® rental service on request.

Carnival Tips

If you’re celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans, visit Intelligent Travel and check out the 10 things not to do during the carnival celebrations.

Crocodile Feeding

Vagabondish publishes the photo of a funny sign that was taken in Estonia and is entitled “Feed Your Children to the Crocodiles“.

Top 10 Cyprus Beaches

It’s a Beautiful Life Blog reviews the 10 greatest beaches of Cyprus.

Drop by the Venere stand at the International Hotel Chain & Travel Agency Pavilion and meet our very friendly Sales & Customer Service team. Our staff will welcome you with Venere travel gadgets and will be happy to answer any question you may have about venere.com.

Venere.com stand at FITUR 2009: Pav. 6, Stand 6G17.

The Venere Travel Blog has been online for a year now. It’s been fun and we hope that it was as good for you as it was for us.

You have come to know us, and we have come to know you. Judging from the Top-5 most read articles, you like chocolate and sexy design. Here’s your favourite articles for 2008:

1. Michelin Star Restaurants
Our article about venere.com hotels with on-site fine dining was one of the first articles published on our new travel blog in January 2008. The articles features yummy gourmet hotels in France, Germany, Italy and Poland.

2. Train Travel in Italy
Practical tips for traveling Italy by train, from seat reservations to finding out which train carriage is the right one. This is also one of the most commented articles, making it a complete guide to train travel in Italy. Pisa to Florence or Milan to Naples, find out how to enjoy the ride!

3. Adult Hotels
Published in July 2008 in the heat of Summer, the venere.com top-5 clothing optional and adults-only hotels. Located in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Australia, these naughty resorts offer relaxing luxury stays with fun activities.

4. Chocolate Churros in Madrid
Hot chocolate with churros is big in Spain. It’s typically eaten for breakfast, but can be enjoyed throughout the day. Any time is a good time for enjoying this thick and rich beverage made with dark chocolate in any of these recommended Madrid coffee bars.

5. Sexy Hotels in Europe
Following publication of the annual list of sexy hotels on sexiesthotels.com we got to looking for hot & smoking hotels on venere.com in Italy, Turkey, Holland, Germany and Greece. Sexy design, location, amenities and toiletries, these venere.com hotels are as sexy as it gets!

Tomorrow: our favorite articles

Birthday Cake photo by gotbrimmed

The venere.com team wishes you a happy holiday season!

Paola and Gianni, who are used to booking hotel rooms through venere.com, were very happy to stay in a beautiful luxury hotel in Rome for the first time in their life. The couple from Sassari, Sardinia,  really enjoyed the luxury and comfort of their splendid, romantic hotel suite.

Thanks to Paola and Gianni too for their kindness and good humor!

Watch the 20-second presention of venere.com by Igor from Venere UK.

Italian Vacation

Dreaming of a trip to Italy? About.com lists the 12 best movies to get you in the mood of an Italian holiday. The list includes films shot in Rome (”Roman Holiday” and “La Dolce Vita”)  and  Venice  (”Bread an Tulips” and “The Wings of the Dove”),  as well as Tuscany and Sicily-set movies.

Top Business Hotels

Forbes publishes its new “Top Hotels for Business Travelers” including the Intercontinental Sydney and the Intercontinental San Francisco.

Adventure Travel Accessory

Gadling presents a new useful gadget for hiking and backpacking travelers: a portable toilet bucket that can easily fit  in a luggage.

Best Toilets in New York

Ready to explore Brooklyn and Manhattan? Read Grindskipper’s reviews of the best restrooms in NY published in occasion of World Toilet Day 2008.

Offering cool user-friendly features, such as comprehensive travel reviews and articles by in-house travel writers and professional sources, semplified search and bookmarking tools, beautiful geo-tagged pictures, exciting design and advanced mapping technology, PlanetEye is a unique Web 2.0 travel site that helps you plan  your trip. 

On Planeteye.com, travelers can discover holiday destinations in Europe and around the world, organize their trip by exploring Planeteye maps, share their travel experiences and write reviews about restaurants, hotels, activities and tourist attractions.

If you are in London to attend this year’s World Travel Market show, drop to say hello to the friendly Venere staff who will be happy to answer your questions and give you some cool gadgets.

Angela is giving the prize to her sister Paola who will travel to Rome with her husband in early December. The couple will have the chance to stay in the beautiful hotel suite featured in the ‘Behind the Scenes at Venere.com’ video.

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Participating in our Watch & Win Contest was fun and easy! To win a luxury stay in Rome, you just had to watch our funny video and answer a simple question : ‘In the video, Giuseppe drives his scooter and passes three Rome landmarks. In what order does he pass them?’. The right answer was ‘Colosseum, Circus Maximus, Vatican’.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the first venere.com contest and congratulations to Paola and her husband!

1. Bali Luxury Hotels

Published July 5th – Dreaming of a spiritual retreat or an exotic honeymoon in Asia? Venere presents three of the most romantic hotels in Bali, Indonesia. These three exclusive resorts offer luxury hotel facilities including splendid swimming pools, lush gardens, luxurious spa & wellness centers, massage treatments and yoga classes.

2. Adult Resorts

Published July 21st – Want to book a sexy hotel for an exotic clothing-optional vacation? Check out these five adult hotels: Located in popular beach holiday destinations, these adult only resorts offer all you need to spend quality sensual time with your partner.

3. Traveling in Italy by Train

Published July 9th – Useful travel tips for getting around Italy by train: How to buy train tickets online or at the automatic machines, when and how to get cheap tickets in Italy, how to reserve a seat on Eurostar and Intercity trains… Plus more info on overnight trains, first and second class fares and train reservation problems.

4. German Wine Festivals

Published July 10th – An article on the most popular wine festivals in Germany: Mainzer Weinmarkt (Mainz Wine Festival), Stuttgarter Weindorf (Stuttgart Wine Village) and Rheingauer Weinmarkt (Rheingau Wine Festival). Three summer German ‘fests’ that all wine and food lovers should include in their holiday itinerary in Germany.

5. How to meet people in Paris

Published July 8th – Tips for solo travelers who are visiting France and want to know how and where to meet new people (both French and expats) in Paris. Four ways to meet people in the French capital city: English language walking tours, French-English language exchanges, Meet Up events and treasure hunts.

Rome has banned snacking near its famous monuments in the historical center, reports CNN.

The Canary Island of Lanzarote is ready to welcome flocks of tourists thanks to the new Almodóvar movie, starring Penelope Cruz, due to be released in early 2009. We can’t wait!

Tips on ideal travel insurance coverage can be found this week at news.com.au.

International news coverage of Venere’s acquisition by Expedia:

• Expedia finds its European Holy Grail, Forbes.com
• Advent sells travel web site to Expedia, Private Equity News
• Expedia buying European Hotels Site Venere, Washington Post
• Expedia acquires Venere but what does it mean?, Hotel Blogs
• Expedia promises independence for bed brands, Travolution

Venere was founded in 1995. Global private equity firm Advent International acquired a 60% controlling stake in the company in November 2006. The other 40% in stakes remained in the hands of Venere’s founders. Venere.com offers 29,000 hotels around the world, 26,000 of which in Europe. Venere.com is currently adding accommodation properties at a rate of more than 1,000 per month.

For Expedia Inc, global leader in online travel, the transaction will add more than 10,000 incremental hotels and other types of accommodation such as B&B and vacation rentals in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to its worldwide lodging offering.

Dara Khosrowshahi, President and CEO of Expedia, Inc.:

Acquiring Venere will bring a well-known, respected European consumer brand to the Expedia portfolio. Additionally, it will immediately expand our supply footprint in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and enable Expedia to diversify our business model approach to hotel partners worldwide.

Marco Ficarra, CEO of Venere Net S.p.A.:

We are thrilled at the prospect of becoming part of Expedia because our dedication to offering superior service to travelers via our extensive network of hotels and Bed and Breakfasts is a great fit with the most respected group of brands in travel. In addition, our team of passionate travel professionals located in Rome, London and Paris will complement Expedia’s global team, as we continue to provide hotels new ways to optimize their distribution mix.

1. Family friendly hotels in Washington DC

Published June 23rd – Our top-5 of Washington hotels with facilities to welcome families with kids. Nintendo games, swimming pools, children under 12 eat free, babysitting and other family-friendly amenities.

2. Art galleries in midtown Manhattan

Published June 11th – Visiting Manhattan with a passion for modern art? Check out these art galleries in Midtown Manhattan and within walking distance of the ongoing Dali exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (thru September 15th).

3. Pet-friendly beaches in Italy

Published June 16th – 5 dog-friendly beaches in the most beautiful parts of Italy to enjoy a relaxing family vacation without having to leave out the family pet. Some even offer dog sitting services and agility courses for your four-legged friend.

4. Shopping in Hong Kong

Published June 10th – How to get the best deals on your Hong Kong shopping spree. Learn all about bargaining in Hong Kong, check your products and know your rights.

5. How to get over jet lag

Published June 10th – Read how to fight dreadful jet lag after a flight across several time zones. Rest, water, sleeping aid, anti-jet-lag pills and positive thinking will help you make the best of it and be back to your normal state in no time.

Our very own Federica (30) and Luca (29) got married in Frosinone, approx. 90 km (56 miles) south-east of Rome. Federica works at Venere since 2004 as an information architect and Luca joined in 2007 as a database quality assurance operator.

Congrats from all of us at Venere.com! The big question remains: will they call their first born Venus?