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February 2005

Time For A Smile

We all know about Murphy’s Law: “ If anything can go wrong -- it will. Below are some excerpts from The Ultimate Collection of Murphy's Laws that we hope you’ll enjoy.

We invite you to submit your own “Murphy’s Laws of Innkeeping” versions, for publication in a future issue. Some examples that come to mind:

Murphy’s Laws of Innkeeping:

The hot water only goes on the blink when you’re hosting a travel writer.
The weight of a guests’ luggage increases in direct proportion to the floor their room is on (the higher the floor, the heavier the suitcases).
The smaller the bathroom, the larger the guest.

The Ultimate Collection of Murphy's Laws

Murphy's Original Law: If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it.

Murphy's Law: If anything can go wrong -- it will.

Murphy's First Corollary: Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.

Murphy's Second Corollary: It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

Quantized Revision of Murphy's Law: Everything goes wrong all at once.

Murphy's Constant: Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value.

The Murphy Philosophy: Smile... tomorrow will be worse.

Conclusions

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the first one to go wrong.
Corollary - If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then.
If several things that could have gone wrong have not gone wrong, it would have been ultimately beneficial for them to have gone wrong.
Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
If anything can't go wrong, it will anyway.
If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.
If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
Everything takes longer than you think.
You never find a lost article until you replace it.
If nobody uses it, there's a reason.
You get the most of what you need the least.

Travel Trends

Amenities war heating up: “The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a new study from PricewaterhouseCoopers which said the hotel industry will raise their spending on renovations by 37% next year. PwC said hotels will spend $4.1 billion on upgrades and renovations in 2005, up from $3 billion this year. They also said that this is not due to a sudden spike in revenues but a response to what they call a hotel-amenities war. According to the study, hotels are trying to stay ahead of each other in keeping up with customers who have poured money into their own homes to upgrade features, the same ones they will want in a hotel.” Click for details.

The Wall Street Journal report that Marriott International will be spending $190 million to upgrade beds at Marriot Hotels: “Each king-size bed will be getting 300-thread-count 60% cotton sheets, seven pillows, a pillowy mattress cover, and a white duvet.” The article goes on to explain the Radisson and Sheraton are upgrading their beds and bedding, better to compete with Westin’s Heavenly Bed program. In addition: “All the pressure to make hotel beds better is finally forcing the industry to reveal - and start to abandon -- its dirtiest little secret: the fact that those colorful bedspreads on hotel-room beds sometimes get washed only a few times a year at most. Marriott hopes it will top rivals with a pledge to wash its white duvets between each guest visit.” Click for details

Use of Internet for travel growing: A December, 2004 Harris Poll shows that those who go online often, or very often, to make travel plans or reservations, is up 11 points over December 2003, from 15% to 26%. Since 2000, the total online adult population has increased from 49% of all adults to 73%.

Travel on the rise: According to the Travel Industry Association of America, “Americans are expected to take more than 243 million person-trips this winter, up 2.6% from last winter. In just four years, since 2000, winter travel volume has increased nearly 8%.”

USA TODAY added, “Overall traveler spending is expected to rise by 5.3% in the coming year to $624 billion, a record high, according to the Travel Industry of America's annual forecast.” Gene Sloan’s article also reported:

“Room rates in the top 50 hotel markets in the USA will rise by 4.7% in 2005, according to PKF Consulting.Educational trips generally appeal to the over-50 crowd, a demographic that seems to get more active every year.
"Twenty years ago there weren't as many people in that demographic who wanted to do (active, outdoorsy) trips. (Now) they're healthier, more energetic and much better traveled, so they're more willing to do them.
"Henry Harteveldt, vice president of Forrester Research: A record 32.1 million Americans will use the Web to book travel in 2005, up from 29.4 million in 2004. And they'll spend more: $63.6 billion vs. $53 billion in 2004.”

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