Tourism Train Set For Sale

Here's something that caught my eye....

On the face of it, the exciting, dynamic world of owning a tourism business is a lot of fun and some may believe it's an industry that is license to print money faster than one of Russel Norman's mad-cap economic brainwaves. Sadly, the reality can be a little different.

Here's a tourism business opportunity that is probably typical of many hobbyist tourism businesses (just on a larger scale).

This may be a perfect fit for someone that has always dreamed of having their very own train set.

If "somebody else" will fork-out the funding, Auckland Mayor, Len Brown could be interested? Or maybe Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory could also consider putting his hand up?  

If you are blinded by your passion of steam trains, are not shy about loss-making ventures and don't mind heartache and hard graft, here's a "business" opportunity just for you:

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Remembering Them

Motel commitments dictate that it's been many years since I've been to an ANZAC Dawn Service, but I've been to a few RSAs over the years...

Every night in RSAs across the country, a moment of silence is generally observed in memory of comrades who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of their country. 

The lights are dimmed, the music is cut and the laughter and chatter immediately cease. The silence is broken with the clear baritone voice of an RSA official on a mic:

"Ladies and Gentlemen: The Remembrance Ceremony" 

In unison all dutifully stand:

The silence is broken by the RSA official that recites:

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them"

Then all standing respond in unison:  

"We Will Remember Them"

Lighting is restored, everyone resumes their seat, the music and the chatter recommences.

I've witnessed this in several small provincial RSAs across the country and this haunting ceremony has always moved me.

Least we forget.

Colin Craig's Social Media Lesson

Conservative Party leader Colin Craig fills a legitimate (and amusing) place in the political spectrum.

The budding, wannabe politician paints an unfortunate rich-prick, uptight, detached, honky persona that is an easy target for ridicule.

This week, Craig set his lawyers onto an independent blogger that publishes a satirical blog, The Civilian. Craig's petty and precious actions have handed the MSM an easy cut-and-paste story.

As a leader of one of National's dwindling political party friend-base, Craig needs to quickly familiarise himself with three important rules when interacting with social media.

1. Social media is ALWAYS bigger than you are

2. Beware the Streisand effect

3. N.F.W.A.B.

Overstated, Inaccurate Motel Listings

I see that our friends at Travel Memo have run a story in their latest newsletter about the inaccuracies of accommodation listings on HotelsCombined.com that aggregates accommodation listings across all major Online Travel Agencies.

Users of HotelsCombined.com are able to compare room availability and prices from all major Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), including Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Agoda etc all in one set of search results.

While the information presented on major OTAs are directly sourced and are regularly updated by accommodation providers, the directory listing information that appears on the HotelsCombined.com website appears to have been independently sourced and produced. If you look at several accommodation listings you start to recognise common threads of language used. Attributes are often overstated and there is a wooden detachment that would indicate that the information could have been translated from another language?

It almost makes me wonder if the production of the accommodation listings on HotelsCombined.com were outsourced to Indian call centre staff that wrote accommodation descriptions and listed features between telephone calls ;-)

Of major concern to accommodation providers is the inaccuracy of the information presented, in particular overstated facilities or services offered. This can cause a lot of unnecessary angst and customers relying on this information could be left unsatisfied with their accommodation experience. The resulting backlash to an accommodation provider's online reputation can be servere.

The ability of a referral business to source, modify and publish details of an accommodation's business online can cause uncertainty and anger amongst moteliers - especially if incorrect information is presented. A knee-jerk reaction for moteliers is to cry foul and "opt-out". This is a natural reaction, as most businesses wish to maintain control on how they are presented.

Probably a better option for moteliers, is to increase awareness and adopt a glass-half-full attitude to the opportunities the internet can provide.

Travel Memo has helpfully suggested that accommodation providers check their listing on HotelsCombined.com and we further suggest that an audit of ALL online listings is carried out on a regular basis - you'll be surprised what you may find out there... .

Source: Click HERE

Las Vegas calls at Christchurch motel

MGM Resorts International's 3,933-room Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas seem to be very protective of its brand and one of its holding companies has registered the trademark "Bellagio" across the globe, including New Zealand.

MGM takes property rights very seriously and a legal team must be kept busy regularly performing Google vanity searches to identify businesses that are allegedly "trading-off" on the Bellagio name.

MGM have previous form leaning on businesses that dare to trade using "their" name including a Canadian company trading as Bellagio Limousines and a New York mattress maker that sold a range of Bellagio-branded mattresses.

It looks like MGM's lawyers have caught up with a motel in Christchurch, Bellagio Motel Suites and have pressured the business to go through the expense and rigmarole of changing their trading name.

The small Christchurch motel is now known as Bellano Motel Suites to minimise any possible consumer confusion with the Las Vegas mega hospitality business located over 11,000 km away.

"There's only one Bellagio Hotel, and it isn't in Christchurch.

We did have one. Until very recently guests could enjoy "stylish, modern, boutique-style accommodation" at the Bellagio Motel Suites on the corner of Bealey Ave and Montreal St.

But no more. In recent weeks the motel's sign has discreetly evolved from Bellagio to Bellano, after a shoulder tap from some lawyers in Las Vegas.

The Bellagio hotel and casinoon the Sin City strip, boasts 4000 rooms, and is famous for its dancing water fountain. It has featured in Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Thirteen, and The Hangover.

The Christchurch version is somewhat more understated, offering studio and one-bedroom suites and no dancing fountain.

The Bellagio name is trademarked in New Zealand, registered several times, including once by Mirage Resorts, Incorporated, for "hotel and resort services".

The Bellano owners declined to comment because of a current court case, but confirmed they had changed the motel's name, and not by choice.

A spokesman for the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office said there was no legal action before it on the Bellagio trademark, but said it was likely a case of "the trademark holder exercising their private property rights".

Source: Click HERE

The Microsoft Motel

The Sundowner Motel as it is today

Using Google Earth, a cruise along Route 66 in Albuquerque New Mexico takes you through an industrial wasteland. In a once thriving area of small businesses is now a high-crime zone known for prostitution. In-amongst the gloom of deteriorating commercial buildings stands the vacant and unloved Sundowner Motel.

As you pass by the blight of the boarded-up, abandoned motel, there is no indication that great things happened in one of the modest motel rooms in the mid 1970s that changed the world...

"A Route 66 motor lodge in Albuquerque where Bill Gates and Paul Allen lived while launching Microsoft Corp. is being redeveloped into apartments as part of a neighborhood revival project.

Officials broke ground Thursday on the redevelopment of the Sundowner Uhuru Apartment Complex, one of many projects sought to help revive a once busy area of Albuquerque.

The federally-funded project will create 70 apartments for veterans, the homeless, mixed-income residents, and residents with special needs.

The Sundowner was built in 1960 during the heart of Route 66 tourism.

Gates and Allen later lived at the Sundowner Motel when they wrote a version of the programming language BASIC for the Altair 8800 computer, invented in 1975 by the Albuquerque-based company MITS. The motel was used as a base camp in the mid-1970s before the pair moved Microsoft to the Seattle-area.

Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry says the motel was "ground zero" for the personal computer revolution and needs to be redeveloped for history.

"All these historic hotels up and down Route 66 have so many stories to tell," Berry said. "If the walls could talk...."

Justin Spielmann, the geoscience collections manager at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, said the motel "is practically where Microsoft started" and played a key role in the upcoming technology revolution."

"This is really the cradle where personal computing sort of came into its own," said Spielmann. "Albuquerque is really the seat of personal computers and the Sundowner plays into that origin."

The $9 million-development includes plans for a growers market, retail, and community space intended for small businesses.

Asbestos remediation on the motel was recently completed and constructed has started on a project official says will bring dozens of jobs to the city.
 
The Sundowner project is one of many slated for a once popular area of Albuquerque along Route 66.

In recent years, the area around the Sundowner, which was vacant, has been a high-crime zone and known for prostitution."

The partnership that had its origins in a modest guest room of the Sundowner Motel was the beginning of a software giant that now accounts for software on 91% of personal computers worldwide. In my humble opinion, the revitalisation project aimed at attracting corporate welfare doesn't seem to be a fitting tribute.

America was once a country that unapologetically celebrated its nation's corporate achievements in its own brash (and often tacky) style.

Sadly with public money propping up the viability of the Sundowner Motel's revitalisation project, the transformation of a once thriving motel into a low-cost social housing project is destined to become yet another blight on the landscape.

 The Sundowner Motel in its 1960s heyday

Motel Rooms - What Happens Behind Closed Doors?

 

We've been closely following the outcome of an ongoing court case in Australia that will determine if an injury that occurred during a ''vigorous'' sex session in a motel while on a business trip counts as a work accident?

How the story unfolded...

"She was a public servant in her late 30s, passing through a quiet country town for a night on federal government business. He was a local she'd met a few weeks previously. Their steamy rendezvous in a Nowra motel room took place late one November evening in 2007. Five-and-a-half years later, it is heading for an unlikely denouement, most probably in the High Court.

The couple's names have never been released, but it is known from an agreed statement of facts that she contacted her new friend after finishing business for the day, met him for dinner, and they went back to her motel room for what was described as ''vigorous'' sex. During their tryst, a light fitting was pulled from the wall above the bed, and her evening ended in hospital with injuries to her mouth and nose.

The looming finale in the long battle over her workers' compensation claim (which insurer Comcare is seeking to appeal in the High Court) is now being nervously awaited by every boss around the country with employees who travel for work."

Whatever the outcome of the court case, all moteliers should become part of the solution to minimise health and safety risks of motel guests by immediately identifying all wall fixtures within reach of motel beds (that may be grasped for leverage purposes) and ensure that they are securely fastened!

Hotel/Motel Mini Bars Under Threat?

Oh Dear!

Will an anomaly with the new liquor laws to be introduced later this year threaten hotel and motel mini bars?

Read: New liquor law could close mini-bar doors

Kiwi-Made Travel App Hits #1

We've profiled our young hip friends at "Stay Today" in a previous post.

The Kiwi-based company offer a same-day, last-minute accommodation booking app and their consumer offer is very clean and simple:

"Stay Today is a same-day hotel booking app that lets iPhone users get insanely good deals if they book their room on the day of their stay.

Our discounts get better as the day progresses, so the later you book the more you save."

The easy-to-use, one-trick, iPhone-only app takes the concept of last minute booking to the extreme. Customers are able to book same-day rooms at key locations in New Zealand and Australia from noon until 2am.

 

From an accommodation providers' perspective, this concept would make many recoil in horror at the prospect of offering fenced discounted promotions below rate parity arrangements with mainstream OTAs. Many accommodation providers are against signaling to consumers that their inventory is "distressed" and there is also the perception that late night "revelers" may be attracted to the late-night check-in service.

 

The reality is that there is a consumer demand for an intuitive, well marketed same-day booking service and we see that Stay Today have reached a significant milestone by being the most popular Kiwi travel app in the Apple App Store.

 

It's hard to say how this quirky app has managed to attract more downloads than the other offerings from larger Kiwi "mainstream" travel companies like AA Travel and Jasons Travel. 

 

Besides the relative attributes of Stay Today's app compared to others, we suspect that one of the reasons for their success has been their ability to effectively communicate to consumers in a fun, irrelevant manner by using a younger, fresher tone than their more staid competitors.

For immediate release

18th April 2013 

 

Kiwi-Made Travel App Hits #1

Stay Today, the Kiwi-made hotel booking app has hit number one free app in the NZ Travel charts.

Stay Today offers ultra last minute hotel deals that are always better than the lowest online price. It is the first same-day hotel booking app in Australia and New Zealand.

“We target the person that books their hotel on the day” says Matthew Mayne, Stay Today’s Managing Director. “If you’re the type that books your room while you’re sitting at the airport, then this app is perfect for you.”

Mayne says there are two reasons for the app’s success – “Best price and convenience. We always offer lower prices than you’ll find on the web, and our app is uber-simple to use. That’s important because when you’re on the go, you don’t have time to muck around. With Stay Today, you can actually book in ten seconds, from opening the app to getting the reciept”.

Accessible after midday each day, Stay Today delivers rates that are always cheaper than Wotif. The service is available in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Rotorua.

Stay Today is backed by several investment funds, including Global From Day One, Sparkbox and New Zealand Venture Investment Fund.

Stay Today's 80 hotel partners across New Zealand and Australia include Rendezvous in Auckland, the five star Princes Gate in Rotorua and the Museum Hotel in Wellington.

The Stay Today app can be downloaded free in the iTunes app store or from the company's New Zealand website www.staytoday.co.nz. All new customers receive a free $15 credit to use on their first booking.

ENDS

For further enquiries:

Matthew Mayne, Managing Director, Stay Today - 022 122 8924

More Motel Name Suppression

I see that the Human Rights Tribunal has made an interim ruling today that the murky identity of a convicted paedophile that is allegedly operating a Taupo motel will remain anonymous...for now.

Acting on behalf of the paedophile, The Human Rights Commission has been successful in gaining an interim name suppression order. This is in spite of an accusation in the media is that the  paedophile lied about living at and running a motel in his interim name suppression application earlier this month.

The Human Rights Commission is prosecuting the Sensible Sentencing Trust in the Auckland District Court today after they published details of the convicted paedophole on their online offender register.

The trust is claiming that there has never been name suppression of the paedophile but this is denied by him and the commission. 

The Truth Newspaper in last Thursday's print edition published the the convicted paedophile's name along with the motel he is allegedly running in Taupo.

While dodgy name suppression laws dictate that we are unable to publish the alleged motelier's name or the motel he allegedly operates, there is an irony that the convicted paedophile by whining to the Human Rights Commission has put the blowtorch on himself and his business.