Sandy Soule
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True tales from the Road Warrior
This fall gave me the opportunity to experience dozens of wonderful B&Bs
and Inns (plus a few hotels) in Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and New York state.
One overnight was at a new hotel/conference center, where my suite was
apparently completed moments before check-in. Not one of the five brand-new
lamps was plugged in, as I eventually discovered, and only one
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had a bulb (of any kind) screwed in. After fumbling around in the
semi-dark, I returned to the front desk to ask for bulbs. Concerned that the
maintenance staff had gone for the night, I assured the sweet young thing on
duty that I could handle the light bulb installation challenge unassisted.
Accomplishing the task with ease, I can now ask the burning question:
Question: How many travel writers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Answer: Only one, but you do need to give her the bulbs!
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Edwin McDowell (New York Times,10/13/02) noted that luxury hotels,
usually immune to economic downturns, are suffering because "corporate America
is reining in travel expenses and Japan's economy is in a prolonged slump, so
such guests are becoming rare." In addition, "the largest number of guests at
many luxury hotels these days are likely to be leisure travelers taking
advantage of rates that are still down by as much as half." He goes on to
explain that according to Smith Travel Research, for "the first six months of
2002, … revenue per available room - a measurement of average occupancy and the
average price for a room that is widely known as revpar - fell an average of
10.2 percent to $96.95 at luxury hotels in the nation's top 25 hotel markets."
Additionally: "The only markets this year where revenue per available room
among luxury-class hotels exceeded that of the first six months of 2001 were
Norfolk-Virginia Beach (up 11.7 percent to $66.59) and Philadelphia (up 5
percent to $100.32.)" Norfolk benefited from the defense build-up, while
"Philadelphia hotels benefited from the city's $3.6 million campaign, which
succeeded in enticing convention delegates as well as tourists within a
300-mile radius of Philadelphia. Guests were offered a two-for-one weekend stay
and free parking at any of more than 40 hotels. By the time the five-month
promotion ended in March, it had generated more than 280,000 room-nights. The
biggest losers among luxury hotels were those in the San Francisco area, where
revenue per available room plunged 24.4 percent over last year to $111.27, and
Boston, where the figure dropped 17.6 percent to $118.27.
Bob Tedeschi, (New York Times, 10/20/02), attributes the following to
Forrester Research: "More than 61 million households in the U.S. will book
travel online this year. … They will spend roughly $20 billion on those
bookings, or 10 percent of the travel industry total. At $13.2 billion, airline
bookings make up by far the greatest share of that figure, but hotel bookings
are growing fastest." In addition, "Forrester expects online hotel bookings to
more than double over the next four years, to $7.7 billion from $3.8 billion.
Already, travel is by far the No. 1 activity among Internet consumers."
Leslie Miller (Associated Press, 10/20/02) reported that "the number of
people flying commercially between 200 miles and 400 miles dropped 22%,
according to DK Shifflet of Falls Church, VA," based on a survey of 45,000
households, and the AAA, says the number of driving trip routings for club
members rose by almost 25% in the fist six months of 2002. Although anxieties
about the safety of flying have subsided, other security-related headaches,
while important, remain annoying. The only good news for air travelers is the
fact that the reduced number of flights has reduced delays significantly.
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 Celie's Waterfront B&B, Baltimore, MD
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BedandBreakfast.com gift certificates are selling like hot cakes. The lucky
recipients are going to be searching for B&Bs that will redeem them. Don't
miss out! To join the program, just log in to your home base with your property
ID and password, then click Gift Certificate Program.
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For your protection, your traffic statistics and member information are shown only
in the email we sent you. For more details, please log in with your property ID
and password. Can't remember your password?
Click here, then enter your property ID and we'll email it to you.
Don't like your password? Once you're logged in to Home Base, just click
"Change Password" (first item in the left-hand column), and choose another
that's easier to remember.
More information
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Time to move on? Sell your property by listing it on the leading Internet site
for bed and breakfasts and inns, BedandBreakfast.com.
Email us today and we'll put you on our special offer mailing list. "BedandBreakfast.com
was responsible for excellent exposure, and sold my listing in just three
weeks.” Donald Hoffman, Thompson & Riley Ltd., Lexington, KY
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Taking real-time, online reservations is the most effective way to transform
your Internet presence from an informational resource into a 24/7 sales engine.
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