U kash offers a new solution to make cash less transactions over the internet - and judging by the level of interest at their booth at Internetworld ‘business for the digital age’ (Earls Court, London), they could be on to something here.
So how does this work? Customer takes cash to the nearest ‘charge outlet’ and gets a receipt for the cash amount they want to spend. In the UK, and in some other countries in central Europe, this is possible through newsagents and convenience stores just as one tops up a mobile. Once you have this receipt the consumers simply enter the Ukash value and unique 19 digit number at the payment page - just like entering a credit card number - which is then validated in real time. If change is required a new 19 digit number and value is issued online to the consumer.
So what arethe major advantages for consumers? - Anonymity and protection from identity fraud. The downside being the charging and keeping change issues, plus if you lose the receipt without writing the number down, it is the same as losing cash.
And the retailers? U kash quote some key ststistics in the UK market and this is the reason they beleve it will work.
- 16% of the adults in the UK do not own a payment card
- 2.8 m consumers in the UK are unbanked
- 1 in 5 consumers in the UK are refused credit
- 72% of the credit card holders do not use their cards to transact online
I can only think that these figures will only be higher in the emerging markets - and according to their Commerical Director Andrea McGeachin, they are intending to expand into Asia as well. There is of course the fundamental dependency on the number of outlets which exist in a country to buy Ukash before using it online. But this could be solved soon by their plans to join forces with Vodafone to allow customers to buy Ukash through their mobile.
Hotels which face resistance to online bookings with cards would do well to take note and give the consumer one more option to get that next booking….
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A tour around the Independence of the Seas, the largest cruise liner ever to sail from the UK. From the BBC
According to a Travolution report, British Airways has joined forces with Microsoft to develop a media rich research and booking tool for its website.
The project is based on Microsoft Silverlight rich media technology and aims to move away from traditional web selling by trying to inspire customers with detailed tourist information, pictures, video and other graphics.
The ‘Inspire Me’ tool tries to get behind people’s emotions when they come to the site looking for a holiday by breaking it down into what they want to do in destination, what their perfect night out is, what they like to eat and what style of place they want to stay in.
So will BA give the Online Travel Agencies a run for their money? We’ll have to wait and see……..
J.W. “Bill” Marriott, Jr., chairman and CEO of Marriott International at the World Travel and Tourism Council Summit in Dubai (20-22 April)in his key note address.
He made this particular remark in connection with Marriotts ambitious new project to help protect the planet partnering with the Brazilian State of Amazonas to preserve and protect 1.4 million acres of the Amazon Rainforest.
His other major theme was Travel mobility and trade. “Every time an international visitor visits Palm Island (Dubai), or shops on New York’s Fifth Avenue or Tokyo’s Ginza, it’s the same as exporting a Caterpillar tractor, an Airbus jet, a Sony Playstation or… oil.
Asking governments to encourage and facilitate travel, he pointed out that the US share of overseas international travel has fallen 8% since 2000 while rising 28% in the rest of the world and said that it was a huge lost opportunity for America.
In an ABTN interview with Rotana area vice president Dubai & Northern Territories, Omer Kaddouri mentions aggressive growth plans with ten hotels opening in 2008.
On the question of being able to maintain rates in the face of stiff competition, Kaddouri mentions that the group will be looking at almost a 20% increase for the following year !! With nearly 60 days a year when all of Dubai is sold out, no reason to question that I guess…..
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According to a report in Business Travel Europe, the tool covering meetings planning, venue sourcing, attendee management and multi-spend reporting was launched at Imex Frankfurt this week. And it seems all about Return on Investment (ROI) which is now a frequent theme in the group business sector.
Christer Nordlund, HRG’s director events and meetings management, says “The ROI concept is being used to an increasing extent for this industry and the trend is clear: multinational companies are taking charge and directing processes towards increased cost and quality control.”
With procurement departments having more of a say, better sales management and tracking tools will have an increasing role to play in how meeting planners buy.
What does this mean for hotels? Ample demonstration of value and values adds in proposals will make a bigger difference in the future.
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Hyatt seems to have taken the first steps in this direction with its year long contract with Hospitality Graduate Recruitment. The Swiss based recruitment consultancy will support over 110 Hyatt hotels with their recruitment strategies.
So what is the arrangement exactly?
According to HGR, ” For the next twelve months, HR departments across Hyatt International hotels in Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America will have unlimited access to HGR’s comprehensive on-line database. The database will help Hyatt’s HR staff source and recruit suitable hospitality graduates and undergraduates for a variety of entry level, trainee, supervisory and junior management positions. There is also a facility by which job opportunities can be posted.”
With more and more companies expanding rapidly, finding the right talent is certainly the biggest challenge facing the industry. Innovation and out of the box thinking will be critical for the industry in this area in the coming decade.
A comment from Professor Walter Jamieson of the University of Hawaii speaking at the PATA Annual Meeting session “Human Capital Challenge - It’s Time to Invest, caught my interest - He says “In travel and tourism we’re good at product and market development, but HRD is rarely central to industry growth strategies, and good workforce development strategies are hard to find.”
And it is high time the industry adapted quickly and made it a central theme…..
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A bit overwhelmed with all the endless possibilities of Facebook and other social networking sites - this fun video sums it all up….
India has traditionally always been a very hard country to negotiate for the budget traveller - a bit like a lottery as far as getting accomodation right is concerned. Sometimes you’d get amazing value and sometimes you get a complete wreck of a hotel for an unreasonable price.
At the top end, travellers usually had ample choice from the best luxury hotels although no one could label them cheap.
But with the fast growth in the sector, there are signs of change and hope for the budget traveller. Some of the new brands in this sector include Ginger, Lemon Tree, Hometel & Premier Travel Inn.
Ginger, a TATA enterprise, has twelve hotels with another 6 hotels coming up and offers great value rooms with the latest technology including self check-in options. www.gingerhotels.com
Lemontree hotels have five hotels already operational and has another ten in the pipeline.
And over 10 Hometels are expected to come up in the next two years, with the Hyderabad and Mumbai properties opening within this year.
Kamat Hotel group is planning around 50 Kamfotels in the next years.
So what gives to make these all so reasonable priced? Not service apparently - No-frills hotels usually maintain an employee per room ratio of about 0.5, in India it could be as high as 1.5.
Welcome news indeed for the budget traveller - with the price range for most of these hotels ranging between 1500 and 4000 INR (approximately £20 to 50) a night.
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Rates start at 454 USD a night and they open in September this year. According to the company it will be the first hotel to open on the Palm Jumeirah. Set to overtake the extravagance of existing hotels in Dubai, it sure will be a hotel to watch….
More at http://www.atlantisthepalm.com/
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