I have to tell you -- we haven't seen the travel values that we're seeing today in many years.
Lisa Gaynes, one of my partners, is flying from Sacramento to Florida this week for $99. Two weeks ago I flew from Miami to New York on American for $159 round trip. A week prior to departure I watched the fare drop even lower.
In New York, I could have stayed at the four-star Grand Hyatt for $109 by booking through Priceline. Or, if I wanted to commute about a half-hour into the city, at the Holiday Inn at Newark airport for about $45.
The deals are there because the travel industry has been brought to its knees. Resorts and hotels are near empty, airlines are mothballing parts of their fleets, and cruise lines are seeing long-lead time bookings vanish.
Three years ago upscale hotels were falling over one another to insert the word "Spa" on their hotel signs and business cards. Today -- as those same properties watch their business fall off the cliff -- they can't get those three letters off the building quick enough.
I heard of an international conference in Bermuda being canceled recently -- only two days before it was to begin -- because too many participating companies had forbidden their executives to travel. I also have heard of traveling executives asking for receipts on plain paper since they could not be reimbursed for anything that might suggest "luxury."
Are things really as bad as the media says? Is everything as catastrophic as it appears it appears in the news?
From a personal perspective how are you reacting to all this? What decisions have you made about a family vacation in 2009? Are you totally cutting back or planning a trip to take advantage of insanely low prices? Perhaps trying to get a good deal at that lux resort you've always wanted to go to? Or pitching a tent in the backyard?
How have your business travel plans changed? Has your company killed its travel program?
If you're in the tourism industry how has the economy affected your business? Are your bosses totally fraught with fear and uncertainty?
Click on the comments link below and share your perspective.
Jim Ferri
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There's an ongoing conversation quietly taking place about women-only hotel floors.
It recently percolated again after Forbes ran the article "Women-Only Hotels Heat Up" earlier this month. According to the magazine, The Premier Hotel in New York's Times Square has set aside one entire floor for women guests. And it's not because its women guests don't want to be around men -- it was so they "wouldn't have to worry about packing every little additional thing," says the hotel's general manager.
According to the magazine the "Premier's women-only rooms come with curling and flat irons, bath salts and loofahs, nail files, a vanity kit, yoga mats and women's magazines (O, Self, Cosmopolitan) -- all at no additional cost. The bathtub is oversized, and there's a stool at the sink (with makeup lighting) so women can sit while doing their face."
And The Premier isn't alone. Crowne Plaza also has women-only floors in its Washington, D.C., and Bloomington, Minn., properties, for example.
From a marketing perspective your initial thinking might be that this makes good sense. After all, half of the world's population is female and a lot of women travel for business these days.
Then why have some hotels scrubbed the idea of female-only floors? A bit less than two years ago Marriott made a complete turnaround after announcing that there would be a female-only floor in its new hotel in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And the reason had more to do with legal issues than with gender preferences.
But legal issues aside, do many women really want their own hotel floors?
That question, however, recently surfaced in the post "How large is the demand for female-only hotel floors?" in the blog Upgrade: Travel Better and the comments are quite interesting. They ranged from women suggesting fewer sports channels on the television to just including a storage closest stocked with beauty products women enjoy. (And while we're on the subject, let's face the fact that not all guys want 20 sports channels either.)
A lot of hotels hype the fact that they have the latest gadgetry (see "Luring You Back to the Lobby") -- iPods, X-boxes, flat screens, etc. -- often because of their marketing relationships with the Microsofts, Apples and Sonys of the world. If hotels are so interested in attracting female travelers, why don't they establish similar marketing relationships with producers of beauty products and other items of interest to women?
I would think that allowing women to sample upscale beauty products, coupled with good service and a caring staff, enhanced security, and a comfortable and attractive hotel room would help generate more revenue from female travelers than any number of gender-specific floors.
Jim Ferri
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Today it seems to me that every webinar I'm asked to go to online, every conference I attend and just about every article I read, all I hear about is social media. Yes, social networking / social marketing is important in today's digital society -- our company, in fact, is one of those at the forefront of it for our clients -- but too often marketers just want to jump into the social networking pool while overlooking the obvious.
I had lunch yesterday with a Ritz Carlton executive at the Ritz Carlton in Coconut Grove, Florida, one of the chain's gem-like boutique properties. It wasn't a special occasion or anything, just an opportunity to sit and chat about the hotel industry, the economy and whatever other things rose to the surface of the conversation.
When I arrived at the hotel my lunch partner was outside the restaurant, speaking with Jacqueline Volkart, the hotel's general manager. It turned out that Jacqueline is one of those people who have the gift to make you feel comfortable and welcomed, and she walked with us to our table ensuring that everything would be taken care of just right. But I soon realized that was only the tip of the iceberg.
When she left our table she didn't head back to her office but continued around the restaurant, saying hello, making small talk with people, making everyone she spoke with feel that they weren't just the guests of the hotel or restaurant, they were her guests.
After our meal I bumped into her again in the lobby where she insisted I wait until the valet had brought my car around ("It's so much nicer waiting in here than outside"). Minutes later, as I drove away, I glanced over and saw Jacqueline at the door, holding it open for arriving guests, smiling and chatting and welcoming them, making each feel they were her guest.
It's a lesson many marketers should take to heart. You can increase customer awareness through advertising, engage them with social networking and ply them with incentives -- but when they arrive at the hotel it's your staff that provide the real added value.
Whether you have a gazillion-dollar marketing budget or none at all, you need the Jacquelines of the industry in order to exceed your customer's expectations.
Jim Ferri
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