Business as usual for Canada airlines = a bun fight!/Christchurch NZ recovery

Is it just me, or is it tremendous fun watching the Canadian airline biz these days? I mean, the pronouncements are coming faster than Billy Crystal one-liners, and at nearly the speed that Stephen Harper is telling the Chinese "Aw, hell, don't worry about all that human rights stuff; we got oil to sell y'all."

With the threat of federal action (and thank you Mr. Harper for that) looming in the coming months, WestJet cleaned up its advertising last month and started showing folks the "true" cost of an airfare by illustrating the taxes and fees and surcharges and no longer hiding them in fine print.

A week or two ago, the theme was "Our airline is going to New York and we do it better than the other guys." WestJet announced it would fly eight times a day from Toronto Pearson to the highly coveted LaGuardia airport in New York. Air Canada announced it was adding a daily flight from Pearson to LaGuardia and also adding three flights a day from Toronto to New York's JFK airport. Porter bumped up its service to Newark.

This week we saw WestJet announce that nearly every employee they have except three guys in Windsor who stepped out for doughnuts and an elderly couple in Red Deer who didn't understand the question had voted in favour of having WestJet start its new regional airline; the one that's aiming its western boots clearly at Air Canada's wobbly teeth.

A couple hours later, as I recall, Air Canada announced it had found religion and suddenly was embracing "all-in pricing" for its website and its print ads, thus making life easier for Canadian consumers who no longer need a pocket calculator to find out the cost of flying to Vancouver to visit cousin Charlie, even though he insists on bragging about how his tulips bloom in February. Porter jumped in and said it wasn't even going to put the taxes/fees in a separate column but would advertise just a single, all-inclusive fare to make customers even happier than they already are after getting free beer and wine on board served by those adorable flight attendants in pill-box hats.

Then came word on Thursday that Air Canada pilots have called for a strike vote as they debate the company's desire for a low-cost airline to battle the charter companies and fend off any potential foreign invasion from the likes of Britain's Ryan Air. Air Canada lost about $250 million last year, and they've had a tough time with bargaining. The pilot's strike may or may not happen, but it's got to be a drain on the company's mental resources at a time when the upstarts are nipping - and biting and scratching and clawing - at their heels.

Air Canada officials insisted Thursday that all is fine. "It's business as usual," they said.

Hmmm. Turmoil in the markets? Competitors all over them? Labour difficulties? Yeah, I guess it IS business as usual for Canada's best-known airline.

Of course, the cheeky WestJet folks couldn't resist the temptation.

"It's not business as usual at WestJet," they said, announcing a new marketing campaign.

Here's a portion of the press release they issued Thursday:

"It's not business as usual for an airline to be owned by more than 80 per cent of its eligible employees. It's not business as usual to call your customers guests, or reward your guests with real dollars they can actually use in a rewards program they can actually understand. We are the only airline that puts out a welcome mat at the door of every aircraft for a reason, and we are here to earn the trust and confidence of travellers one flight at a time."

Starting today, travellers who join WestJet Rewards (formerly the WestJet Frequent Guest Program), and take a WestJet flight before March 31, 2012, will get off to a flying start and receive a welcome bonus of $50 WestJet dollars. For more information, please visit www.westjet.com/rewards."

"WestJet Rewards is just one of many ways we're offering unprecedented value for the business traveller," Bob Cummings continued. "Our revamped, business-focused schedule in the eastern triangle,, combined with our industry-leading on-time service promises, is having a significant impact on travellers in the largest business travel market in Canada. We also begin flying between Toronto and LaGuardia in June, and our growing list of code-share partners across the world, particularly in the U.S., offer business people connections to many of the key destinations they're looking for."

A multi-platform advertising campaign also began Thursday. The campaign, centered on WestJet's challenge of "business as usual," spans print, radio and digital fronts, with many of the ads featuring a letter directly to guests inviting them on board.

"This new campaign is about welcoming travellers to WestJet," Bob Cummings continued. "We are an airline they can trust, an airline that continues to serve their needs, and an airline that wants, appreciates and rewards their business."

Nothing better than a good, old-fashioned bun fight. Can't wait to see what happens next.

NEW ZEALAND ON THE REBOUND

A series of "pop-up" stores - temporary spots serving coffee and selling shoes and other goods - have appeared all over downtown Christchurch, New Zealand, which suffered that devastating earthquake a year ago Feb. 22.

Tourism officials say the "biggest and brightest of the pop-ups is the new Cashel Mall Re:Start Project—a colourful retail precinct of 29 stores, with upscale boutiques, cafés and a department store. It might not be the first shipping container shopping mall in the world, but it is one of the most creative..."

"Created around courtyards and recreational spaces, the mall is a collection of brightly painted containers with glass fronts and balconies with plans to add more shops and cafés over the upcoming months. For current information on Christchurch's pop-up evolution, check out www.popupcity.co.nz."

Officials say Lonely Planet recently published a post-quake guide on what to do in Christchurch as well.

I was in Napier, New Zealand almost exactly a year ago. It's a city that suffered a devastating earthquake of its own back in 1931 and was rebuilt in an Art Deco style that's made it hugely attractive today. Let's hope Christchurch can do something fun and imaginative of its own. Judging by the pop-up stores, they already have. And maybe it's a goofy idea, but I think they ought to leave a couple of the pop-ups in place for the long term.

Officials tell me 90 per cent of Christchurch's key attractions are still welcoming visitors and that there are still 8,400 guest beds available. At least eight central city hotels will be reinstated this year and in 2013, they say.

If you get a chance, stop in and drop some tourist dollars in town. You'll be doing folks a world of good.

Choosing rewards program over spouse: not nice...WestJet expansin closer

Crazy item the other day in a press release from the Starwood hotel group.

They surveyed 9,900 global travelers about all sorts and came out with a finding that travel types are definitely married to thier frequent traveler programs. In fact, and this is pretty sad, they asked folks what they would take with them on the road if they could only take one item. The winning answer, with 73 per cent, was their benefits in a hotel loyalty/rewards program. Taking their spouse or partner only got 15 per cent of the vote, and taking their luggage got just 11 per cent. Well, I guess you can buy new clothes when you land in New York. And, yeah, I guess you could buy yourself some companionship, too. Although I don't recall seeing "escorts" in the miscellaneous category of things I can buy with my airline points. It would make for a colourful brochure, however, so maybe it's something Aeroplan could try...

I love hotel and reward points. At least I thought I did. But taking your points program over your spouse? I mean, isn't that why most of us collect points? So that we can bring our loved ones with us on a trip? Geez, folks. It's nearly Valentine's Day, and you answer a question like this?

I keep thinking maybe it's a joke, but I don't know - people are pretty sick these days.

The survey had some other good bits. Forty five per cent of respondents said they would pretend it was their honeymoon to try to get an upgraded hotel room or airplane seat. Twenty five per cent said they'd pretend they had a family emergency, and 20 per cent would pretend to be someone important. Twenty per cent? We ALL pretend to be someone important, don't we?

Another fun item found that 74 per cent of respondents said they'd take an extra trip to rack up miles or status in a loyalty program. Makes sense. Seventy three per cent of folks said they've taken extra business trips soley to add miles or status in a loyalty program.

Sportswriters are some of the worst at this sort of thing. And sports types in general. They're often called "Marriott whores" as Marriott used to - and maybe still does, I'm not sure - give substantial discounts to members of the Baseball Writers or Golf Writers of America, etc... Back in the 1980s, when the only Marriott in Toronto was out at the airport (hard to believe), there were major league baseball scouts who would stay out in Malton and drive down to Exhibition Stadium for ballgames just so they could stay at the Marriott and earn points.

That's not a bad thing if you're hoarding the points to take your wife on a trip to say, "Sorry I was away nine months of the year and left you with three kids during the coldest winter on record." But if you're just keeping them for yourself or simply because of the thrill of collecting points like George Clooney in "Up In the Air," that's pretty sad.

WEST JET REGIONAL AIRLINE A STEP CLOSER

Not surprising that 91 per cent of WestJet employees okayed the idea of a regional airline. They're pretty smart, and clearly they understand their company needs to get into the business.

WestJet officials will spend the next few months looking over planes, although it's suspected that right now they're leaning towards Bombardier. They've said they'll be buying 40 regional planes, all from the same company.

It'll take maybe another year before we see planes in the sky. But the new airline is likely to benefit smaller cities such as Sarnia and Kamloops, B.C.

 

 

Kudos to Air Canada for all-in prices - Porter changes, too/CAA hotel/food ratings

For years I've railed against airlines that bury their taxes and surcharges in fine print. The Canadian government, in a surprising move, recently said they would ban such ads, although it might take a year.

So, lo and behold, what do I see in today's A-section of the Toronto Star? An Air Canada 75th anniversary ad with sale prices that, be sure you're sitting down for this, INCLUDE TAXES AND FEES AND SURCHARGES.

The fares still are listed as one-way, but that's fine as some folks do only fly one-way and then stay or hop on another plane. So no real problem with that.

But how about the inclusion of taxes and fees? What a great public relations move, beating Ottawa to the punch and being the first Canadian airline, to my knowledge, to do this. Brilliant marketing move, I'd say.

Of course, with a potential pilot's job action waiting in the wings (see today's business section story by Vanessa Lu), maybe they figured it's a good time to build up some good karma. Either way, they didn't have to make the move but they just made travelling that much easier and simpler for average Canadians, not to mention folks who might want to visit our corner of the world (and 'Hello China,' says Prime Minister Stephen Harper).

Here's an example of today's Air Canada ad. They advertise a one-way ticket from Toronto to Halifax as being $129 plus $73 in extra charges, then put the total of $202 in LARGE PRINT so it's easy to see what you're getting. What a concept!!! Prices for London Heatherow are $244, plus a whopping $643 in extra charges, for $887 in total. That's only for flights from today to April 1, and then from Oct. 26 to Dec. 16. No discounts for folks heading to the Summer Olympics, I guess.

WestJet said it made similar changes in January and list the taxes/fees/surcharges along with base fares. Which sounds a lot like what Air Canada did, so congrats to WestJet for that.

Porter went perhaps one better. They sent out a press release today, Wednesday, to say they are "the first airline in Canada to advertise the total cost of a flight as a single simple number with all taxes, surcharges and mandatory fees included."

"No required cost will be added to prices displayed in advertising or on Porter's website," they said.

Porter said the change takes effect on Friday, Feb. 10.

“Unlike other carriers, Porter will show one price for the customer without highlighting fees and taxes separately,” said Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines. “We’ve been able to change what passengers expect from an airline by introducing standard premium amenities and affordable flights. Now, we’re extending this experience to the booking process, making it easy to immediately understand how much a flight costs by showing one number.”

WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer sent me a note to say his airline plans to "continue to display all elements of the price so people can see what the base fare actually is. Obviously, that's the only piece we can control."

Airlines often face government fees. They often levy fuel surcharges of their own, but those are supposed to be based on jet fuel prices.

Good stuff all around for consumers. And isn't it amazing how the threat of government action brought about these welcome changes? I guess I should send congrats to the Harper government for bringing down the threat of legislation, while I'm at it. I didn't think they'd ever do it, but they did. And they deserve credit for it.

 NEW CAA RATINGS FOR CANADIAN HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS OUT TODAY

The Canadian Automobile Association today released its list of five-diamond and four-diamond properties for the nation. As per usual, Ontario and Toronto cleaned up.

I've only had one cup of coffee, but the way I read the stats is that there still are only two five-diamond hotels in Canada - the Four Seasons Whistler and the new Ritz-Carlton in Toronto (see photo of lobby). Things were a touch looser in the five-diamond restaurant category, with five properties in Canada getting the nod. Those were Eden at the Rimrock Resort Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Langdon Hall Dining Room and Terrace at Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario, Le Baccara in Gatineau, QC, Restaurant Toque! in Montreal and Restaurant Initiale in Quebec City, which made its debut on the five-diamond list.

Pretty good haul for Quebec on that front, but that's no surprise to folks who've dined in the province. A tad embarrassing, perhaps, for Toronto to be shut out completely. But at least we got the five-diamond hotel award for the Ritz, which is a wonderful property.

Things were much brighter for the Big Smoke in terms of four-diamond restaurants. There are 110 such spots in all of Canada, the always-tough CAA inspectors said. Of those, a full 55 (one-half of all in the country if you're keeping score at home) are in Ontario. And a whopping 25 of those are in Toronto; meaning nearly one out of every five four-star dining spots in the true north can be found in Hogtown.

Quebec has 24 such places, but Montreal only got five of them. Shame, Montreal. Shame! Quebec City, on the other hand, had eight. There were 13 listed in British Columbia, nine of them in Vancouver.

The CAA is notoriousy tight on giving out top awards, as I found out when I accompanied one of their inspectors on a lunch date and checked out a couple hotels in Montreal last summer. It's quite something to see the lengths they go to. They told me there's nothing wrong, of course, with falling short of four-diamond status, as they really are quite tough on the restaurants and the hotels. It often comes down to service, they explained.

As for hotels, the quick tally I did this morning shows there are 138 such lodgings in Canada. Fifty six of those are in Ontario, and a full 23 in Toronto. Quebec had 37 such properties, 17 of those in Montreal. B.C. had 28, including 13 in Vancouver. Alberta had 12, six of them in Calgary.

There was only one four-diamond hotel listed in PEI, the Rodd Crowbush Golf and Beach Resort. And only four in Nova Scotia. Poor Newfoundland/Labrador got shut out of the four and five-diamond hotel category, as did New Brunswick, Manitoba (a surprise to me) and Saskatchewan.

The smaller provinces didn't do so well in the food department either. There were a scattering of places listed for Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and one in PEI. Also one in Manitoa (the Velvet Glove in Winnipeg). Poor Saskatchewan got shut out...

SHANGRI-LA TORONTO AND ROMANCE IN WINNIPEG AND KINGSTON

Yesterday marked the six-month date out for the Shangri-La Toronto. I'll write up more on the hotel in tomorrow's blog, but it sounds like they'll try to give Trump and the Ritz a serious run for their money...A study by Amazon.ca suggests Kingston (see photo at left) is the most romantic city in all of Canada. The survey took into account sales of romance novels, sex and relationship books and, get this, sales of Michael Buble CD's. Doncha love it? I think it's hilarious. Second place for Canada was Guelph, then Kelowna B.C., Oakville and Victoria ... On the other hand, TripAdvisor suggests a hotel in downtown Winnipeg (not a four-diamond one by CAA standards, but there you go) is one of the most romantic IN THE WORLD. Based on travellers' reviews, The Mariaggi's Theme Suites Hotel is right up there with posh hotels in the South Pacific, Hawaii, St. Lucia and Greece. Ranked number nine in the world, the hotel is known for exotic suites with themes such as "African jungle," with a grass-thatched hut over the bed and a hot tub, or the "sheik's tent" with Moroccan statues and burning incense. Sounds pretty goofy to me, but I know lots of folks who enjoy this sort of thing. There's a similar kind of spot in San Luis Obispo, California called the Madonna Inn that some people just rave about, with kitschy rooms decorated like a cave and all sorts of weirdness. Hey, to each his own!

 

 

 

 

Prices fall in Greece/Visits to Australia dropping/Air Canada boosts London flights

Dying to see the Acropolis or check out one of those beautiful Greek islands with the blue-painted doors and seaside cafes? It appears to be a great time.

According to a story I spotted on travelmole, a study by the trip advisor folks out of the UK showed hotel prices in Greece have fallen as much as 20 per cent.

The company looked at  nine popular Greek destinations and found that all but two (sadly, but expectedly, perhaps, two of the most popular spots for tourists) have seen hotel rates fall signficantly in the past year.

The biggest fall was in Corfu (see photo), where hotel rates have dropped on average by 20 per cent. Corfu is full of rich history and sights. I haven't been but here's what Frommer's has to say about the island on its web site: "Cast aside the Corfu package tour...and you will find Homer's 'rich and beautiful land' of hazy olive groves and rugged mountains, 20 miles off the west coast of Greece. The ouzo-fuelled revelry and beaches are there if you want them, but this island also has culture and poetic landscapes."

Rates in Zakynthos dropped 12.4 per cent, while rates in Athens dropped 7.9 per cent and prices in Crete - another lovely part of Greece - fell 7.7 per cent.

Prices, however, in Santorini were up 0.1 per cent and rates in Mykonos rose 0.7 per cent.

"While the Greek economy has experienced a traumatic year, the silver lining for tourism could be an increase in visitors due to the lower prices in many of its popular destinations," said Emma Shaw, a TripAdvisor spokesperson.

TROUBLE DOWN UNDER?

Another fascinating item I spotted on travelmole.com talks about tourism woes in Australia. The story says 10,000 fewer international visitors came to Australia in 2011 compared to the previous year, while the number of Australians travelling internationally surged to 7.8 million.

Australian Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive John Lee calls it "a seriously worrying trend."

"With the dollar likely to remain strong for some time and investment in new resorts in south-east Asia, many leisure tourism operators in Australia are facing an uncertain future," he said.

Lee said the same global economic conditions pushing up the Aussie dollar were affecting Australia's source markets.

"ncertainty in many of our traditional markets has seen declines in annual arrivals, including from the UK, Europe, Japan, Canada and the U.S."

I haven't seen any studies on the matter such as the tripadvisor one in Greece, but Qantas.com is advertising seats from Vancouver to several Australian destinations for $998. Be aware, however, that the site says there's a $500 fuel surcharge plus government fees of $70 to $200. Plus you'll have to make your way to Vancouver. so this is far from the deal of a lifetime.

Expedia.com today was showing a room at the Travelodge Sydney for $160 a night. Okay, it's not the Trump but it's not Joe's motor hotel, either. I found a room at the two-star Manly Beach house in lovely Manly Beach for just $138, and tons of decent-looking spots in the $200-$250 range. The Quest Potts Point, which is a great little hotel in a fabulous part of town, had one room left in mid-March for just $162.

AIR CANADA BOOSTS LONDON

Canadians have another option for getting to London Heathrow. Starting June 2, about seven or eight weeks prior to the start of the London Summer Olympics, Air Canada, Air Canada will boost its Toronto-Heathrow flights from four per day to five.

Even if you don't care about the Olympics, summer's a great time to visit London. Or you can hop off at Heathrow and connect to a RyanAir flight or another cheapo airline and get to just about anywhere you want in Europe for a song. Just don't take too much baggage or you'll get hit with expensive luggage fees.

THE NEIGH'S HAVE IT IN ATLANTIC CITY

A report out of New Jersey  says things are so tough on the Atlantic City boardwalk that there's talk of bringing back diving horses.

Steel Pier, one of the Boardwalk's most storied landmarks, will become a year-round attraction as part of a $100 million makeover that will create new amusement rides and resurrect one famous older-style act - the diving horse, according to the Press of Atlantic City.

"The multiyear renovation project is being done by a new ownership group, including the Catanoso family that operated the pier under lease for 20 years and acclaimed Las Vegas architect Paul Steelman. The investors began exploring ways to revitalize the fading pier after buying it last August for $4.25 million from casino operator Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc." the paper said.

"We hope to make it a showplace again. We want to make it a major destination," said Anthony Catanoso, of Steel Pier Associates. "We're really excited about bringing back some of the old architecture and iconic features, along with new rides. We have what we believe is the perfect balance between the old and new."

Heaven help us all. USA Today reports that one newspaper reader suggested that instead of diving horses, they should have diving homeless people.

"It's a win win," said the reader. "The homeless and downtrodden, who have been residing under the pier for years make a little money and the tourist enjoy the $100,000,000 pier's show. And Bonus... No animal cruelty."

TRAVELALERTS/JAUNT.CA DEAL OF THE DAY

Here's a romantic getaway in time for Valentine's Day. With TravelAlerts/Jaunt.ca, you get a room at the Eganridge Inn in Fenelon Falls, Ontario for just $99. The deal includes one night's accomodation in a Terrace Room for two, featuring a king-sized bed, whirlpool tub and a fireplace. You also get complimentary continental breakfast for two and a 2 p.m. checkout in case you find something to do in your room after a romantic dinner....The deal is valid for stays up until April 30.

For more on this and other deals, go to www.jaunt.ca.

  

 

 

Jaunt Highlights

• 1 night’s accommodation in a Terrace Room for two, featuring a king-sized bed, whirlpool tub and fireplace
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• Late checkout until 2pm
• Eganridge is part of the Windsor Arms group

Offer Details

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N.E. Patriots free trip to Aruba/European travel mess/Canada airlines good news

Here's a very clever marketing idea. The Caribbean island of Aruba has offered everyone (not sure about the cheerleaders or the mascot) on the Super Bowl losing New England Patriots a free trip to the sunny south.

The Super Bowl champion Giants apparently can take a trip to Disney World. I'd take Aruba, myself. Better beaches and much more dependable weather this time of year, doncha know.

USA Today reports the package "includes airfare, hotel rooms and more, and certainly is designed to bring welcome publicity to Aruba, which has previously made headlines with the mysterious disappearances of two American vacationers."

"A spokesperson for the Aruba Tourism Authority says the offer is open to all players and coaches, and they can take advantage of it as early as Monday. The question: Will Tom Brady and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Gisele Bundchen (photo)  who could probably buy their own Caribbean island, take Aruba up on its offer?"

MESSY TRAVEL IN EUROPE

So, here we are in Toronto with almost zero snow on the ground (I even saw the tip of a daffodil poking up out of the soil in my front yard on Friday) while Europe is one giant MESS of snow and ice and freezing temperatures.

The pictures of Rome in the snow look pretty funky (thanks to the Guardian for this photo of a nun struggling to get around at St. Peter's), although I suspect residents don't feel quite as enthusiastic about it...And I feel badly for any Canadians who thought back in October, 'Hey, let's beat winter and go to Rome in February." Oops.

They cancelled something like 50 per cent of the flights at London Heathrow on Sunday, and the British papers today are filled with doom and gloom headlines about how the rest of the month is going to be a total weather monster, with treacherous roads and cancelled flights and all sorts of grim stuff. The London tabloids probably love that this is taking away publicity from the phone-hacking scandal, too.

VERY SOLID NUMBERS FOR CANADIAN AIRLINES TODAY

There's little doubt Canada's travel business is in good shape these days. WestJet Monday morning announced they had a record load factor of 79.9 per cent in January of this year. That's up 2.1 per cent from January, 2011. The airline also said that revenue passenger miles (RPMs), or traffic, increased 11.5 per cent year over year, which is very good news for the old bottom line.

"We are very happy with this strong start to 2012 and the new record January load factor. Our capacity increases are being nicely absorbed and the healthy demand for air travel has continued into the new year," said WestJet President and CEO Gregg Saretsky. "I thank WestJetters for their high level of engagement and ongoing contributions to the profitable growth of our airline."

Over at Air Canada, the load factor numbers for January were 79.1 per cent, versus 78.0 per cent in January 2011, an increase of 1.1 percentage points.

"Air Canada generated greater traffic in all markets with system wide growth of 3.3 per cent on a capacity increase of 1.9 per cent through higher utilization of our existing fleet," said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer. "These strong results underscore the effectiveness of our disciplined capacity management and award-winning product.  I thank our employees whose focus on taking care of our customers has been instrumental in earning their loyalty."

Meanwhile, Porter Airlines had a record January load factor of 55.7 per cent, four points higher than the previous year. 

“It is nice to see 2012 begin with strong growth,” said Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines. “As business travel is typically reduced at the beginning of the calendar year, we are able to supplement our schedule with leisure destinations such as Mont Tremblant and Vermont. These are very popular and help to produce positive numbers.”

 

 

 

 

London Olympics bad for tourism, British paper says ... Jaunt.ca deal to Jamaica

I'm always amazed at how little we learn from the past.

No, I'm not talking about Rob Ford and his inane policies about subways and streetcars.I'm talking about the Olympics and their impact on tourism.

Almost every day in almost every continent of the world, some city or sports official is sitting around a table and telling folks that if they only had the Olympics, all their troubles would be over. The city will get all sorts of great benefits and the summer (or winter) cash registers will ring merrily from dawn til dusk, and far beyond.

It's all bull----.

Oh, sure, the Olympics can transform a city for the better. Look at Barcelona. Then again, look at Atlanta. And Beijing, with its empty Birds Nest Stadium. And, sorry about this, Montreal, with its decades-long debt from the Big O (see photo).

Long- term, the benefits from new projects and higher profile can be tremendous. I have no doubt Sydney surged to the top of everyone's list after we see the magical job they did on the 2000 Summer Olympics.

But short-term? All those dreams of crazy crowds filling hotels and spending wildly never quite seem to come to pass. Sure, the Olympics bring in lots of people. But they also cause a lot of people to shun the city like the proverbial plague; avoiding any chance of getting caught up in the traffic nightmares and such, which, consequently, almost never come to pass. Folks in LA in 1984 said they'd never seen the city's freeways so empty.

In Vancouver, the city did quite well during the Winter Games. Trendy restaurants downtown were packed and hotels did well. But the suburbs didn't cash in the way they expected, as I recall.

Anyway, the latest version of this five-ring dance comes in London, which is hosting the world (or parts of it) starting July 27 for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The British media has been filled of late with stories of doom and gloom. Yes, it's par for the course for British newspapers. When they're not busy hacking into celebrities' telephones, they spend a lot of time raining on whatever parade happens to be in town. But there's some truth to this week's headlines.

A story in the Independent this week says that when they were in the initial planning stages, Olympic organizers "needlessly" put aside thousands of hotel rooms for media and sporting hotshots, thus sending hotel rates through the roof and actually DISCOURAGING tourists from coming to town.

How delicious is that?

The Independent story says organizers reserved a quarter more hotel nights than they had to and have since given back 120,000 of 600,000 room nights previously booked.

"Tour operators warned last night that a sudden flood of vacant rooms would be too late to boost visitor numbers. Analysis for The Independent suggests up to one million beds will now go unsold over the Olympic period, hitting hoteliers and others working in the tourism industry. One trade association estimated income could slump by up to £3.5bn during July and August," which is something like $5 billion or more.

I suspect those rooms will NOT go unsold. Undoubtedly, some rooms will be available at more reasonable rates pretty soon. And that's a good thing.

The article quotes a leading London-based tour operator saying the high lodging rates have driven business elsewhere -- and not just during the July-August event, either.

"Prices have been so high that tourists are moving elsewhere. Overseas wholesalers who traditionally push London have switched to other cities this year," said Neil Wootton of Premium Tours. "If the Parisian and Italian hoteliers do their job then the tours may never return to London."

"Hotel rates have broadly tripled in London during the Olympics," the paper said. "Six months ago The Independent made a booking for the DoubleTree by Hilton in Holborn, central London, for 1 August 2012. The rate, £450, is four times the price of taking a room last night, and 150 per cent higher than for 1 August last year. Yet evidence from previous Olympiads, together with analysis by The Independent of the likely propensity of ticket-holders to book hotels in London, suggest hoteliers' expectations are wildly optimistic, exacerbated by Locog's (the London organizing committee's) similar over-optimism."

The likelihood is that London's hotels will be less than 80 per cent full – representing one million empty beds over the duration of the Games, or 55,000 beds every night. In July and August of a normal year, occupancy is 90 per cent or more.

The Olympics are an event held every two years. The International Olympic Committee, to its credit, has created a group that shares Olympic expertise between various cities so a Vancouver, for example, can learn from the Turin 2006 or Salt Lake 2002 people about how to build skating arenas or what's the best type of snow-making machine or how to sell tickets.

It's too bad there's no Olympic tourism board to help travel officials in the same way that the IOC helps the organizing committees...

JAUNT.CA JAMAICA DEAL

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• For information on this and other deals, go to www.jaunt.ca.

 

 

Trip Advisor scolded by UK watchdogs, Trump TO ripped & Halifax loses NYC

Very interesting development out of Britian today, as a government watchdog group has cast serious doubt on the veracity of Tripadvisor ratings, at least in the UK.

The consumer affairs reporter for the Telegraph, James Hall, wrote a solid column today stating that the Advertising Standards Authority conducted a four-month investigation and "found that it was possible for 'non-genuine content' to appear on Tripadvisor, which is designed to allow holidaymakers to share tips and opinions on places they have visited."

(Jim B here: Non-genuine content? Isn't that a great lawyers' phrase?)

"The advertising watchdog said that because reviews can be posted on the site without any form of verification, Tripadvisor must no longer claim that all of its reviews are honest, or even from real people," Hall wrote.

"In a strongly-worded ruling, the ASA told Tripadvisor 'not to claim or imply that all the reviews that appeared on the website were from real travellers, or were honest, real or trusted.'

The ASA’s ruling applies only to Tripadvisor’s UK site, Hall said, explaining that the investigation follows a complaint last year from two unnamed hoteliers and a website called Kwikchex, which helps companies manage their online reputations.

"They argued that wording on Tripadvisor’s website - claiming that the site contained 'reviews you can trust' and 'honest' opinions from 'real travellers' - was misleading as Tripadvisor could not prove that the reviews were genuine," Hall wrote.

He quoted Chris Emmins, co-founder of Kwikchex, as saying there are a “substantial” number of fake reviews on Tripadvisor, which is being “abused by fraudsters."

Strong stuff. It'll be interesting to see if there's any fallout here in North America. But I doubt it. The U.S. isn't bad at regulating the travel business, but we see precious little of this sort of pro-activity from the Harper government in Ottawa, notwithstanding their sudden decision to get rid of airfare dvertising that doesn't include taxes and extra fees; charges that often turn what looks like a $400 fare into something upwards of $1,000.

THIS AND THAT

American Airlines will drop Halifax from its route map this spring, according to the Chronicle-Herald in Nova Scotia. American affiliate American Eagle currently flies two daily round-trip flights between Halifax and New York JFK, but AA will pull down the service on April 3. Too bad .... Check out Chris Hume's column today on the new Trump Hotel in Toronto. He absolutely hates the design and the way the building fails to integrate into the downtown core. They had a very soft opening at the posh Trump building at Bay and Adelaide on Tuesday, which is so very un-Trump like when you think about it. Some of the hotel's top features aren't yet fully open, so apparently they chose to keep things simple, at least for now. Personally, I'm looking forward to the BIG opening. I mean, that's what Trump is all about, right? ...Show tunes at sea? USA Today's Gene Sloan reports Oceania has teamed with Royal Theatrical Productions to feature "Now and Forever — The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber" on board the soon-to-debut, 1,250-passenger Riviera. With 10 singers and dancers, the show will boast tunes from such Webber classics as Cats, The Phantom of the Opera and Jesus Christ Superstar. Riviera also will have a show featuring the music of Elton John and Billy Joel, as well as a '60s music review.  Sounds pretty good to me. Maybe we'll get different renditions of some of John's most popular songs. "Don't Let the Ship Go Down On Me" would be good, especially if someone can dress like the Costa Cruise captain. Sorry about that...