Is Your iPhone Tracking You?

Are you confused by allegations in the media about Apple devices secretly tracking the movements of users? 

It's a good thing that those quirky folk at Next Media Animation have given us a clear overview of the situation:

Planning Easter Travel On-line

The Easter period is generally regarded as a Kiwi last-blast domestic leisure travel opportunity before hibernation for the cooler months.

While we anticipate that there will be be mixed trading results for accommodation providers throughout the country over the Easter weekend, we will need to wait for guest night stats to be published before we can authoritatively learn what actually occurred. 

What we can determine is the websites that many Kiwi consumers were browsing as they kept a wary eye on the weather forecast and contemplated the last-minute possibility of travelling over Easter.

The top-10 rankings for destination and accommodation websites in the graphic below is for the week ending 23 April 2011 according to Experian Hitwise.

Touring NZ By iPad

Interesting article in USA Today that was written by an American tourist that recently took a trip to New Zealand equipped with an iPad2 and used the impressive movie making functionality to record his experience. (Hat tip to John the Bavarian).

We would hazard a guess this recent intrepid traveller to our shores is fairly typical of the gadget distracted overseas visitor that we host on a regular basis.

The videos he has created used the iMovie app that is incredibly intuitive, cheap and the results can be very professional. Our "Motella Intro" video on the top right of this blog was made using iMovie on an iPhone 4 and uploaded to YouTube in less than 15-minutes (OK I admit that this is not the best example to the prowess of iMovie).

So as we enter a new digital age along with the economic realities of necessitating austerity, here's a bright idea: Close all overseas offices of Tourism NZ, cut the vote tourism budget in half and at the main New Zealand entry points start renting devices and/or incentivising overseas guests to digitally capture their New Zealand visit. Some of the mass user generated content will prove to be compelling viewing and will sell New Zealand as a visitor destination....

Can we foresee a time when our visitors will become our advocates and public funds will be deemed unnecessary to promote New Zealand as a destination?

PSA's One-Way Social Media

We see that after receiving a thrashing from VRWC bloggers and licking their wounds over the mandatory Easter shut-down, Labour's marketing arm the PSA have managed to get their FAILED "Nice To Have" social media campaign back on track.

Like most of their comrades, the PSA do not appear to understand what social media really is. Social media is a platform to create two-way-conversations, it is NOT shouting heavily moderated one-way messages.

Further Rugby World Cup Accommodation Hysteria

We saw yesterday's New Zealand Herald's front page scream yet another indignation of an accommodation provider raising tariff over the Rugby World Cup. We decided not to respond on ANZAC Day...

This type of shabby story seems to be a regular favourite amongst journalism hacks. The same story can be dragged out every now and again by merely changing the date, the accommodation provider's name and including the latest outraged and bewildered punter that believes that goods and services should be evenly distributed according to need.

Maybe we shouldn't be too hard on journalists that churn out these stories, as they are merely appealing to Kiwi's mistrust of market forces and entrenched totalitarianism.

So back to the front page story that howled that the modest Bond Street Motor Lodge in Kingsland had allegedly raised their nightly tariff by up to 1000 per cent over the Rugby World Cup period. Other accommodation providers in the area were reported to be raising tariff below 300 per cent.

So are we able to remotely critique with certainty the value of the strategically located Bond Street Lodge's offer of a single room with shared bathroom and kitchen facilities for alleged $350 a night?

Apparently we can! The Herald reporter managed to obtain a soundbite from Motel Association chief executive Michael Baines that said: "$350 for a room without a bathroom was clearly unreasonable, but didn't reflect accommodation rates during the cup."

An historical quote from chief executive of tournament organisers Rugby New Zealand 2011, Martin Snedden was dragged-out for effect: "Irresponsible profiteering within any aspect of hosting the event as a nation and we'll suffer badly."  

A musician, Joe Walsh played the role of an outraged consumer that generously indicated willingness to pay only $70 per night for a room over the peak Rugby World Cup period.

In order for the successful operation of an accommodation business it is necessary for providers to manage yield. It is often misunderstood that the nature of selling room-nights is that an accommodation business is offering a fixed inventory of rooms that are highly perishable "goods." Room-nights are unable to be stored, if unsold at a specific point in time.

These goods are marketed to a variety of customer groups with different purchasing behaviour. They are typically sold at different tariffs under different booking conditions to different market segments, through a variety of distribution channels to cope with demand swings and market trends.

Put simply, tariff can change according to market demand - get over it!

While some accommodation providers may initially set tariff somewhat wide of the mark over peak demand periods, the market should and does dictate tariff levels.

It was reported that the Bond St Motor Lodge allocated 10 of its 60 rooms with a tariff that was deemed appropriate for the Rugby World Cup period. Appropriately, the last word should go to the consumer that to date have booked 9 of those 10 allocated rooms.  In an  open market they have willingly accepted the value offered.

We reckon that the Bond St Motor Lodge that is a venue five minutes walk from a world-class event have probably set their tariff over the Rugby World Cup about right.

We Will Remember Them

It's been a busy Easter weekend at the motel and it's good to see Kiwis travelling around the country enjoying themselves before the cooler months are upon us. It's a time when we are supposed to recognise a mystical religious fable, Earth Day and ANZAC Day. I'm fairly nonplussed about the first two....

I can remember many years ago one evening reluctantly sitting in a functional, stackable chair at an old formica table, eating deep-fried food and swilling from a pint glass at a shabby RSA in a provincial wasteland, desperately wishing I was somewhere else. 

All of a sudden the lights were dimmed, the music was cut and the chatter instantly ceased. The silence was broken with the clear baritone voice of an RSA official on a mic:

"Ladies and Gentlemen: The Remembrance Ceremony" 

All stood and then *silence*

The silence was broken by the official:

"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 present responded: "We Will Remember Them"

As we all sat down the lighting was restored, the music and the chatter recommenced.

After first witnessing this ritual repeated nightly in RSAs across the country the photos and the names faithfully recorded on the walls of an RSA situated in the middle of nowhere suddenly became significant. My initial reluctance of my situation that evening was washed away - I felt honoured I was there.

Eagerness in Travel

Source: Motivator Motel

Travel Insanity

Those of us that regularly deal with travellers can appreciate that they are often distracted and tend to leave their sanity behind when they are away from their familiar surroundings.

While most folk still seem to have the pioneering spirit and can cope with the rigors of  travel, there seems to be a growing group that constantly need to be spoon-feed and reassured.

We appreciated the following video of a flight attendant's inner thoughts finally said aloud while dealing with an annoying passenger (Beware the F-Bomb):

Is this the world's worst guest?

We have had all sorts of odd items left behind by guests at our motel.

We've had a life-like doll that sent one of our poor housekeepers into a blind panic, a shotgun, large wads of cash, a dealers bag of dope and various adult toys to name a few... We  assume that most of these items were left in error, however I was amused read about a comedian seems to have a fetish about sending housekeeping staff into orbit by purposely leaving disturbing surprises behind. 

I've never heard of comedian, Bert Kreischer, but I will sure to look out for him if he happens to make a reservation at one of my motels.

Images of Kreischer's creepy creations that are ritualistically left in guest rooms at hotels around the world are regularly posted on his Twitter page.

While some may believe that Kreischer's art form is a sad cry for help from a perverted, sadistic madman; we are simply amused and will be following his exploits with great interest.

Here are some our our favourites:   

Motella via Smartphone

Judging from our blog stats a many of  our dear readers are accessing Motella on their iPhone.

While most of you are relaxing at home away from work and the nation's retail stores this Easter, our geeks have been beavering away in the basement of Motella HQ on a new mobile blog template.

The next time you are out-and-about and visit Motella on your smartphone you will be able to view our blog in a smart new mobile format that's easier to read, navigate, make comments and watch videos on the go. 


Give it a test-drive and tell us how it goes.