What's up with those insidious My Family stickers on cars?

With my boy away at boarding school, my household has an unfortunate gender imbalance. 

While my back was turned the sisterhood decided that it would be a nifty idea if they purchased a "My Family" sicker set and attach this cutesy abomination to the rear windsceen of "my" car.

The My Family car stickers are much like the graphic above and you can choose a quirky stick-figure persona for each family member and order online  (No I'm NOT going to link to their website!). 

I've noticed that there is a worrying trend of these girly stickers regularly making appearances in my motel car park. Of particular amusement is when a male sales-rep turns-up with one of these stickers prominently displayed on his car that effectively shouts to the world that he is severally whipped in his home environment. If you drive a hideous people mover or a Toyota Prius, then you are a prime candidate to affix these lame and masterbatery stickers.

If you have any pride left in you, I implore you join me and resist the insidious creep of My Family stickers that are defacing cars everywhere.

Ugly NZ Mocks Formule One

I see that one of my regular blog haunts, Ugly NZ has made it to the MSM in a Sunday Star Times opinion piece HERE.

Ugly New Zealand is a blog littered with those New Zealand photos everybody else would delete immediately. The blog's mission is to collect the ugliest, most boring, most appalling and plainly dull landscape photography possible. 

The man behind the blog, is German designer Ralf Hebeker who unlike the stereotype of his fellow countryman, possesses a dark sense of humour and a natural talent for taking the p*ss. Hebeker doesn't seem to have any problems maintaining a stream of photos generated from readers that are happy to share their own discoveries of truly ugly landscapes in New Zealand. 

The blog is a celebration of the mundane and quirkiness of Kiwi landscapes and culture. Some of the scenes depicted aren't necessarily "ugly". In a round-about sort of way the blog promotes the uniqueness of New Zealand and makes the viewer appreciate the stunning, abundant urban and natural landscapes not featured on the blog that we take for granted.

However, the blog also highlights horrific man-made blights on the landscape that includes mocking bland, uninspiring architecture connected with tourism. 

Anything to do with travel should be sexy and glamorous, however at the other end of the scale the motel industry has Bella Vista churning out 80's inspired no-thrills architecture, while the hotel industry has Formule One Hotels. 

Featured in Ugly NZ's latest post is the new 125 room Formule One Hotel that has been knocked-up by Auckland Airport for the budget conscious traveller. The bleak, functional concrete creation that greets weary travellers looks like it was designed by a team of Public Service architects stuck in a 1970's time-warp.

Every time this type of development opens, a little bit more of the glamour, allure and excitement of travel dies:

I Quit Bitches!

Do you remember Steven Slater? 

He was the prissy flight attendant that had a particularly hard day at the office dealing with the challenges of awkward customers: Your know the ones - travellers that leave their brains at home and are on edge while away from their usual comfort zone.

As a customer service professional you often bite your tongue, smile and keep the peace...Not so Steven Slater that is now an ex-flight attendant and a folk-hero in the travel industry.

Slater working as a flight attendant for JetBlue, lost his cool with an uncooperative passenger and snapped soon after a plane touched down at JFK Airport. An argument ensued, allegedly punches were thrown and Slater broadcast a few expletives over the airplane's loud speaker system announcing: "I've been in this business 28 years and I've had it!" Slater then grabbed a beer and gracefully exited the plane in style by activating the emergency chute before ditching his job and driving home.

Mr Slater - there are times when we know how you feel;-)

Slater appears on one of our favourite blogs: Rants of a Sassy Stew that have recently added podcasts to their armory of social network channels.

Of particular note, Sassy and Slater discuss the decline of glamour in travel and the possible reasons for its demise. Additionally, these two sassy stews share some of their favorite rants and a few crazy inflight experiences.

The airline and accommodation industries have a lot in common and it's worth a listen:

Should Motel Display Cards Be Consigned To History?

Should the good-old motel display card be committed to the dustbin of past marketing endeavours? Should moteliers desist with the sentimentality of printing motel display cards that gather dust in brochure racks, clutter iSites and the reception areas of other motels?

I was interested to read the results of a study by British online travel agency sunshine.co.uk that revealed that 76 percent of Brits who went on holiday in the past five years did not pick up a holiday brochure before booking. Apparently the internet is the new medium that consumers are increasingly turning to...

OK, so it was hardly surprising that the survey's results validated the online travel agency's business model, however are the results far-off from reality? 

Just how many rack cards are influencing consumers of accommodation to make buying decisions? 

Will The Apple Cult Continue?

I'm a Johnny-come-lately paid-up member of the Apple cult. I love raw consumerism - you have to admire a brand that costs twice as much as its competitors and generates such fanaticism.

There is an updated iPhone due to be released within the next couple of months - I've got no idea what additional features it will have compared to my current model iPhone - but I must have one.

Unlike hard-core Apple Brethren, my life wasn't momentarily paused this week when God-like Apple co-founder and Chief executive Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive. 

Luckily for late-in-life converts like me, those quirky Taiwanese folk at Next Media Animation have condensed the wondrous life and career of Steve Jobs into a 2 minute video:

 
 

Shane Jones - Labour's Next Leader?

Interesting speculation in the blogosphere about Shane Jones fancying himself as a future Labour leader as Goff sleepwalks towards losing the next election.

Something tells me that past exposure of Jones's embarrassing habit of self-flagellation performed behind closed curtains in darkened hotel rooms will rule-out his run for the top job.

Jasons Appoints New CEO

Meet the face of Jasons Travel Media's new CEO Kevin Francis that will be taking over the reins from Matthew Mayne after he unexpectedly resigned in April this year.

Francis takes on a more mature look similar to former CEOs Stephen Joyce that left the position to pursue his high profile political career and iconic company founder John Sandford.

Francis spent his early years as an officer in the British Army and after arriving in New Zealand 16 years ago has been involved in a variety of industries, including telecommunications, internet, IT and, most recently, the Online / Digital Marketing industries.

Francis's corporate experience includes Executive Management roles for Asia Online, Ericsson Enterprise and First Rate and most recently COO and CEO roles at Australian listed digital agency Q Group. 

Francis will be taking on his new role at a challenging time as Jasons continues to take a dynamic journey from a travel print distribution company into an increasingly digital focused era.

Under Mayne,  Jasons introduced a radically new and innovative offer for its 1600 motel accommodation providers for the 2012 season. This year Jasons reps were on the ground wielding new iPads selling new combo deals of directory, online and mobile marketing. New products were launched that included: Freshening-up the online booking offer, iPhone/iPad app, Text availability and a series of six webinars exclusive to moteliers that list with Jasons. 

The way product was packaged and presented to advertisers was a radical departure from previous years. Parts of the offer were controversial for some advertisers and in hindsight some attributes could have been tweaked. In my opinion Jasons biggest downfall was their inconsistent, dyslexic communication that undersold the packages on offer and this disconnected them from their advertisers.

With this year's sales season all but over, Jasons have recently announced an updated forecast for the 2012 financial year with expected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization predicted to be approximately 10% down on the 2011 result. 

Next year's advertising offer will be different again and it will be interesting how this will be packaged and communicated to the motel market.

The official Jasons Travel Media announcement of their new CEO appointment is below:

The Board of Jasons Travel Media Limited (JTM) is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin Francis to the role of Chief Executive.

Commencing as CEO at Jasons on 3 October 2011, Kevin steps in to follow Michele La Riviere, the company’s CFO who has been acting CEO for the past four months.

Kevin has significant experience, both domestically and internationally, in executive management roles for blue chip brands within the telecommunications (Ericsson Enterprise), internet (Asia Online), IT and, most recently, the online and digital marketing industries (First Rate).

Jasons Travel Media Chairman Geoff Burns commented, “Kevin was chosen after an extensive executive search involving impressive applications from both internal and external candidates.
We believe Kevin’s technical knowledge; strong leadership ability and relationship management skills will complement our team and further enhance the strategic direction of our multi- channel travel media business covering print, digital and online publishing and tourism brochure distribution operations in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific.”

Kevin commented, “I look forward to enhancing the overall company strategy for Jasons, further drive the implementation of this throughout the organisation and deliver improved business performance for the benefit of travel consumers, our advertisers, industry partners and financial stakeholders.”

“I believe this will be achieved by concentrating on; identifying operational efficiencies, driving initiatives that support Jasons transition to a business-to-consumer focus, delivering on revenue opportunities from diverse channels including digital and communicating the value of Jasons as the travel resource of choice.”

Kevin departs Australian listed digital agency, Q Group (ASX:QXQ) where he was CEO of the New Zealand subsidiary.

Kevin’s appointment is part of the recent strategic review conducted by Jasons Travel Media prior to the Shareholder’s Annual Meeting, being held this Wednesday, 24 August in Auckland.

Contacts:
Geoff Burns, Chairman 027-458 2832

Should The Tourism Industry Spice-Up Promotion?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Whale vs Duck

Will the blogger vs Labour's campaign manager bicycle race be the highlight of this weekend's sporting events?

Situation Vacant - Motel Wife

Mrs Motella after nearly 18 years of institutionalisation in the dynamic world of the motel industry has decided to venture out by securing a full-time job. Why anyone would want to throw away a position of continually working alongside me in a business for 24 hours a day is beyond belief!

This means there is now an amazing opportunity for a budding young person to take-on the vacated position of "Motel Wife" during Mrs Motella's absences on weekdays during normal working hours.

Due to the Human Rights Act I'm unable to stipulate my preferred gender for the position - however I will probably only interview female applicants.

I have completed a brief job description  for a "Motel Wife" that is appended below:

 All day-to-day activities of running a motel.

The successful applicant must be easy on the eye, willing to work hard, continually multi-task and problem-solve. Experience in customer relations, plumbing and carpentry would also be an advantage. 

I will of course continue in my supporting role as "Motel Husband" that includes networking with my favourite guests, attending meetings, pontificating about the wider issues of the motel industry and attempting to decipher the meaning of life.

And don't worry - the successful applicant will not be expected to perform any interpersonal duties in the bedroom area with the "Motel Husband." Unfortunately, it is extremely rare for the position of  "Motel Wife" to have this impost included in her job description.

Don't let this one-in-a-lifetime opportunity pass you by - send your CV and a few current snapshots of yourself to motelwife@motelnz.co.nz.

Big Booty Bitches!

It's the end of a busy week at the motel, it's the school holidays and we've got our 15 year old so home from boarding school. I could've done a serious post relating the FAIL this week by Adidas in sales channel management and cleverly related this to accommodation online sales....but I can't be bothered.

On a frivolous Friday, finally I've been inspired. Master Motella has alerted me to what has to be the best song...EVER!

I dare anyone not to sing-along and break-out into their own a jiggy dance moves to this online viral hit: Big Booty Bitches!

Trev's Travel Blog

Can't be arsed writing a blog post today...so why not check out our good friends at Travelbug that have just launched their own blog. Sure it's not as good as Motella, however in their first post they've uncovered a few interesting observations about Rugby World Cup accommodation.

Go and see it HERE

Booking Family Accommodation

Earlier this year we did a post Kids Stay Free? about the phenomenon of parents not including children when they make accommodation reservations - In particular when they make reservations online.

According to one frustrated mother of three that recently commented on the post, it's the fault of inflexible booking engines and the accommodation provider! 

"Well!!!! I am a mother of 3 kids and after trying to book accommodation for a family on line, i know NOW why parents leave their kids off the reservation!!! We have 2 kids 5, 4 and a baby and do you think i could find ANY inner city hotel that could accommodate us on line!!! We could be up graded at a high cost but again i had to ring the hotel direct to get this sorted. I could not actually do this on line...so now i know why parents tend not to enter their kids on line when trying to reserve accommodation."

Telecom's RWC FAIL?

Am I missing something?

Another Qualmark GM Appointed

After the shock departure of Qualmark NZ's General Manager Paula McCallum with a tenure that lasted less than a year, a replacement head of the quality benchmarking organisation has been found within the ranks of Tourism New Zealand.

The following economically worded press release signed off by a communications consultant  was sent to Qualmark license holders today:

"Qualmark is pleased to announce the appointment of Tim Keeling to the position of General Manager.

Tim is currently the Marketing Manager – Partnerships at Tourism New Zealand in Auckland and has worked in various marketing roles, including research and advertising, at Tourism New Zealand since 2005.

We look forward to welcoming Tim to the Qualmark team."

Keeling started off his university life studying ecology and geography but ended up with a Bachelor of Tourism degree at Otago University. Upon graduating Tim scored a job with Tourism New Zealand. 

After spending 6-years institutionalised with Tourism NZ, Keeling appears to be a safe pair of hands that unlike McCallum has largely dodged the rigors of working in the private sector.

We feel that we have played a small part in Keeling's appointment with the Motella Blog kindly assisting with the advertising of the Qualmark GM position HERE.

Keeling has many challenges ahead of him and must quickly shake-off the poisoned chalice reputation of the position. He will have an exciting ride over the next couple of years as Qualmark continues with the pain of evolving from a government funded social service into a lean and mean business unit.

He will need to continue managing a major culture change, a reduction in public funding, coping with outside interference from Qualmark's reluctant shareholders and communicating with high maintenance tourism businesses that includes the dyslexic personality of the motel sector.

The resource directed at the ill-fated Enviro awards will need to be rationalised as operators shun paying for an non-compulsory, politically-correct adjunct that has little value and no longer serves to boost quality star ratings after it was made a stand-alone product.

Unfortunately there will be attention and resource diverted into rolling out an unnecessary new brand and there will be a small ruckess to subdue later this month after the clumsy "Serviced and Self Contained" moniker is cut adrift and replaced with an official new sector name for the "motel" sector. 

The real challenge is to grow the uptake of licenses within the accommodation sector. The election of a Labour lead government would have greatly assisted this process by legislation (ie force), however with this scenario unlikely, Qualmark need to instead offer a compelling product with genuine value to operators that are willing to pay.

The clock is ticking....The National lead government is heading for a second term and it is rumored that they will be reluctant to continue being a shareholder in a "nice-to-have" business that should be fully funded by operators.

Scumbag Motel Guests

I received an email alert from a group of local moteliers that issued a warning about a lowlife that had left behind a filthy mess after checking out of a motel. This will require a hapless motelier to take a unit out of action for several days to bring it back to standard.

Unfortunately when business is slow, sometimes moteliers let their guard down and allow-in scumbag guests that have an over-inflated state of entitlement and think nothing of damaging property with little regard to others.

The email warning gave scant details of the errant guest, other than his name and the city where he is usually domiciled.

While we can  be grateful that the underclass have a habit covering themselves with meaningless tattoos so they can be easily identified, we can also appreciate that they often inflict silly birth-names upon one another. A cursory Google search was all that was needed to easily unearth a few ironic snapshots of this particular scumbag motel guest.

The first mention from the great oracle that is Google, was from a newspaper report that breathlessly reported the scumbag motel guest was part of a group of school dropouts attending a state funded two-week youth programme. After finding it "boring" at first, the scumbag motel guest found it "pretty cool" producing some Maori art products and indulging in some fun activities.

Apparently this holiday-camp programme was based around the principles of Maoridom and included basic living skills such as cooking, cleaning, literacy, numeracy, anger management and "healthy challenges."

The second mention of the scumbag motel guest on Google was that he was awarded one of  sixteen scholarships (ie $200) dolled out from the Napier City Council on behalf of their generous ratepayers.

I guess Napier City Councilors get somewhat bored attending to the mediocrity of roading, footpaths, water and sewage reticulation and are happy to get a bit cutting-edge with other people's money by giving social programmes such as a "Youth Development Fund" a bit of a go.

So what's this farcical nice-to-have adjunct all about? 

According to the website:

 ... Sixteen scholarships which the Napier City Council will award annually to young people in our community to ensure they can make the most of every opportunity and to support them in achieving their dreams and goals.

Who can apply... Anyone between the ages of 10 and 18 who is living in Napier and has an activity that they are involved with which promotes their personal development and requires funding for its realization.

What to do... , fill out an application form, and attach a letter telling us why you need $200 to help you reach your dreams or goals and participate in your chosen activity.

Unfortunately it would appear that a scumbag motel guest has lived a life elevated as a special-needs beneficiary. He has received pointless certificates, hollow achievements have been applauded and has been the benefactor of state-funded cuddling. 

How do you think this will end up?

Mile High Porn

Last year this blog was all over the story that revealed Labour MP Shane "Tugger" Jones's nastly habit of watching pornographic movies while staying at hotels. While I appreciated that Jones was one-handedly supporting the accommodation industry by purchasing added value services,  it was difficult to qualify why the public purse should pay for an off-task hobby performed behind closed curtains in darkened hotel rooms.

It is interesting to note that demand for adult pay movies in hotels is waning as guests turn to the internet. I'm sure a cursory search of bookmarks on Jones's laptop would reveal all sorts of interesting websites;-)

Up until recently regular travelers like Jones needed to wait between porn-fixes with the lack of internet connectivity while in-flight - this must be extremely frustrating. With this in mind, I was interested to learn that  Qantas have spiced up their in-flight entertainment selection of movies and this is likely to get the Shane Jones seal of approval.

A French-made documentary called The Female Orgasm Explained has been inexplicably slipped into the Qantas's television options.

Apparently this is proving to be a popular selection and I wonder if we will soon see a hotel style adult pay-per-view service available on commercial flights? Imagine the horror of being assigned a seat on a plane within spitting distance of Shane Jones...

As a serious blog that keeps up to date with travel trends we had to see what the fuss was about:

Host Accommodation Rugby World Cup promotion

I like the social networking campaigns that the accommodation marketing group, Host Accommodation are producing at the moment...

Kerry Buddle Accused of Skipping Motel

I see that flamboyant ex-mortgage broker, Kerry Buddle that has been in the news recently accused of alleged dodgy mortgage deals has also been accused of skipping from a motel without paying. 

Buddle has been remanded on bail after appearing in the Lower Hutt District Court on two counts of leaving a motel without paying and entering no plea.

While I frown at anyone that may be ripping off confused and bewildered Ma and Pa Kiwi home owners with an elaborate Ponzi scheme,  the act of obtaining accommodation by deception (skipping) gets me wound-up!

It has been claimed that Buddle stayed for six nights from in June at Motel 22 Lower Hutt and we can only guess how she played-out providing the motel with a useless debit card number instead of providing valid credit card details that could be processed for payment? I guess being an self-confident, well dressed lucid blond has its benefits.

Not surprisingly, Buddle that appears to have traits of believing her fantasy life is real, insists she has done nothing wrong.

As police continue to circle Buddle over allegations she owes clients at least $2.5 million in dodgy loans, she is undecided how she would plead at her next appearance over the motel "misunderstanding."

I will be interested to learn what the outcome of the court case may be. 

24 Hours of Neon

In my opinion the most dramatic and beautiful vistas are man-made. 

Las Vegas is the pinnacle of creativity and ego of human creation with the most intense collection of accommodation properties in the world. 

I love a place that openly scoffs at the new-age trend of expressing guilt about consumption.
24 Hours of Neon from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Wotif.com Finally Offer Guest Reviews

After many months of speculation, Wotif.com have finally announced to their accommodation suppliers today that they will be publishing property ratings sourced from guest reviews.

Unlike TripAdvisor, only customers that have confirmed bookings through Wotif.com (ie: have actually stayed at a property) are invited to complete a review and can score a property out of 5 for location, value, facilities, service and cleanliness.

At first, Wotif.com will only publish a rating, along with a few descriptive words from each review after at least three reviews for a property are received. Later this year after a body of customer data is collected, full text comments and feedback with rankings will be published.

Individual accommodation providers will be emailed once a customer review is published about their property and they will have the opportunity to post responses.

In the email to accommodation suppliers today, Wotif.com say: 

"We are adding this feature in response to feedback from customers about what they want to see on the site, and we believe that our solution strikes a great balance between providing qualified reviews from bona fide guests, while allowing our accommodation partners to address any concerns that are raised. We also believe it will provide another opportunity for you to convert sales through positive word of mouth."

Rest assured that we have taken steps to make sure that reviews published on our sites are legitimate."

Surprisingly, Wotif.com that have been a market leader and innovator is one of the last major online accommodation reselling sites to offer a guest review platform. Perhaps one reason to lag behind the pack in this area was the reluctance to invest in the high level of staff interaction that customer reviews will demand.

Wotif.com have built technology into the system to pick up offensive content and have resourced a team responsible for quality control that will check reviews - We envisage that they will be kept very busy! The payoff for Wotif.com will be hopefully an increased customer loyalty/connection to the Wotif brand and an enhanced Google Ranking by the additional web clicks from increased customer interaction.

While some accommodation providers will feel threatened by Wotif.com's guest review platform, most will be positive or at least resigned to the fact that online customer feedback platforms are a "necessary evil."

Overall I think the move is positive and will assist weeding out under performing properties and increase guest satisfaction levels.

Guest reviews are just another form of social media and accommodation providers are unable to avoid the wrath of public opinion by opting out. While there will be the odd rogue customer comment, the aggregated guest reviews will provide real-time transparency that will allow customers to make informed decisions - In the accommodation industry "Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

Are you willing to give up sex for your mobile phone?

How many of you are willing to give up one of life's pleasures—such as coffee, chocolate or even sex instead of your mobile phone?

According to a recent survey in America, one-third of all respondents would be more willing to give up sex for a week than their mobile phone. 

Of the respondents who indicated they would be more willing to give up sex than their mobile phone for a week, 70% were women.

54% of all respondents would be more willing to give up exercise for a week than their mobile phone.

55% of respondents would be more willing to give up caffeine for a week than their mobile phone, 63% would be more willing to give up chocolate, and 70% would be willing to forego alcohol.

One in five respondents are more willing to go shoeless than phoneless for a week.

iPhone users (43%) were more likely to say they'd go a week without shoes than Android users (27%) or BlackBerry users (25%).

(Click for a larger image)

 Source: Click HERE

Hone's Return?

I'm pleased to see that "Honest" Hone Harawira managed to make it back into parliament by successfully managing to read through the Parliamentary oath of allegiance after a second attempt. 

If you are of a selective race and/or rely on the hard work of others, you will finally be able to look forward to the benefits of representation after Hone's brief respite.

A dear reader sent me in a shocking experience while he was driving home from work and stuck in a traffic jam on the Northern motorway yesterday. 

Nothing is moving.

Suddenly a man knocked on his window.

He rolls down his window and asks, "What's going on?"

"Terrorists have kidnapped Hone and Titiwhai Harawira.

They're asking for a million dollar ransom. If they don't get it they're going to douse them with petrol and set them on fire. We're going from car to car, taking up a collection."

The driver asks, "How much is everyone giving, on average?"

"About two litres."

It's Our Birthday!

Today is Tuesday the 2nd of August. It may be just another relentless day at the cutting edge of the dynamic accommodation industry, however today is significant - It's also our third birthday!

Yep, today The "Motella" Blog is three years old and we will be celebrating in our own understated style at Motella HQ with a small gathering of luminaries. 

Three years ago we created "Motella" and we fear that it now has a life of its own. It's become its own identity that can say some things that we can never say ourselves. 

Why do we do it?

For all sorts of reasons. Because we can, because no one else is doing it, ego, the passion we have for our industry, enjoyment and a bit of self-therapy...

We hope that "Motella" will continue to be a lone independent voice making pithy observations on news, views and politics loosely connected to of New Zealand's Motel Industry.

And we also intend to take the p*ss and have some FUN along the way.