New York to tax travel, the web

by Tom Johansmeyer on

New York has been scrambling for tax revenues, and no stone has been left unturned (including my beloved cigars, which are now costing me more than they did a week ago). Well, the Empire State looks like it’s now going after my second passion: travel. Visitors who book hotel rooms on sites like Expedia or Orbitz could get slapped with a higher total price if a proposed tax on lodging booked online goes through.

For a local, it’s pretty tempting to support this measure. I don’t spend a whole lot of time in hotel rooms here, unsurprisingly, because I already have a roof over my head. And, the notion of making out-of-staters shell out for the services I consume is pretty attractive. After all, it’s a net gain for the state – and for me. But, there are two aspects of this proposed travel tax that disturb me.

The first is the usual: higher prices for one sector of the travel booking business create a skewed competitive landscape, imperiling the abilities of several companies to compete and effectively destroying wealth. It’s hard for me to be in favor of that, as a general rule. Also, the higher prices, due to the proposed taxes, could constrain demand and lead to less tourist revenue coming into the city. Like taxes paid by people from out of state, money spent by these people is also a net gain for the state … and it’s ultimately more productive.

So, taxes = bad, spending = good. I know; this isn’t tough stuff.

The other side of this proposed tax is actually more problematic. It’s a tax on web sales, effectively. The web has generally been safe from inane taxation, and I was hoping (more than a little) that it would stay that way. According to the New York Times:

The measure, included in the budget that lawmakers in Albany completed on Tuesday, reclassifies third-party vendors under the tax umbrella of hotel operators, requiring them to collect the same sales tax.

At the moment, travel sites buy hotel rooms from hotel operators at a price that includes the 4 percent state sales tax. They make the rooms available to consumers at a higher price, but no sales tax is collected on the difference in price. The new provision, which takes effect on Sept. 1, eliminates the loophole.

The folks up in Albany expect this violation of the freedom of the internet to be worth $10 million this fiscal year … which seems like an awfully small return on an investment in the deprivation of dignity and freedom – not to mention putting an unnecessary and anti-competitive constraint on the online travel agency business.

Don’t worry, fellow travelers: we want your money in this state so much that litigation seems likely. Says Colin Tooze, vice president for government affairs of the American Society of Travel Agents: “I expect that one or more affected parties will consider litigating.”

[photo by n8kowald via Flickr]

Hilton gives free internet access by status

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The elites get free internet access at Hiltons, and the rest can eat cake … which is how it should be. The hotel company has decided to reward its best customers with this perk, which translates to between $10 and $15 a night in value. To qualify, you need to be gold-level or above. Internet access is one of the more unpopular extra charges, especially for business travelers who have no choice but to incur it. For Hilton, tying the waived fee to status provides an easy way to experiment with easing up on the fee while keeping it contained.

Jeff Diskin, a Hilton senior executive for customer marketing, “Business travelers rank quality, high-speed internet access as one of the most important guest room attributes.” He adds, “By giving complimentary internet access to our Hilton HHonors Gold and Diamond members globally, we will meet our guests’ evolving demands.”

Are hotels ready for tattoos and piercings?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Maybe it’s time to expect a little ink at the front desk. Hotel employee policies have traditionally been pretty strict when it comes to appearance. Suits are the norm, beards aren’t seen often and creases are always easy to spot. Notably absent, for the most part, are a few extra body piercings (at least the visible kind) and generous tattooing. It looks like the world might (finally) be loosening up a bit, though.

A decade ago, when I worked for a software company in the hospitality business, we generally had to mirror our clients’ wardrobe and grooming policies (at a minimum). Sporting a mustache was permissible only if you’d been with the company for a while and knew your stuff cold. And, it wasn’t allowed so much as tolerated. The reason for the company’s standards, of course, was salient as soon as you walked up to the front desk to check in: the employees needed to be able to relate to you quickly.
With attitudes toward tattoos and piercings easing up a bit, it seems as though hotels might be able to relax the standards a bit. According to USA Today’s “Hotel Check-in” column:

Piercings have become a fairly acceptable form of body decoration, at least outside the workplace, and some hotels have grown more comfortable with letting employees show a bit of personality. So I decided to reach out to my Facebook and Twitter friends to ask what they think about pierced hotel workers today, and found people on both sides of the question.

An informal poll found that guests have a wide range of attitudes on metal and ink on hotel employees, some of which include a bit of nuance. A few think it depends on the property, with those of the staid variety needing employees to dress the part, while fashion-forward properties can give their employees a bit more latitude.

The prevailing perspective, it appears, is that hotels need to adapt to the world around them. According to Michael Juell, a hotel consultant and former Four Seasons manager, employees should be presentable and clean … and not go to crazy with the adornments.

[photo by Just Jefa via Flickr]

The (Un)Wired: A Free Wi-Fi Manifesto

by Andrew Evans on

The year is twenty-ten A.D. and Wi-Fi should be free.
We travelers bear no grudge with you as long as you agree,
But if you’re that one schmuck who likes to play it old school,
Charging folks for internet–well, then basically, you’re a tool.

Your penny-pinching greed smells just like boardroom boredom.
It’s out of touch and backwards, not to mention just plain dumb.
Please get with the program, be ye airport or hotel:
If you don’t have free Wi-Fi, then you can go to hell.

Maybe somehow you’re still stuck way back in 1999,
But nowadays, we’re all online, everywhere and all the time.
We’re riding on a bullet train to a place called progress,
Get on it or get off it; win or lose, more or less.

Now don’t start waggin’ your finger and talkin’ ’bout capitalism.
‘Cuz what you’re doin’ and what that is, capitalism it isn’t.
You preach that competition matters most in a race,
But Bandwidth Bandit’s the losing horse, so here’s my trophy in your face.

Don’t believe the suits who tell us bloggers we’re too sassy,
‘Cuz let me tell you dittoheads, “Do you know what’s so not classy?”
Welcoming frequent flyers who only wanna soak their feet,
Then telling your five-star guest to go and check his email on the street.

Hey Luddite, while you’re at it, dream big, don’t stop there–
Stick your dirty hands in the water, in the men’s room, if you dare.
You could make a fortune charging for all the stuff that should be free.
A nickel to wipe, a dime to pee, and half a buck to breathe.Real funny how some of you think Wi-Fi’s, like, optional,
An extra perk like cushioned hangars or an ice bucket that’s full.
Well, keep your stupid coffee machine and you’re fancy new remote.
We watch TV online now, perhaps you didn’t know?

Now we’ve all got 3- and 4G, it’s isn’t like we need you,
It’s just your stupid concrete walls keep the signal from getting through.
So please stop annoying us or perhaps find another hobby?
‘Cuz right now I keep running with my laptop to the lobby.

I’ve been around the world, from Port Harcourt to Beijing,
The third world’s better wired than your top floor executive wing.
I can Twitter in Rwanda, get on Facebook and type,
But in your three-hundred-dollar hotel room, I can’t log on to Skype.

Now I spy with my bionic eyes the not-so-distant future,
And if you wanna be part of it, then let me offer you this here clue:
Soon every single traveler’s gonna check in with an iPad–
If your lousy hotel ain’t got Wi-Fi, than watch us get real iMad.

We won’t show up with pitchforks or with gas bombs at your door,
The way you’ll know we’re real pissed off is the way in which we ignore.
We’ll take a different airline, find a different place to play,
We’ll see you got no free signal, and we’ll simply walk away.

Really guys, don’t fret too much, it’s really no big whoop:
Your hotel will make a nice warehouse, or high-rise chicken coop.
Sit back and enjoy your silly ten-buck charges while they last,
You’ll need the cash come winter, when you’re freezing your homeless ass.

Sadly, it’s not just hotels who behave this way,
Not naming any names, LAX, IAD, JFK,
We’re talking to you ‘cuz your airports are such a mess.
You’re necessary but you still suck, so why not suck a little less?

Give us free Wi-Fi and we won’t hate you as much.
(Surely it costs less than nasty airport fudge.)
But you still just don’t get it and that’s exactly why,
We’d rather fly through Singapore, Portland or Dubai.

So here’s the proverbial memo you’ll keep swearing you didn’t get:
“Give us free Wi-Fi dammit, we deserve our internet.”
If not, then don’t complain when history adds you to the pile,
With drive-in movies, the horse-drawn carriage, civilization on the Nile.

So kudos to all those companies who know us, love and get us:
The mom and pop joints, B&Bs and dingy Chinatown bus.
You corporate minds should wake up now and please smell the coffee:
Starbucks has free Wi-Fi now, and so does MickeyDees.

What’s that you say? You still can’t catch the gist?
Of what everyone’s been sayin’–your kids and The Economist.
Really guys, it’s not so hard and I’m pleading on one knee,
It’s already twenty-ten A.D. and Wi-Fi should be free.

Peace out.

(Photo: Flickr Miklo Olivier, Dana-2)

Hotels making a move on social media, with targeted help

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The hotel industry has plenty of faith in the social media world – and no reservations about using it to gain reservations. But, it’s struggling to take control of the medium. A survey by Wine and Hospitality Network indicates that most respondents (in the business) spend only two hours a week managing their Facebook fan pages – with 14.2 percent having no such page to manage. Forty-two percent don’t use Twitter, and 25 percent tweet for less than an hour a week (they should reach out to @Colonnade for tips).

But, it isn’t for lack of trying. The internet is littered with the corpses of abandoned social media marketing initiatives, inside the travel industry and out. Notes online marketing publication ClickZ:

“Before hoteliers even consider a social media initiative, they should be aware that social media is a very engaged, hands-on marketing format. The social networks are a graveyard of abandoned hotel profiles and fan pages by hoteliers who did not realize the complexity of social marketing,” said Margaret Mastrogiacomo, social media specialist with Hospitality eBusiness Strategies, a strategic services and design firm.

Several properties are getting in on the action, committing resources and genuinely seeking returns. New York’s Roger Smith Hotel has made a clear social media play, according to ClickZ, by adopting Revinate, a tool to facilitate active social media management specifically for the hospitality business. Kimpton has adopted this platform as well.

ClickZ continues:

The focus on hotels pays off for the Roger Smith’s Simpson, who used to spend hours using search and setting up news alerts on competitors. While Revinate doesn’t include some of the hot new social media startups he keeps an eye on, like Bizzy and Pegshot, he says it covers the major sites, especially TripAdvisor, the most important. The ability to compare his hotel’s buzz with competitors is also unique. “It’s one thing to do it manually for your own establishment, but for me to do that for surrounding hotels or for what other people we have an interest in are doing, that becomes more laborious.”

So, what does this mean for the average traveler? Your opportunities to engage with the hotels you’ll call home, if only temporarily, are set to increase. Think beyond deals (though they are important) to every other reason you’d contact and open dialogue with a hotel. The possibilities are immense, and hotels, a bit slow to move in social media, appear to be on the brink.