After my eye-opening stay in Buenos Aires, my journey across South America took me across the Andes to Santiago de Chile—a two-hour flight from the Argentinean capital. Following a 30-minute cab ride from the airport, I arrived in the city center to find my surroundings reminiscent of a modern U.S. city, with a plethora of modern high rise buildings and large avenues that offered shops and restaurant chains from around the world.

Santiago had already surprised me, as it was far from what I expected during my previous travels in the region.

Today I am excited to share with you the first part of my journey across South America.

Cairo Giza (Source: David Grossniklaus)

After more than a year and a half, Egypt has a president and its citizens can finally start looking toward their future. The country’s economy certainly needs to get its tourism business back on track—an important task considering 11% of its gross domestic product is directly linked to tourism expenditure.

Hoteliers, if you haven’t heard it yet, it’s probably because you either don’t participate in Expedia’s Affiliate Network or you never need to discount your rate!

Earlier this year, Smarter Travel Media, a TripAdvisor company, launched a new platform called Tingo that optimizes prices paid by consumers. The service monitors any changes in hotel rates travelers have booked and then rebooks them at the lower rate at no cost to the client should the rate drop and as long as the rate is refundable (i.e. before the cancellation deadline set by the hotel).

The Euro crisis—far from being resolved—is attracting negative media attention on the Greek economy. And the travel and tourism sector along with it.

The tourism industry and the hotel sector could prove to be key contributors to the country’s recovery, with a 4% expected contribution to Greece’s gross domestic product during the next three years.