New Players
Besides Groupon and LivingSocial, there are many other successful flash sale sites that offer travel deals and discounted hotel night stays. Founded in 2009, Jetsetter offers luxury vacation packages and discounted hotel rooms. It was a great move for parent company Gilt Group to expand into the travel market from high-end fashion. In 2011, Jetsetter began including full-price hotel rooms as well, which most other flash sites would not act as a retailer offering such services. When searching and planning the trip, members can also search the company's archive of previous hotel sales, checking the Jetsetter hotel reviews, recommendations, tips, directions, and maps. As an added feature, if the property is no longer for sale, the website provides pop up messages telling you the property contact or booking information, just in case people still desire to stay at that property. Jetsetters view is “We believe seeing the world in style shouldn’t have to cost the earth, so we always offer a selection of hotels, homes and tours at up to 40 percent off the usual price (that’s connections for you). These deals are for a limited time of between five and ten days only.”
In 2012, Jetsetter entered the Same-Day booking business on their mobile apps to cater to more mobile “on the go” customers. The Vice President of Sales and Operations for Jetsetter indicated that "last minute bookings dominate mobile purchases, especially on the iPhone, 76% of Jetsetter mobile bookings happen within two weeks, thirty two percent of which are within seven days. Aggressively priced mobile-only sales see a big increase in same-day bookings." (2012, Then Scene) It's a fast and convenient booking process, browse the deal by location and select the book...
... middle of paper ...
...divided over the value of flash sites. TravelWeekly. http://www.travelweekly.com/travel-news/online-travel/flash-reservations/
Dana, C., Anupreeta, D. (July 2012). Economic Unease Curbs Deals Appetite. The Wall Street Journal. Accessed April 18, 2014 from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304830704577494760061809738
Dane, S. G. (August 2012). Flash Sales Take on the Hotel Industry. Travel Blogs. Accessed April 18, 2014 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dane-steele-green/the-gay-traveler- flash-sales-take-on-hotels_b_1258716.html
Coupon Facts Report, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2014 from http://www.prnewswire.com/news- releases/coupon-facts-report-indicates-marketers-continue-steady-use-of-coupons- 188209401.html
Groupon Annual Report 2012. Retrieved April 18, 2014 from http://investor.groupon.com/
Jetsetter website http://www.jetsetter.com/about
The corporation has become the UK’s largest independent hotel brand comprising of 500+ hotels and 37,000+ guest bedrooms which is spread across UK, along with Ireland and Spain. In this report, the positioning of the Travelodge will be discussed in the sector of hospitality.
You know the feeling you get when you look at the person dressed in the same designer outfit next to you, knowing you paid half as much for it? Choose jetBlue and that exceptional feeling will come right back to you. Operating as a safe, reliable, value-added airline focused on customer service and high quality travel, jetBlue’s prized mission is to compete as a low cost carrier while integrating great customer service. Do not be fooled by their low prices and operational efficiency, though. From leather seating to their customer bill of rights, from courteous flight crews to entertainment consoles, jetBlue offers inexpensive, stylish service unlike other contenders.
American Express has always been known for its benefits to travelers. Some of the new travel discounts; such as the “Bahamas Getaway” packages offer significant discounts for planning a vacation in the Bahamas through a travel agent. The catch is that one must charge it on the American Express card to get the discounts. Coupon books that offer discounts at many shops, restaurants and attractions are given to those who buy a package. Over $11 million in “Bahama Getaway” packages were sold in 1999. Other getaway packages are available to consumers all over the world. American Express has successfully used this marketing strategy, as it realized that consumers want an opportunity to enjoy an exotic vacation, while at the same time, getting value for their dollar. Saving money is important to most consumers. Once again, American Express aims to please its customers.
Jetblue was originally founded in 1998 on the principle of offering a low-cost travel experience to its customers. To differentiate JetBlue from its main competitors, such as Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines, JetBlue began offering amenities such as in-flight entertainment, TV screens on the back of every seat and in-flight satellite radio, wireless aircraft data link service, and cabin surveillance systems, and voice communication. As quoted by JetBlue’s founder, David Neeleman, JetBlue seeks to “bring humanity back to air travel.”
Due to the increased use of the internet, it is becoming more and more easier to book online. This allows customers to book flights easier and increase Jet2’s revenue. Revenue is increased through not having to deliver or post tickets out to its customers, in comparison with other non-internet based airlines. It is believed that over 97% of Jet2’s customers book online, which further highlights Jet2’s emphasis on online bookings.
By 2013, their main focus was on airfare, but they do still provide other travel packages. CheapOair also uses a Flight Search app that permits people to find and book itineraries through their mobile device. The agency also gives immense significance on customer service. CheapOair was the first online travel agency to sell auxiliary products for US Airways and American Airlines. They offered "Choice Seats" and "Main Cabin Extra" as products in booking path and checkout.
Each year, America’s travel and tourism industry generates approximately $1.5 trillion dollars in economic output, or about 2.6% of the country’s gross domestic product (Select USA, 2016). Nearly 20% of this economic activity is directly related to accommodations, which serve the short term lodging needs of pleasure and business travelers. Unlike other American economic sectors, this lodging industry is a highly fragmented, diversified market with an incredible variety of suppliers. Temporary overnight lodging can range from undeveloped campsites, hostels, and capsule hotels all the way up to mansions and incredibly luxurious five store hotels. Price ranges run the gamut from just a few dollars a night to thousands of
In the sector of management, the popularity of travel distribution over the Internet has provided hoteliers the opportunity to review consumer-generated content across the industry, because these reviews and ratings provide a powerful tool and a wealth of data to hotel management. Also, it is important for hoteliers to take consumers’ negative comments seriously in order to provide a service recovery or change product to better suit consumers’ needs. In article “The implications of social media on customer relationship management and the hospitality industry”, it is said that hoteliers have found that review of the information in comments enabled them to make management decisions that resulted in improved service operations (Rosman & Stuhura 2013).
AirBnb is a worldwide company that allows people to rent rooms and houses from other people for vacation instead of renting a room from a hotel. Of all the companies mentioned, this is by far my favorite idea and favorite company. When traveling, even the best of hotels are still not as cozy or comfortable as an actual house. AirBnb allows consumers the option to continue living in an actual house instead of a cheap motel room. On the other end of the program, people with open rooms or vacation homes can turn these open rooms or houses into a little bit of cash. The only downside is a slight lack of convenience for the consumer because while on vacation tourists like to visit all of popular vacation hotspots, and houses are generally further away from these locations than hotels. Still despite this relatively minor drawback, AirBnb is a fantastic company with massive upsides both economically and environmentally.
With regard to product, JetBlue is cornering the marketplace with its productivity, in-flight features, and customer service. Due to the fact that the company only purchases new planes of a single type, maintenance downtime is reduced and it is able to keep its planes in the air. In fact, JetBlue maintains the highest in-air average in the industry. Additionally, JetBlue employs an "operational recovery tool" technology that allows planners to minimize flight cancellations and delays. On board, JetBlue prides itself on treating all customers as equals and providing more comfort than other airlines.
Thanks to these factors, pricing becomes one of the primary uses with which hotels attract customers. However, due to customers’ independent nature, there influence over industry players is limited. In the high-end segment of hotels, price influence becomes even less as hotels find it easier to differentiate themselves from the competition and customers become less price sensitive coming to expect higher prices as a symbolism of superior quality and services. Lastly, corporate business and tour operators can exert more influence due to their large purchases but this affect is of a limited nature and does not extend across the whole
Tourism and Hospitality has developed rapidly and becoming extremely important to economy in the world. The income that several countries in the world receive from tourism industry can be reached to $1billion per year. In addition, Marketing is one of the most important factors that help and effect to tourism industry in many positive ways. Marketing evolved in the tourism industry since 1980. It promotes tourism industry by encouraging the tourists to travel at their destination with the strategy that made up to the tourist satisfaction. However, a marketing strategy does not have to be complex, in fact it should be a easily understood which ensure the advantage of marketing of the products and services to the tourist business to obtain positive
Moreover, the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts is considered the first international hotel brand in the world, as it began operations in the year 1946 (About InterContinental Hotels Group Brands, 2015). Over time the hotel group has evolved to encompass quality hotel rooms not only in North America, but in Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, and Asia-Pacific (IHG – InterContinental Hotels Group, 2015). In addition, they have acquired extended stay facilities and the Hualuxe Hotels & Resorts, which specifically “celebrates the essence of Chinese hospitality” (About InterContinental Hotels Group Brands, 2015). In my opinion, this shows that their target market has changed by expanding their scope of travel, which means they are traveling to farther and farther locations and require the familiar surroundings with equivalent product quality at the final destination. The InterContinental Hotels Group is in the fourth and final stage of the product life cycle, which is the decline stage (Editorial Board, 2014, p. 212). Indeed, the brands lengthy history indicates it has loyal customers, but its addition of innovations indicates the targeting of new customers for the organization, which are clear signs of a business in the decline stage of the product life cycle (Editorial Board, 2014, p.
Marketing can play a crucial role in searching and discovering efforts and for identifying new markets to promote an event. It should include other classic elements and marketing such as promotional campaigns, advertising and telemarketing to bring all of the event goals to life.
The overall industry saw a strong boom rate from 2010-2014. The global hotels & motels industry had total revenues of $677.1bn in 2014, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.6% between 2010 and 2014. In comparison, the Asia-Pacific and US industries grew with CAGRs of 6.6% and 5% respectively, over the same period, to reach respective values of $163.7bn and $166.2bn in 2014(Global Hotels & Motels 7). The reason for this growth is due to the Asia-Pacific Region and Americas. The US alone with its world’s largest hotels/market has conquered net value growth, while China has literally doubled the revenue in the same time span. The leisure segment