More Motel Ferals

One of the great things about being a motelier is that we generally only deal with good people.

There is a huge cross-section of the general public that wouldn't dream of  stumping-up to stay in a motel - and this is a good thing! For many, the opportunity cost of commercial accommodation would impact too much on their self-indulgent feral lifestyle...but this is changing.

Over the years, the motel industry has not increased tariff in pace with inflation and this has allowed tattooed, lager swilling, cigarette-sucking Britneys and Gazzas to consider indulging themselves with motel accommodation, often accompanied with their ghastly feral kids, Chardonnay and Chantelle.

The burden of self-entitlement that has been thrust upon the unproductive underclass has made them believe that they deserve regular treats and time-out from their routine of sponging off others and lying on the couch. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of disposable cash these folk seem to have access to.

Our hearts go out to the owners of a Blenheim motel that earlier this year allowed an unemployed, meth-crazed feral to book-in after he payed upfront for two nights accommodation. Unfortunately the motel guest flipped-out and barricaded himself in his room threatening to hurt himself and others with explosive devices.

After police surrounded and apprehended the motel occupant, professional cleaners and repairs were necessary to put right the trail of devastation left behind.

We note that the motelier's nightmare that began January this year has finally come to a conclusion after Gary Ramon Neville Green was sentenced to 34 months' jail in the Christchurch District Court yesterday.

More Motel Religion

Motel and hotel guest rooms can be quiet places of contemplation where desperate, lonely and lost souls can hide away from the madness of the surrounding world.

A romantic notion from yesteryear is that the humble Gideons Bible can offer hope for such folk... 

We've blogged before about the institution of The Gideons Bible inconspicuously tucked away in most motel guest rooms. We regard this "as a quaint, somewhat amusing custom that is part of motel/hotel culture."

We've also earnestly covered the story of a hotelier in the UK, that replaced the Gideons Bible in his guest rooms with risqué-mummy-porn, Fifty Shades of Grey that stoked up howls of outrage from church groups.

So with guest rooms and bibles having a rich and historical connection, it has come of no suprise that our friends at The Civilian blog (that cover topical news with a hint of satire), have today uncovered the startling revelation that the original copy of Book of Genesis has been found in a hotel drawer.

Better get over to The Civilian to: Read MORE.

TripAdvisor Review Express

TripAdvisor that claims to be the world's largest travel site with more than 200 million unique monthly visitors and over 100 million reviews and opinions wants to get even bigger.

After beta testing since November 2012, TripAdvisor have just launched Review Express, a feature that enables accommodation providers to bulk upload up to 1,000 guest email addresses at a time, add a message with a personalised logo, and then TripAdvisor will email guests in the accommodation providers' name to prod them to write a review.

TripAdvisor will be effectively piggybacking on the databases of motivated properties that wish to boost their number of reviews within a short time - and assuming the solicited reviews are positive, there is an opportunity for these properties to rise up the ranks to gain valuable exposure.

Larger accommodation providers that are already successfully direct marketing to their guest databases will need to weigh-up if a separate controlled email via TripAdvisor could undermine their core marketing efforts - especially loyalty programs.

It is possible that small to medium sized properties without a direct marketing program could use TripAdvisor's new easy-to-use online tool as a simplified total direct marketing solution.

Users will see a message underneath TripAdvisor reviews solicited in this manner that reads: “Review collected in partnership with (accommodation provider's name).

TripAdvisor has produced the following video on Review Express for operators:

Asset Sales Referendum FAIL

Oh dear! It looks like the socialist co-conspirators have fallen short...

Top New Zealand school holiday spots

As kids drag their heels back to school this week, I see that Wotif.com have sent out a timely media release ranking the number of nights booked over the school holiday break.

Wotif.com have been able to expose their brand by kindly sharing with the media a snapshot of where all the cool families that ventured away from home ended up over the last two weeks.

No real surprises in the rankings, however should we be feeling sorry for the kids that were forced by their parents to spend their holidays in Hamilton?

Press Release: Wotif.com

Media Release
Top New Zealand school holiday spots

AUCKLAND – 7 May 2013 As the school holidays come to an end and suitcases are emptied, online travel website Wotif.co.nz has released the top five holiday spots in the North and South Island during the recent school holidays.

Unsurprisingly, Queenstown and Christchurch came out on top as popular destinations in the South Island during the school holiday break.

Wotif.co.nz Product Director Donna Rodios said that while the top three South Island destinations were consistent with last year’s Wotif.co.nz annual Top Destinations list, there was one notable new entry.

“Hanmer Springs proved to be a hit these school holidays and pushed Nelson city down to number five,” Ms Rodios said.

“A lot of families are attracted to the great outdoor activities Hanmer Springs has to offer, there’s the hot thermal springs which are great for relaxing and also the hiking and bike riding trails prove popular with the kids.”

Auckland and Wellington continued to be the North Island’s most popular holiday destinations, followed by Rotorua, Taupo and Hamilton.

“Auckland, as usual, was an attractive holiday spot with great activities for all ages, such as the Rainbow’s End theme park, Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium and a variety of museums,” Ms Rodios said.

The top five North Island destinations over the Easter school holidays were consistent with the top five destinations booked on Wotif.co.nz in 2012.

Top 5 for South Island
1. Queenstown
2. Christchurch
3. Dunedin
4. Hanmer Springs
5. Nelson City

Top 5 for North Island
1. Auckland
2. Wellington
3. Rotorua
4. Taupo
5. Hamilton

Source: Click HERE

Will Accommodation Providers Start To Yelp?

I see that Yelp has this month entered the New Zealand market and we predict that they will cause disruption by soon challenging TripAdvisor as this country's main platform for the public to share online customer reviews.

As accommodation providers struggle to get their head around the realities of crowd-sourced on-line reviews, we predict that Yelp will soon up the ante and intensify the angst shared by some in the accommodation industry.

While TripAdvisor's main focus is providing a platform for travel related reviews such as accommodation and restaurants, Yelp has a more social aspect and a broader focus on local businesses that consumers use day to day such as nightlife, shopping, Beauty, health etc

A growing online consumer base domiciled overseas (particularly in the US) habitually use Yelp for finding and rating local businesses and are increasingly using the platform to find and rate accommodation businesses. Yelp's strategic partnerships with Bing and Apple  have greatly assisted credibility and exponential growth.

The nature of Yelp's reviewers appear to be younger, mobile and inclined to contribute succinct reviews on a frequent basis. From our observations, Yelp reviews are less in-depth compared to TripAdvisor, however the site isn't generally used for whining and customer complaints, with a claimed 80 percent of reviews being considered positive by the reviewer awarding at least 3.5 stars out of 5.

While TripAdvisor is currently the "go-to" website for travel consumers to search and rate accommodation business in New Zealand, judging by Yelp's global popularity (see the graph below), we predict that consumers will soon be influenced by Yelp when considering New Zealand accommdation options.

While Yelp provides a slightly different consumer experience than TripAdvisor, it  can also be influential with consumer buying habits and their methodology can cause controversy amongst business owners:



And like TripAdvisor, Yelp does not provide an opt-out option for businesses that are frequented and reviewed. Reviews on Yelp are "unverified", so proof of purchase is not required for someone to post a review. One contentious point of difference with Yelp is that there doesn't appear to be a mechanism for business owners to reply to reviewers' comments?

While the motel industry has a habit of crying foul and adopting a cloth-cap protectionist stance right from the outset, there needs to be an acceptance that consumer review sites will continue to grow in popularity whatever the platform.

The nature of the beast dictates that successful review sites are self-controlled in an open market where consumers wield a lot of power.

Accommodation providers quickly need to educate themselves about the nuances of new media, accept the inevitability of unsolicited online reviews and ensure that their business listings are presented in the best way possible. Offering consistently good product and excellent customer service also helps;-)

Yelp's announcement that they are entering the New Zealand market was included in a post on their blog on the 1 May:

Yelp Says "Kia Ora" to New Zealand

"New Zealanders are a fearless and fun-loving bunch. NZ was the first modern nation to grant women the vote, a Kiwi was the first to climb Mount Everest, and commercial bungee jumping was invented there, too.

But that’s not all – the nation also boasts an eclectic shopping scene, delicious world-renowned wineries, and buzzing local bars screening the beloved All Blacks’ rugby games.

And now, Kiwis can hop on to their computers and smart phones to share their best kept secrets across the country. Whether you're on the hunt for a hip café or a friendly dentist, NZ Yelpers can now share their favourites and discover new ones with each other’s help.
We’re excited to make NZ the 21st nation to join Yelp and give its more than 4.5 million inhabitants a voice.

Log on to Yelp.co.nz or download Yelp’s mobile app to start spreading your wisdom. Businesses can get in on the action, too, at biz.yelp.co.nzby claiming their page for free and building out their profile."

Businesses Fight Back

Ten business groups representing thousands of New Zealand's producers, band together to counter the wreckers and haters.
 

   Open Letter to Labour and the Greens.pdf

Transactional Giving Accommodation Website Relaunches

We see that our friends at KiwiKarma have re skinned their website and are using new partners, Bookit for their online reservation functionality. The new, improved website looks clean, is easy to use and was soft-launched yesterday.

From a consumers' point of view, the concept is reasonably simple. KiwiKarma is a website where customers are able to easily select and book online accommodation. The main point of difference between other bookable websites is that KiwiKarma offers a feel-good factor by donating 3 percent of the total cost of the accommodation to a charity nominated by the customer.

With most accommodation operators adopting price parity across all online sales channels, KiwiKarma's customers shouldn't feel that they've paid over the odds, however some may instinctively ring the accommodation operator direct to try and squeeze a better deal ;-)

From an accommodation providers' viewpoint, KiwiKarma simply redirects customers to live online availability on Trademe's popular Bookit booking engine.

KiwiKarma acts as a referral portal service and any bookings generated from its website interface will be under the same terms and conditions that accommodation providers have made with Bookit. The commission (up to 12 percent) will be deducted from the booking proceeds remitted to the accommodation provider as usual by Bookit.

As the accommodation provider will be dealing with Bookit from the initial reservation advice to the final payment, it is unclear if they will even know if KiwiKarma's website referred the reservation?

Bookit will pay KiwiKarma a share of commission earned from each reservation generated and from this, KiwiKarma will donate 3 percent of the total booking cost to charities selected by the customer.

It's hard to predict the scale of a niche market that would be attracted to the concept of transactional giving when making an online accommodation booking. From a darkened room, alone and staring into a glowing desktop screen, will customers planning travel arrangements necessarily have charity in mind when pondering accommodation options?

Will giving away 3 percent to charity be perceived by customers as being worthwhile? Will the feel-good factor alone influence customer buying behavior and attract them to KiwiKarma? On behalf of their customers, KiwiKarma will attract the adulation and the tax deductability as they will be acting as the charity donor to selected charities.

The website looks good, the Bookit integration functions extremely well and customers will be pleased that there are no annoying booking fees, however reaching out to a niche grouping of potential customers that will sustain KiwiKarma will be challenging.

After giving away 3 percent to charity, the net commission share that KiwiKarma will gain from bookings will hardly give them a marketing budget of Wotif.com proportions. Lack of funding could also restrict further development of the website to include features such as a mobility and accessibility via a dedicated app.

Smart use of networking and social media will need to be at the forefront of any future promotion.

Any new online reseller will find it difficult scrape market share off the scrum of established and trusted brand OTAs. The most obvious marketing base that could potentially give KiwiKarma some momentum will be the charities themselves that include: Arthritis NZ, The Asthma Foundation, Breast Cancer Research etc. These organisations have huge databases of employees, volunteers, donors and other interested parties that will be qualified targets for promotion and have a vested interest to provide free marketing for KiwiKarma's innovative concept.

It will be interesting to follow their progress.

Destination Marketing Made Easy - Give Tourists Cash!

John Wanamaker, the US department store pioneer, is often quoted as saying:

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half”. 

When Wanamaker made this statement, he didn't take into account the cash blown by Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) and other tourism adjuncts that use "other people's money" on regional marketing campaigns where it would be a miracle if up to 50 percent actually hit the target.

While groupings of tourism business owners with common marketing goals can produce positive outcomes, as soon as public money is added to the mix, you start empire-building a non-producing structure that requires a CEO, marketing manager, a team of administration staff and buildings to house them all in.

While RTOs bleed money at the front-office by operating loss-producing i-Sites, the back-office earnestly busy themselves in an endless series of meetings and focus groups dreaming up a catchy tagline for the next generic marketing campaign. In some provincial areas it's not uncommon for more money to flow through the RTO than the private tourism businesses they allegedly support.

One recent example of wasting valuable resource is the annual tradition of RTO representatives trooping off to TRENZ where they gorge themselves on sausage rolls, attend a series of circular masterbatery meetings with other non-producers and provide filler appointments for jaded overseas buyers.

No one has had the courage to tell RTOs that TRENZ should be a meeting place for private tourism businesses that actually have products and services to sell to overseas buyers. RTOs have somehow convinced themselves that they can earn a commission from a sunset.

When it comes to tourism promotion, maybe Barbados have got it right? They've appeared to have cut out the middle-man by simply dishing-out "free" money directly to tourists... 

"HOW IS this for an incentive?

The Barbados will reward visitors by giving them hundreds of dollars as part of a plan to boost tourism.

The cash incentives are part of an extraordinary new $11 million initiative announced by the country's tourism minister Richard Sealy.

The "Barbados Island Inclusive Package" includes advertising and cash incentives for tourists.

Visitors will receive "free spending money" based on their length of stay. Guests who stay five nights will get $US150 ($145) per person, and on stays of seven nights or more the reward will increase to $193 per person (with a maximum of two people per room).

UK and European tourists visiting for up to seven days will get a $580 voucher.
Vouchers are distributed to guests when they check-in to their hotels, and most of the properties on the island will be participating.

Mr Sealy said he expected the program to lure an extra 15,000 tourists.
The offer is available for travel between May 1 to December 21 this year, but trips must be booked by June 22".

Source: Click HERE

The All New Motella Blog 2013 Intro...

Press play and turn up the volume: