“Comparing airfares plus extra fees should be easier, travel managers say” plus 3 more |
- Comparing airfares plus extra fees should be easier, travel managers say
- Mother’s Day Dining and Free Room Celebration
- Local groups and businesses look for ways to link themselves to Super Bowl XLV
- Bridgewater council to vote on Route 22 economic development plans
| Comparing airfares plus extra fees should be easier, travel managers say Posted: 18 Jul 2010 07:50 PM PDT Since airlines began to add new fees for such extras as checked bags, pillows and food, passengers have been griping about the increased costs. Now, some of the harshest criticism of airline fees is coming from travel managers who oversee millions of dollars in travel spending for large businesses. The managers are frustrated that the fees are not disclosed through computer distribution systems and independent travel agencies that they use to compare airline fares and predict annual travel costs. They have a good reason for wanting detailed information on the cost of flying. Travel managers around the world oversee more than $340 billion in spending on business travel and meetings annually. Computer giant IBM Corp. alone spends an estimated $505 million in air travel. Though travel managers can easily compare ticket prices on travel websites and other distribution systems, they also must consider how much it costs to, say, check a bag at Delta Air Lines ($25) or buy a snack box on United Airlines ($6). To find such information, they often have to dig endlessly through individual airlines' websites. The growing concern over airline fees prompted an aviation subcommittee in the House of Representatives to hold hearings last week on the subject. Travel managers and consumer advocates were united in arguing that airlines should make fee information easier to find and gather. "Helter skelter has become the rule of the day in airline pricing," Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the 300-member Business Travel Coalition, testified Wednesday. "Consumers have the right to be presented with an accurate view of the full cost of a product," said Michael McCormick, director of the National Business Travel Assn. The group has affiliates around the globe with a combined membership of 17,000 travel professionals. Even the government was critical of the airlines. The Government Accountability Office issued a report to the same subcommittee, calling for airlines to prominently display fee information. The agency also suggested that Congress consider taxing some or all of the airline fees. David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Assn., the trade group that represents the nation's biggest airlines, said most airline fee information can be found on the airlines' websites. It's up to travel websites and distribution system operators to gather that information and provide it to consumers, he added. "We agree with the need for fee transparency, but we already provide it through our websites," he said. It may only be a matter of time before airlines are forced to change the way they disseminate fee information. The U.S. Transportation Department is considering adopting rules to require changes, and several lawmakers have proposed language to do the same in legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration this year. Giving 'boutique' a solid definition What is a boutique hotel? While thousands of hotels across the U.S. are eager to present themselves with the title "boutique," there is no industry-approved definition. Most people in the industry agree only that a boutique hotel is small, upscale and usually independently owned. But an industry group recently formed in Southern California is working to define the term. The Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Assn. announced plans last week to develop an industry standard for boutique and lifestyle hotels. The group, lead by Frances Kiradjian, the founder of a West Hills marketing consulting firm, is forming an advisory group of lodging industry leaders to create a definition that can be adopted industrywide. One reason for forming the group, Kiradjian said, is to protect customers from being misled when they reserve a room — sight unseen — at a hotel that has bestowed upon itself the moniker "boutique."' A standard definition, she said, would help patrons "distinguish the individual traits that lured them to searching out the boutique hotel category in the first place." Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Mother’s Day Dining and Free Room Celebration Posted: 18 Jul 2010 10:15 PM PDT
Show your special mom just how much you really care by presenting her with a great deal more than just one rewarding treat. In fact, while Mother's Day falls on 12th August, Pattaya Marriott Resort & Spa has designed a double celebration deal that starts with gorgeous dining throughout the entire month of August, made to last even longer with an amazing free night's stay. Terms and conditions: For more information and reservations, please contact (66) 038 412 120 or email: pattayamarriott@minornet.com . Editor's Note: MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE:MAR) is a leading lodging company with nearly 3,200 lodging properties in the United States and 67 other countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance Club Sport, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club, Horizons by Marriott Vacation Club, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Grand Residences by Marriott brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and had approximately 151,000 employees at 2006 year-end. It is ranked as the lodging industry's most admired company and one of the best places to work for by FORTUNE®. The company is also a 2006 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR® Partner. In fiscal year 2006, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of $12.2 billion. Asanee Intaring (MS) | Marketing Communications Manager | Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Local groups and businesses look for ways to link themselves to Super Bowl XLV Posted: 18 Jul 2010 08:35 PM PDT Super Bowl fans can be expected to spend far more time on the lookout for visiting celebrities than the hottest crop of contemporary artists when the big game comes to town. Top officials at the Dallas Museum of Art, however, will try to level the playing field. In a savvy melding of football and fine art, the museum has scheduled an exhibit featuring artists whose work is already displayed at Cowboys Stadium. February's event calendar will be packed with official and unofficial Super Bowl activities and celebrity parties. Museums, arts groups, businesses and others are working now to find space at a table that could include 200,000 or more tourists. "It's an unprecedented opportunity to take advantage of a major international event with exposure that is quite extraordinary," said DMA contemporary art curator Charles Wylie. The DMA exhibit is the first hint of the creativity that's likely to come with efforts to make a splash the week of Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium. Although few events have been announced yet, Super Bowl tie-ins are in the planning stages throughout North Texas, tourism officials said. The annual Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, which was already scheduled for the weeks leading up to the Feb. 6 game, doesn't have a direct football connection. But it is expected to be a big draw for tourists seeking a Texas experience that leans more toward cattle and chuck wagons than contemporary sculpture. Jay Burress, president and CEO of the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau, said he and other members of the local Super Bowl host committee have encouraged tourism officials and organizations to jump on this opportunity. "Don't sit back and just wait for it all to come to you," Burress said. "Be innovative. Be creative. ... It's not going to be handed to you." He said the Arlington CVB has been brainstorming with retailers and restaurants, arts groups and the University of Texas at Arlington to figure out a way to celebrate the Super Bowl.
Plans taking shape
Maria May, spokeswoman for the AT&T Performing Arts Center, said officials with the new complex in downtown Dallas are still planning events for February, and no announcements are ready yet. She said there is plenty of behind-the-scenes work to find programs with either a sports theme or that simply reflect the overall celebration of Super Bowl week. "It might be a little bit easier for us because we don't necessarily have as much of a definition of what kinds of things we can have going on at the center," May said. "There are ways that sports and the performing arts intersect." That can be tricky for many seeking to make that connection. For starters, almost no organizations or businesses will be able to use the phrase Super Bowl to target Super Bowl fans. The National Football League is protective of its trademarks. Only businesses that pay to become official Super Bowl sponsors are allowed to use that phrase. The league even unsuccessfully tried several years ago to co-opt the term "The Big Game," which has become the advertising substitute phrase of choice for Super Bowl.
Outside competition
There will also be intense competition for time and money from dozens of outside events, from an NFL gospel celebration to lingerie flag football games. DMA officials only had to look as far as Arlington for inspiration. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had 19 site-specific art pieces from 17 nationally and internationally known artists placed around Cowboys Stadium. Jones enlisted the help of experts, including the DMA's Wylie, to recommend artists and art. Wylie said he and others at the museum knew an exhibit featuring those artists was an easy choice, and the timing was an obvious way to hook tourists who might not be thinking about art in the lead up to the Super Bowl. The exhibit is scheduled to run Dec. 5 to March 27, with the Super Bowl right in the middle. "We probably would have done something like this eventually, but this was a great moment to focus our efforts," Wylie said. He said he expects the stadium's art, which received national coverage from art critics, to draw even more attention around the Super Bowl. And some of that publicity could reflect back toward the DMA.
Honoring Shula
The Tampa, Fla.-based H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute found a similar opportunity this year. Center officials wanted to honor board member and former Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula, so they scheduled a dinner and fundraiser for Super Bowl week at a South Beach hotel. "We were certainly able to draw on people who were coming in for the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl who might not otherwise have been available for that week," said Susan Stern, vice president of the Moffitt Cancer Center Foundation. "We were really able to reach out to national companies in terms of their support." She said scheduling the dinner then created a "perfect storm" of publicity with national media interviewing Shula and raising the profile of the 24-year-old cancer center. The event also raised $250,000 for the foundation. In Fort Worth, next year's Super Bowl is both a blessing and burden for organizers of the annual stock show. It's easy to imagine cable and network television reports filled with images of calf scrambles, livestock auctions and ranch hand competitions. It also means that thousands of out-of-town stock show regulars and schoolchildren bringing livestock could have a tougher time finding reasonably priced lodging. The stock show, however, has had a few successes in persuading some local hotels and motels to hold the rates down. "The good news is there's not a better event in the North Texas region to exemplify the Western lifestyle," said Brad Barnes, Stock Show president. Stock show officials are also assembling entertainment packages, featuring behind-the-scenes tours, to pitch to corporate groups in town for the game. They will have one less day to make a splash, though. The stock show is cutting its typical 24-day run short to keep the rodeo finals from ending on Super Bowl Sunday. Glendale, Ariz., which hosted the 2008 Super Bowl, also had to work around Super Bowl Sunday in scheduling its nationally acclaimed Chocolate Affaire festival. Despite shortening the festival from two to three days so it didn't conflict with game day, organizers saw the festival still set an attendance record, according to the city. And even a festival featuring horse-drawn carriage rides and romance novel symposia managed to incorporate a gridiron theme. A 300-pound chocolate football was created for a charity auction. Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Bridgewater council to vote on Route 22 economic development plans Posted: 18 Jul 2010 09:02 PM PDT BRIDGEWATER — The Township Council might approve plans Monday to drive economic development along the Route 22 corridor. That's when the council is set to vote on the Planning Board's economic development recommendations. "We are moving forward with all the recommendations put forward by the Planning Board," Council President Matt Moench said. Each of the recommendations has been crafted into an ordinance for the Council's review. "Route 22 is probably one of Bridgewater's most important economic resources. We want to help bring businesses to Bridgewater that more in line with the current economy." For example, he said, the new zoning will remove outdated uses such as agricultural and horticulture from the stretch of highway through the township. Moench said the corridor might have an easier time meeting market demand. The Board of Adjustment has denied at least two previous hotel applications along Route 22 for reasons including that their proposed locations were not zoned for lodging. The proposed zoning changes calls for an area of Chimney Rock Road, near Interstate 287, where hotels would be allowed. "There is a need for hotels in Bridgewater. Hotels support the businesses we want to bring to Bridgewater. It's crucial that we put hotels in the right locations," Moench said. Wayne Watkinson, owner of the Bound Brook Golf Range, 1920 Route 22, has said adding indoor recreation in the C-3 Zone has spurred some fresh interest in his property for the first time in five years. Before that, Watkinson has said, the zoning on his property "had been prohibitive." The new zoning would not allow new auto dealerships along the northern strip of the roadway. The Planning Board decided to allow the existing dealerships to continue, and allowed provisions so they can expand or renovate in the future. The township's Economic Advisory Committee started reviewing each of the zones along the highway two years ago. Bridgewater Economic Development Officer Howard Turbowitz said he is "very excited to see the culmination of two years of hard work, to have the recommendations of the Planning Board adopted to enhance the Route 22 corridor." Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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