Travel Blog Carnival Week 2

Travel Blog Carnival Venetian Logo

The Travel Blog Carnival is taking off

For week 2 Claude Benard of Les Explorers made the choice.

A Travel Blog Carnival Logo?

In the meantime Claude also made various proposals for a new logo in his post Travel Blog Carnival Logo: Please make your Choice.

My first reaction (and comment) was:
“Thinking Carnival is Thinking Rio. why not put a sexy Rio Dancer in the Logo?”

But then I remembered that I have a nice Venetian Mask, hand made in Venice and certified by the artist, Ca’ Macana (yes, I have their book on masks!). So i thought: “Why not take another Famous Carnival, that of Venice into account?”
et voila:
Here is my own proposal. I believe it enhances the curiosity, as a mask always gives some mystique sphere. In addition when you attend a masked ball everybody is “Primes inter Pares” i.e. the first under the like minded. There is no shame if your post is not chosen. I hope we will not get the same voting problems here as we have with Eurovision Song Festivals:-).

Claude, or other readers, feel free to morph it into a button if you like it!

Claude’s Choice:

  • Fun New Years Resolutons from Theresa Russel on Cruise Bug Chatter, currently ranking no 241 on the T-List Technorati ranking (she should mend her Technorati account!).
  • Are Customer Comment Cards Worth the Effort? from Vicky Brock on Tracking Tourism, currently ranking no 167 (yes I managed to add her!).
  • Travel Events in 2008 from poetloverrebelspy on Less than a Shoestring

Darren’s Selection:

Might Follow.

My comments and questions:

Great finds Claude! The last blog I didn’t know yet. A blog that is already involved in or setting up a Carnival of its own: Travel on a Shoestring Blog Carnivals.

Ha ha, It may take a short time but then we will see Paul launching a Luxury Blog Carnival:-). It is a lot of work Paul!

No finds from me today, however I noted that like for instance Albert, Claude and Guillaume and me who all struggle with the fact that our mother tongue is not English and the question how to combine the posts in two languages, another Travel Blogger has an English version of his Spanish Blog put on line: Nautilia, traveling in a strange way.

 

T-List Ranking Update

T-List

Pff
I have tried to make it more web 2.0 worthy, but to no avail.
At least I have now a reasonable complete list which fits again here in the Blog. I have also taken out some double entries. I have not taken out all double entries, because it is funny to see what happens when you change your Blog Hosting, see for instance Guillaume’s Hotels Blog and New York Traveler. The same list is also available in alphabetical order on the T-List page.

Those who find N.OK in the last column I suggest to check their Technorati membership.

I’ll let it rest for at least a month now.


Rank
Blog Name Subject Jan Dec Fav Lng Cn try 1 >1 OK ?
1 Travel Pod Destination 2409 1448 0 En US More OK
2 Gadling Travel 1445 1603 0 En US More OK
3 Gridskipper Destination 1372 1566 41 En US More OK
4 Serious Eats Destination 1353 1507 0 Sp Peru One OK
5 Japan Probe Destination 1264 1405 26 En Jap More OK
6 Grub Street NY Mag Food Restaurants 851 855 0 En US More N.OK
7 Waiter Rant Waiter 782 917 121 En US One OK
8 Jaunted Destination 670 637 7 En US More OK
9 Vinography: A Wine Blog Wine 465 425 38 En US One OK
10 Island Life Destination 451 470 0 En US More OK
11 World Hum Travel 427 435 16 En US More OK
12 Diario del Viajero Travel 396 410 5 SP SP More OK
13 HotelChatter Travel 387 369 7 En Us More OK
14 My Marrakesh Destination 378 404 25 En Mor One OK
15 Apartment Therapy Kitchen Destination 373 409 0 Sp Peru One OK
16 Upgrade Travel Better (old) Air Travel 371 561 5 En US One OK
17 Brave New Traveler Travel 346 341 14 En Can More OK
18 Upgrade Travel Better (New) Air Travel 264 229 5 En US One OK
19 Viaje na Viagem Destination 242 239 5 Port Brasil One N.OK
20 Travel Hacker Destination 238 167 0 Sp Peru One OK
21 Intelligent Travel (Nat Geo) Travel 229 161 3 En US More OK
22 Newyorkology Destination 222 232 12 En US More OK
23 Blog de Viajes Travel 2.0 203 226 8 Sp Sp One OK
24 Elliott Travel Writer 197 189 0 En US One OK
25 Les Explorers Travel 2.0 188 196 8 FR/En Fr More OK
26 Hotel and City Blog Destination 183 248 0 En Can More OK
27 Hotels and City Blogs Hotel Reviews 183 235 1 En Can More N.OK
28 Buenos Aires Daily Photo 177 226 8 En Arg One OK
28 Vagablogging Travel 176 172 9 En US More OK
20 Bajo Coste Air Travel 170 161 2 En US More OK
21 The Delicious Llfe Food 164 164 13 En US One OK
22 The Hague Daily Photo Blog Photo 156 156 2 En NL One OK
23 Wandalust Travel 147 162 3 En UK One OK
24 Albert Barra Marketing 146 127 10 Sp Sp One OK
25 TravelBlog.it Destination 136 156 6 It It More OK
26 The Lost Girls Backpackers 135 141 20 En US More OK
27 Vagabondish Travel 131 0 0 En US One NEW
28 Foreign Perspectives Destination 128 127 219 En Fr One OK
29 Living with Legends (Chelsea NYC) On Site 127 164 2 En US One OK
30 Hotelmarketing Com Marketing 120 143 1 En US More OK
31 DondeViajar.es Travel 114 110 2 Sp SP More OK
32 A Luxury Travel Blog Luxury Travel 113 133 10 En UK One OK
33 Randy’s Journal Air Travel 112 0 0 En US One N.OK
34 Family Travel Family Travel 110 126 5 EN US One OK
35 Blog on Travel Travel 2.0 109 121 15 En UK More OK
36 The Cranky Flier Air Travel 107 101 2 En US One OK
37 Travel Rants Travel 107 120 8 En UK One OK
38 Travolution Blog Marketing 105 116 14 En UK More OK
39 Marriot on the Move Hotel Reviews 104 152 0 En US More N.OK
40 The Travel Cooler Photo 104 94 1 En US More OK
41 El Blog de un Hotel Marketing 103 94 3 Sp Sp One OK
42 Restaurant Girl Rest. Reviews 96 104 6 En US One OK
43 Foodaholic Food 95 97 4 En Aus One OK
44 Fasten Your Seatbelts Marketing 91 108 2 Ger Au One OK
45 Hotel Blogs by Guillaume Thevenot Hotel Reviews 90 108 11 En UK One OK
46 Hotel hotsheet Travel 89 98 5 En US More OK
47 E Hotelier Com News 87 84 4 En US More OK
48 BedJump Com Bedjumping 82 118 0 En Can More NEW
49 Tim Leffel’s Cheapest Destinations Destination 81 84 5 En US One OK
50 Viator Travel Blog Travel 78 87 4 En ?? One OK
51 Geeky Traveler Gadgets 77 89 6 En US One OK
52 Megustaelturismo Air Travel 77 86 4 Sp Sp One OK
53 Vagablond Luxury Travel 77 81 4 En US More OK
54 Europe String Destination 76 77 7 En NL More OK
55 This non-American Life Expat 72 77 0 En Ch One OK
56 Well Done Fillet Destination 72 74 0 Sp Peru One OK
57 Juan Lopez Sobejano Marketing 71 79 3 Sp Sp One OK
58 Kango Blog Destination 71 71 0 En US More OK
59 Tourism Internet Marketing Blog Marketing 71 79 5 En Can One OK
60 Barmaid Blog Waiter 70 84 7 En US One OK
61 Buenos Aires Argentina Guide Destination 70 91 7 En Arg One OK
62 Travel Post Insider Hotel Reviews 68 80 5 En US One OK
63 BootsnALL Company Blog Travel 65 67 2 En US More OK
64 The Sydney Morning Herald Backpackers 64 70 1 En Aus More N.OK
65 Aquela Passagem Destination 61 74 2 Port Brasil More OK
66 Despegar Travel 2.0 61 81 2 Sp Arg More OK
67 Pasa en Buenos Aires Destination 61 56 1 Sp Arg One OK
68 Amateur Traveler Travel 60 0 0 En US One NEW
69 CampingCoop.org Travel Stories 60 70 141 En US One OK
70 Buenos Aires Faded Elegance Destination 58 66 4 En Arg One OK
71 Guia de Viajes Destination 58 68 1 SP Arg One OK
72 Rick Seaney Air Travel 57 52 0 En US One OK
73 TripCart :: The Travel Blog Destination 57 63 3 En US One N.OK
74 Absolut BCN – Blog de Barcelona Destination 56 55 2 Sp Sp One OK
75 de viaje a Brasil Travel 56 66 2 Port Brasil One OK
76 Marketing Turismo Blog Marketing 56 61 2 SP Sp One OK
77 New York Traveler Destination 56 61 3 En US One OK
78 The Boot Air Travel 56 56 0 En Aus One OK
79 The Informed Traveler Hotel Reviews 55 51 11 EN US One OK
80 Kulinarisch Reisen Marketing 54 60 6 Ger Au More OK
81 Happy Hotelier Hotelier 53 63 37 En NL One OK
82 Hotel-blogs.com/guillaume_thevenot/ Hotel Reviews 53 52 0 En UK One OK
83 Perceptive Travel Destination 53 51 0 OK
84 Tango Diva Travel Blog Solo Woman 53 28 1 En US One OK
85 Rolling Rains Report Travel 52 63 8 En US One OK
86 24 Travel Destination 50 46 0 Sp Peru One OK
87 Eat All Day Atalanta Destination 50 39 0 Sp Peru One OK
88 Edu Williams Travel 2.0 50 0 0 En One NEW
89 m-Travel.com Air Travel 49 53 0 En US One N.OK
90 The Lobby from SPG Hotel Reviews 49 69 5 EN US One OK
91 Hotels of the Rich and Famous Hotels 48 45 5 En US One OK
92 Line of sight Travel 48 66 4 En Arg One OK
93 Killing Batteries Hotel Reviews 47 48 3 En Eur One OK
94 Primera Clase Air Travel 47 87 1 SP SP One OK
95 Chileno-Living in Santiago Destination 46 61 1 Sp Chile One OK
96 Europe A La Carte Blog Destination 46 62 34 En UK One OK
97 Web 2.0 Travel Tools Travel 2.0 46 60 8 En ?? More OK
98 Hostel buenos Aires Hotel Reviews 45 36 2 Sp Arg More OK
99 Under The Rotunda Marketing 45 69 2 En Aus One OK
100 Bitacora de Viajes Travel 44 51 1 Sp Arg More N.OK
101 Vacant Ready (COM) Hotel Reviews 44 43 4 En Can One OK
102 La Coctelera: ZuHause – Inicio Photo 43 51 1 Sp Sp One OK
103 Road Gladiator Air Travel 43 42 3 En US One OK
104 Radaron Travel 2.0 42 49 1 En Can One OK
105 Travel Weekly UK Blog Marketing 42 47 4 En UK More OK
106 Online travel Review Air Travel 41 49 0 En US OK
107 Globorati Luxury Travel 40 52 0 En US More OK
108 Toni Mascaro Blog Barcelona Destination 40 50 0 Sp Sp One OK
109 Blissful Travel Travel 39 27 0 En UK One OK
110 De Viajero.com Destination 39 53 0 Port One OK
111 Hotels, Friends and more Marketing 37 37 0 Sp Sp One OK
112 InflightHQ Air Travel 37 52 3 En US More OK
113 Tourismus – Zukunft Travel 2.0 37 44 2 Ger Ger One OK
114 Air France Mexico – Weblog Air Travel 36 48 0 En Mex One OK
115 Explorando Peru Destination 36 44 0 Sp Peru One OK
116 Hotel Blog Esp Marketing 36 40 2 Sp Sp One OK
117 Social Diva Destination 36 31 0 OK
118 Brasilien Destination 35 37 1 Ger Brasil One OK
119 Brazil Travel Blog Destination 35 44 1 SP Brasil One OK
120 Notes From The Road Photo 35 51 4 En US One OK
121 Escapadas Europa. Destination 34 56 3 SP Sp More N.OK
122 Viajar Asia. Destination 34 51 3 SP Sp One OK
123 Travel and Web 2.0 Marketing 33 41 4 En US One OK
124 Buenos Aires through my eyes Destination 31 41 7 En Arg One OK
125 Exposed Planet Photo 31 45 1 En NL One OK
126 TravelerWIRE Hotel Reviews 31 42 4 En US More OK
127 blog.entornao Travel 2.0 30 24 0 Sp N.OK
128 City Guide-cc UGC 30 30 14 En More OK
128 Dot tourism Marketing 29 38 2 En Can One OK
130 Hawthorne Hotel Hotelier 29 29 0 En US More N.OK
131 The Travel & Hospitality Diaries Hospitality 29 40 5 En US More OK
132 Travel & Tourism Technology Trends Technology 29 21 1 En US More OK
133 Blog De Sao Paolo Destination 28 25 0 Sp Peru One OK
134 Erin Julian Travel 28 28 1 En US One N.OK
135 eTourismus.info Marketing 28 28 1 Ger Ger More N.OK
136 The Travel PR Blog Travel 2.0 28 38 2 En Uk One OK
137 Zeitgeist Marketing 28 44 0 En US One OK
138 Adirondack Base Camp Destination 27 38 0 En US More OK
139 GletcherBlog Destination 27 30 0 Sp Peru One OK
140 Relactions blog Travel 27 37 2 En US One OK
141 Travelvice Air Travel 27 38 0 En N.OK
142 Travelvice.com Destination 27 38 38 One OK
143 General Manager (Opus) Hotelier 26 45 1 En Can More N.OK
144 LadyBug & Co Destination 26 22 0 Sp Peru One OK
145 Travel Babel Travel 26 0 0 En US One NEW
146 Kiwi Viajero Photo 25 38 0 Sp Sp One OK
147 They Let Her Travel Travel Stories 25 25 0 En US More N.OK
148 Trabber Noticias Air Travel 25 33 0 Sp Sp One OK
149 Blog.rydges.com Destination 24 24 2 En US More OK
150 Travel Horizons Destination 24 36 5 En Aus One OK
151 Trusted Places Destination 24 25 0 En UK More NEW
152 Chronicles of On The Road Travel Destination 23 34 3 En Arg One OK
153 E Tourism Info Tourism 23 17 0 Fr Fr One OK
154 eurotrip Travel 23 26 1 Sp Arg One OK
155 BuhlerWorks by Joe Buhler Travel 2.0 21 32 0 En US One OK
156 Discover the French Riviera Destination 21 15 1 En Fr One OK
157 E-hotel Destination 21 21 3 En Latvia One N.OK
158 Es Mi Peru Destination 21 23 0 Sp Peru One N.OK
159 Touristikblog.de Travel 2.0 21 38 3 Ger Ger One OK
160 Brand Canada Blog Marketing 20 28 0 En Can N.OK
161 France This Way Destination 20 38 80 En Fr One OK
162 Home Based Travel Agent Travel 20 18 0 En US One OK
163 Living in France Destination 20 38 80 En FR One OK
164 MACO Caribbean Living Destination 20 17 2 En Carrib One OK
165 New York Hospitality Hotelier 20 31 0 En US One OK
166 Rumboperdido Destination 20 31 1 Sp Aus More OK
167 Tracking Tourism Travel Solo 20 17 2 Eng UK More OK
168 Bird to the North Destination 19 41 1 En US One N.OK
169 Intermundial Travel Insurance 19 32 1 Sp Sp One OK
170 Me-go: Around-the-World World Travel 19 36 0 En US One OK
171 My Travel Backpack Backpackers 19 34 1 En Can One OK
172 Passions of a Zealot Hotel Property 19 18 1 En US One OK
173 Travel in Blogs Aggregator 19 7 0 En/fr+ SP More OK
174 Vuelos Baratos en Internet Air Travel 19 19 0 Sp One OK
175 Bull City Muttering Mice 18 28 0 En US One OK
176 Commercializacion Hoteles Marketing 18 24 0 Sp One OK
177 Entreprendre dans le e-Tourisme Travel 2.0 18 31 0 Fr Fr One OK
178 Wine Goddess Wine 18 21 0 En US More OK
179 ADV Italia (new) Travel Agents 17 9 2 It It More OK
180 En Trancision Destination 17 26 0 SP AR One OK
181 Los viajes de Jota 17 31 0 OK
182 Miss Expatria Destination 17 7 0 En It One OK
183 The Materialist (Concierge) Travel 17 16 1 En US One OK
184 VibeAgent Blog Hotel reviews 17 15 4 En US More OK
185 Wilhelmus Travel 17 16 0 En Can One OK
186 BA Spotting Destination 16 18 0 En Arg One OK
187 Holiday Pad 2.0 Accomodation 16 27 0 En UK One OK
188 The Trippist, Amsterdam Destination 16 17 0 En NL More OK
189 Nos vamos de turismo! Destination 15 30 0 Sp Arg One OK
190 The McCluskey Blog Marketing 15 26 2 En US One OK
191 Tourism Trends Destination 15 13 0 OK
192 Two Dog Zoo Travel Travel Stories 15 26 0 En US One N.OK
193 UK Airports Blog Airports 15 25 0 En UK One OK
194 Prepara Tu Viaje Travel 14 17 0 Sp Sp One OK
195 The Wine Camp Blog Wine 14 27 1 En US One N.OK
196 Top viajeros Destination 14 26 3 SP Sp One N.OK
197 Reise Tafel Destination 12 10 0 Ger Ger One OK
198 Canadian Tourism Destination 11 9 1 En Can More OK
199 Ibiza a pie de foto Photo 11 21 1 SP Sp One N.OK
200 The Genre Traveller Travel by book 11 38 0 OK
201 Tourisme et Internet Tourism 11 12 0 Fr Fr One OK
202 Travel Stuff Aggregator 11 21 1 En One OK
203 Weekendhotel Weblog Hotel Reviews 11 24 2 Dutch NL More OK
204 Cool Hotels Hotel Reviews 10 10 0 En One OK
205 Hotel Blogs Org Aggregator 10 9 0 En US More OK
206 Kirkland Weblog Destination 10 21 2 En US More OK
207 Vintage Tees Travel 10 7 17 En US One N.OK
208 Your Daily Vacation Travel 10 0 0 En One NEW
209 New York Traveler.net Destination 9 5 0 En US One OK
210 The Preferred Guest Destination 9 8 0 En Gr More OK
211 What The Waiter Knows Destination 9 6 0 En Ire One OK
212 I Love Indonesia Destination 8 6 0 En Ind One OK
213 Make The Great Escape Destination 8 5 0 En US More OK
214 Eclectic Traveller Destination 7 0 0 Sp Peru One OK
215 I Travelnet Destination 7 7 0 OK
216 Most beautiful Hotels Hotel Reviews 7 7 5 En OK
217 The Front Desk Travel 7 18 0 En US One N.OK
218 Bart Cat Travel Blog Destination 6 5 0 En Afg One OK
219 Bed and Breakfasts for Sale B&B SALE 6 6 0 OK
220 Der Barcelona Blog Destination 6 10 0 Ger Sp One OK
221 Mike Wylie Marketing 6 15 1 En US One N.OK
222 aaron dalrymple Marketing 5 14 0 En US One OK
223 Football Travel Blog Travel 5 0 0 En Uk One NEW
225 Hotel Beds Travel 5 4 0 En Can One OK
226 Hotel Warrior Hotelier 5 3 0 En US One N.OK
227 The Cottage Lake Placid Hotelier 5 18 3 En US One OK
228 The Suite Life Hotels 5 1 1 En One OK
229 Traveling Cari Travel 5 0 0 En US One NEW
230 Tripinator Travel 2.0 5 0 0 En US One NEW
231 Hotel Bathrooms Exposed Hotel Reviews 4 5 0 En Can More OK
232 Ken Burgin Marketing 4 4 0 En Aus One OK
233 Hotel Blogs guillaume.typepad Hotel Reviews 3 2 0 En UK One OK
234 Epoca Alta Air Travel 2 2 0 Port One OK
235 Destination Essentials Travel Agents 1 1 0 En UK More OK
236 Radar On FR Travel 1 1 0 Fr Can One OK
237 Argentinaes Argentina Guide Destination 0 0 0 En Arg One N.OK
238 Boldly Go Solo Travel Solo 0 0 0 En US One N.OK
239 Canary Nightlife Destination 0 0 0 En SP NEW
240 Chanters Lodge Hotelier 0 0 0 En Kenia One N.OK
241 Cruise Bug Chatter Cruise 0 0 0 En One N.OK
242 Daily Photo NL Photo 0 0 0 En NL One N.OK
243 Diane Clarkson Marketing 0 0 0 En US More N.OK
244 Farecastblog.com Air Travel 0 0 0 En US One N.OK
245 Focus Barcellona Destination 0 14 0 It Sp One N.OK
246 Fox Nomad Travel 0 0 0 En One N.OK
247 Get a Room! Hotel Reviews 0 0 0 EN One N.OK
248 Gourmet Station Blog Food 0 0 0 En ? 0 N.OK
249 Guardian Travel Travel 0 0 0 En UK More N.OK
250 High Culture on a Low Budget Things to do 0 0 0 En One N.OK
251 Hole in the Donut Travel 0 0 0 EN US One N.OK
252 Hotel Law Blog Destination 0 0 0 Sp Peru One OK
253 Hoteles Hotel Reviews 0 0 0 SP Sp One N.OK
254 La Descricion del Mundo Travel 0 0 0 N.OK
255 locuraviajes Travel 0 0 0 Sp Sp More N.OK
256 Lonely Planet | Travel Blog Destination 0 0 0 En More N.OK
257 Nile Cruise 4U Cruise 0 0 0 En Uk One N.OK
258 Notas do Turismo Destination 0 0 0 Sp Arg One N.OK
259 Real Travel Travel 0 0 0 En More N.OK
260 Round Trip Europe Travel 0 0 0 En N.OK
261 Travel Blogdig Aggregator 0 0 0 N.OK
262 Travel Ghost Destination 0 0 0 Sp Peru One OK
263 Travel Start-Ups Startups 0 0 0 En US One N.OK
264 Trip Advisor Hotel Reviews 0 0 0 En US More N.OK
265 TurismoNet : Biblioteca digital Research 0 0 0 Sp Sp More N.OK

Travel Blog Carnival Week 1

Travel Blog Carnival

Karen Bryan of Europe A La Carte started the Carnival with the first post in this series which eventually will count 52 posts in 2008: Welcome to the First Travel Blog Carnival.

Karen’s selection:

Darren’s Selection:
In Travel Blog Carnival Week 1

My comment:
Great finds Karen! Although I know of some Travel Blogs these are all new to me. Thanks!

A find of myself this week is this: The Little Search Engine that Could- and Does which I see on Karen’s Blog as an Ad already.

 

Last edited by Happy Hotelier on December 16, 2009 at 12:25 am

The Start of the Travel Blog Carnival

Travel Blog Carnival
Travel Blog Carnival Logo Suggestion

Somewhere down the road in 2007 I suggested that the T-List members (a list of Travel related Blogs, see also my latest compiled T List counting over 250 Travel Blogs) should become more of a community and maybe post a weekly or monthly recap posts of posts they find interesting in fellow travel Blogs.

Thanks to ever inspiring Darren Cronian of the Blog Travel Rants there is now a platform developing that makes this wish com true. The Travel Blog Carnival. Thanks Darren! Great idea! Now there will be some real community growing between the Travel Bloggers!

The Start

In his post It’s time for a Travel Blog Carnival! He launched this idea. Generally the idea is that every Travel Blogger e-mails his favorite posts to a central post and that on a weekly rotation basis one of 52 travel bloggers choses his or hers 5 favorite posts and publishes a short review of those posts.

Some Travel bloggers reacted already early:

  1. Martin of Travel weekly;
  2. Cari of Traveling Cari;
  3. Yours truly Guido J. van den Elshout of Happy Hotelier;
  4. Betty of Travel Betty;
  5. Elle of Canary Nightlife;
  6. Karen Bryan of Europe A La Carte;
  7. Barbara Weibel of Hole in the Donut;
  8. Vicky Brock of Tracking Tourism;
  9. Krista Paul of My Placemat; Oops this is now a private Beta?? (Jan 8)
  10. Don of Get a Room!;
  11. Clair Walter of Travel Babel;
  12. Cris Christensen of Amateur Traveler and Tripinator | Travel 2.0.

The Next Step

In a second post Promote Your Travel Blog and Join our Carnival Darren drew new attention to the Carnival and got some more reactions:

  1. Lee Harrison of Destination Essentials;
  2. Eddie of Residual Income and Things To Do If You Have It;

 

Happy New Year: Austria – Switzerland: 1-0

Georges Prêtre
Georges Prêtre

For us 2008 started traditionally with viewing the Vienna New Year’s Concert.

This time the French conductor Georges Prêtre was invited by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to conduct this concert.

The vital 83 year old conductor delivered an excellent job and gained a standing ovation from the the very critical Viennese public that seldom stands up when applauding.

History of the Vienna New Year’s Concert

The following excerpt is taken from the site Hilton Destination Guides:

The history of the event dates back only to 1939, when the first concert was conducted by Clemens Krauss, preceded by a public dress rehearsal the day before. It has now become traditional to have a public dress rehearsal on 30 December, a New Year’s Eve concert and the New Year’s Day morning concert, which is televised around the world.

Krauss and Josef Krips shared conducting honors for the first 15 years, then Willi Boskovsky conducted every year until 1979, leaving a fantastic recorded legacy of this joyous occasion. Lorin Maazel, another Maestro equally at home with a violin in hand, took over until 1986. In 1987, the great Herbert von Karajan took to the podium on New Year’s Day for the only time (an experience which he reported was completely rejuvenating for his music-making).

Since then the baton has changed hands annually between a small number of top maestros: Claudio Abbado, Carlos Kleiber, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti. In 2001 Nikolaus Harnoncourt became the first Viennese conductor since 1980 and he returned again in 2003, while in 2002 it was the turn of Seiji Ozawa, on the eve of him taking up the music directorship of the Vienna State Opera. After Muti (2004) and Maazel (2005), in 2006 another newcomer was introduced to the tradition – Latvian-born Mariss Jansons, one of the most popular and sought after conductors in the world today. After Zubin Mehta’s return for 2007, French conductor Georges Prêtre makes his New Year debut in 2008.

This is a good example of what a Hotel website can offer as destination information.

Why 1-0 versus Switserland?
During the concert’s pause the Austrian Television Broadcasting organization ORF showed an interesting introductory documentary to the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship (European Soccer Championship for our American readers) starting with a kickoff at the Swiss – Austrian border and followed by “the ball” at various touristic and interesting locations throughout Austria. The concert itself is already an interesting marketing tool to boast tourism to Austria. With this documentary, that off course is criticized by the “true music lovers” and probably also by the co-organizers of the championships the Swiss, the whole is an excellent example of destination marketing.

Georges Pretre with EC Ball
Photo thanks to the Opera Chic Blog

After the pause Prêtre drew extra attention to the championship by coming on stage with a football and a referee’s flute and issuing a yellow card to the concert master who granted Prêtre a red card, while the whole orchestra wore football shawls.