Prices May Vary But Bartering Is Still The Best Deal!
Getting
The Best Deal On Your Airline Tickets
Tax-Deductible Travel
Ideas
Empty
Space Traded By Hoteliers For Valuable P.R.
An
International Vacation For Very Little Money
Traveling Overseas? Here�s The Best Credit Card To Use
Timeshare Market
Changes Dramatically!
Marriott To Leave
Timeshare Business
ITM�s President Jody Merl Earns HSMAI�s Top 25 List
Barter Accommodations For Budget-Minded Travelers
Australia�s Barter Deal With Oprah Promises Big Pay Off
Timeshare Industry Reeling, Opportunities Exist For Barter Offers
Cruise Industry Adds Capacity Despite Slow Economy
Business
Travel Profitable For Business
Luxury Hotel Operators & Investors View Current Conditions
Differently
Hoteliers Must Expand
Thinking
SkyAuction Works With Green Globe To Certify Hotels & Resorts
The GrandLuxe Rail Journey
Why Frequent
Flyer Miles Are Profitable...And What You Must Do To Play Their Game
Shirley Linde's Cruise
Letter
New Ad Insertion Technology Targeting Hotels Expands Market
Spending On
Incentives Hits $46 Billion!
Rules Differ For Tax-Free Exchanges On Vacation Homes
Seniors Are Ideal Home
Swappers (Barterers)
Try Out a New Country
the Easy Way - Swap Homes!
Hotel
Fever Strikes
Mayors Urge More Marketing Spending As U.S. Tourism Drops Off
Bed &
Breakfasts Push Two-For-One Program To Increase Occupancy
Travel-Agent Industry
Crumbling
Preferred Hotel Group Selects Active International As Partner
ITEX Expands Privileges Program, Partners With Expedia For Low Price
Travel
Online Travel � A $146
Billion Market By 2010
Airlines
Now Trading Airline Miles For Eyeballs!
Online Travel Giant Expedia, Launches Loyalty Program For Travel
Bookings
Many
Bed & Breakfast Inns Closing Due To Low Occupancy
World
Travel & Tourism Council Estimates $200 Million Needed To Jump-Start
Industry
How To Barter For
Transportation
RentalsPark.Com To Recognize Outstanding Vacation Rental Property
Timeshare
Industry Parallels Barter Industry In Some Respects
Plan Ahead
When Bartering Your Timeshare Week
Flattening World
Impacts Hoteliers
Travel And
Entertainment Expenses Can Be Tricky!
World Travel & Tourism Council Urges U.S. To Ease Security Burdens
Paul Pilzer
Foresees Dynamic Future For Travel Industry
Travel Insurance! Your Health And
Peace-Of-Mind
Former
NY Yankee Pitches Barter To Hotel Industry
Don�t Cancel
Vacation...Barter For It!
U.S. Tourism
Industry Needs New Strategy
Goods, Services
Are New Lodging Currency - PDF
Dare to Dream: The
Vacation of a Lifetime In A Timeshare
Why Take A Cruise Vacation?
Bartering Evolves
In The Hotel Industry During Tough Economical Times - PDF
The Business
of Bartering - PDF
Boat
Timeshares - A Unique Vacationing Experience
Colorado-A
Destination For Arts Lovers
Make Sure You
Have Your Passport And Visa To The World
Travel
Guidelines for ITA (Large Independent Trade Exchange) - PDF
Travel Can Save Your
Marriage
Creative
Thinking, Closer Cooperation, And Bartering Will Ensure Greater Profits
For Independent Hoteliers
Radisson
Cruises- A Six Star Luxury Experience
Hotel Industry Outlook
Bullish
Sports
Celebrities Bartering With Cruise Lines
Accommodations
On Trade Most Plentiful In October & November
Tourism
Rises In U.S.
Hotel
Inventory Tightens, Change Will Affect Barter Industry's Inventory
Plush, Resort Vacation Home Programs Continually Multiply
Hotel Chain Embraces Valuable Barter Offer
Is an all
inclusive resort right for you
Survey Shows Workers Taking Fewer Business Trips Than Five Years Ago
No Room For Empty Hotel Rooms
Six-Star
Cruising on Luxury Cruise Lines
Answer
To Underutilized Hotel Capacity?
Empty
Airline Seats Or Vacant Hotel Rooms... - PDF
Meeting
Planners Use Barter As A Tool To Save Money
Travel Insurance
Protects Your Vacation Investment, And Offers You True Peace-Of-Mind
Hoteliers
Use Barter To Build Name Recognition...Thereby Increasing Traffic
Turning
Vacancy Into Profits - PDF
Luxury
Corporate Vacation Packages Available at 100% Trade
Hoteliers
Use Barter To Build Name Recognition...Thereby Increasing Traffic
Despite
predictions of a travel upturn, there is now little likelihood the
hotel industry will see much improvement until at least 2005, according
to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Their
study shows the average daily rate for a hotel room ($83.46) is at
a trough right now. And hotels' annual revenue-per-available-room,
at $19,619, is expected to be lower than it was in 2000 when it reached
$19,840.
In
the past month, every segment of the hotel industry from luxury to
economy experienced a drop in revenue-per-available-room, according
to Tennessee-based Smith Travel Research. With a recovery still out
on the horizon, it behooves hoteliers to start promoting their properties
with a greater effort—trading unsold rooms for advertising.
Barter
advertising in the hospitality industry involves the exchange of unsold
rooms for advertising. Unsold rooms are a perishable product that
is lost when left unoccupied, and advertising, an essential expense
for increasing occupancy, requires hard-earned cash to acquire.
The
key to barter advertising is to turn unsold rooms into an asset by
using them to pay for advertising.
Three
main players are involved: the hotel that commits the unsold rooms;
the barter company that provides the media on trade; the hotel's advertising
agency that evaluates the quality of the media.
It
is a misconception to think that there is always a direct connection
between the advertising placed and the barter guest who ultimately
uses the room credits. The advertising for which one barters is aimed
at the markets usually used to increase occupancy. Barter guests brought
to your property via the barter company represent corporations presently
trading with the barter company.
Barter
Advertising: Some Rules Of The Game
While
the end result of advertising purchased via barter is the same as
advertising acquired with cash, it is purchased differently. For the
hotelier, it is important to understand how the buying process differs
yet achieves the same result.
Just
as you don't want your paying guests displaced with barter guests,
media companies don't want to displace their cash advertisers. You
or your agency must identify the media where you currently pay for
advertising. Then it is the barter company's job to produce equivalent
print and broadcast alternatives that are both "barterable"
and meet or exceed your goals.
Getting
"cleared" as a barter advertiser. If you are currently
a cash advertiser with a particular publication, radio channel, or
TV station the general rule is that you are ineligible to be a barter
advertiser for one year.
However,
depending on supply and demand some media companies will be flexible...especially
if the barter advertising is incremental or mixed with cash. It is
also an incentive if they know the only way you can increase the amount
of business with them is through barter.
Make
Checklist Before Negotiating
Once
your hotel decides barter is a viable way to expand its advertising
reach and/or reduce cash outlays on advertising, you need to negotiate
a contract or written agreement with the barter company. A pre-contract
checklist will include the following.
-
The
Advertising Agency. Since all barter advertising is placed
through your advertising agency, be sure the agency shares your
media schedule with the barter company.
-
Media
Buying Instructions. You and/or your advertising agency
must send any and all media buying instructions to the barter company
in writing, well before sitting down to negotiate a contract.
-
The
Media Schedule. This must be included as part of the contract
with the barter company, usually as an exhibit.
-
Shelf
Life Of Room Credits. Don't leave this until last minute
negotiations—it's a potential deal breaker. A shelf life of
two or three years is reasonable. The shorter the time to use the
room credits, the less value they have to the barter company.
-
Guaranteed
New Business. Make sure you have procedures clearly worked
out with the barter company, so that none of your existing cash
customers are displaced. Insist on providing written pre-approval
of companies using the room credits, and give the barter company
a list of your top accounts so they can avoid those companies. Specify
the number of business days you need to research the volume business
you may already be receiving from a proposed barter customer before
you approve them.
-
Internal
Finance/Accounting Agreement. Be sure your accounting department
agrees to a system for tracking the use of the room credits before
you negotiate, and they should know their counterpart at the barter
company.
Accounting
should also be in sync with your outside auditors and review with
them Accounting Principles Board Opinion #29, "Accounting for
Non-monetary transactions," and the later 1995 rulings on accounting
for trade credit transactions (EITF 93-11) which relate to the tax
laws applicable to the barter process.
What
To Expect From The Barter Company
Once
your checklist has been taken care of, you're ready to negotiate the
key elements (to be listed in next week's issue) that will give both
you and the barter company a maximum-benefit minimum-risk contract.
Although
you should personally anticipate unforeseen business surprises, neither
your attorney nor your accounting department should negotiate the
media or room credit value issues. These are marketing issues, and
barter programs are uniformly housed in the marketing department of
the hospitality industry.
Key
Elements Of The Contract
When
negotiating a formal contract, be certain that the following key elements
are included, either in the body of the contract or as attachments
to it.
List
the media covered. The barter agreement should be flexible
enough to go beyond one media schedule. Generally all types of media
are barter eligible except network television and newspapers. Bartered
media include print (consumer, business, trade), direct mail, spot
media (TV, cable, radio), national media (cable and syndicated TV,
network radio), outdoor advertising, and international media.
Spell
out the media services required from the barter company.
Always be sure that the contract specifies how the barter company
will prove that your ad ran when and where you wanted. This includes
"proof of performance" billing, in which you receive affidavits
from the broadcast stations through the barter company as evidence.
You can require that the affidavits be notarized, if you wish. In
print media, checking copies or tear sheets serves the same purpose.
You
also should include language about how the barter company will conduct
"post-analysis/reconciliation," as you need to know the
actual ratings versus the estimated ratings of your ads. These figures
are based on audience measurement services subscribed to by the barter
company.
Include
safeguards. The contract should state clearly that all media
must be bought to advertising agency specifications, and indicate
that the barter company will receive the specs from the agency well
ahead of time. This section would also indicate that bartered media
placement must be guaranteed no differently than media bought for
cash.
Describe
how you want broadcast media to be monitored. Don't be hesitant
about covering these details in the written agreement or contract.
The barter company must use broadcast and insertion orders, and it
must monitor commercials on a regular basis. Do not accept schedule
changes unless you have approved the changes in writing.
The
barter company also must agree that any preemptions are "made
good" during the same period of time for which the media was
scheduled, with spots of equal or greater value. These are standard
monitoring steps any barter company has to perform, and detailing
them in a contract is expected.
Show
how you will control the room credits. The best way to prevent bartered
room credits from leaving the control of the hotel is to write conditions
under which the barter company may use or trade/sell the credits.
Once
the advertising is placed, the barter company, not you, owns the room
credits. Barter room credits should not be advertised or offered to
the general public without your written approval. If no walk-ins are
allowed you will maintain better control. The same goes for groups
and meetings. It is a good idea to spell out the number of rooms that
you define as a group, maybe over 15 reservations.
Build
in flexibility to increase market share. If a particular
property in a chain has an existing negotiated volume discount with
a customer, that naturally takes precedence over the barter agreement.
However, that customer could use barter rooms at other hotels in the
chain.
State
the value you are putting on your rooms in the contract.
Since you have already spelled out that all media are to be bought
according to advertising agency specifications at negotiated rates
and not standard rate, card rate, or other arbitrary cost, then the
barter company expects the room credits to be valid at the lowest
available rates you offer cash-paying guests. This includes corporate
rates but not package rates.
If
the negotiated media rate equals the lowest available room rates,
then the ratio of the barter agreement is $1 advertising for $1 room
credit. Since the barter company expects the room credits to have
the same value in its marketplace as the media does to you, blackouts
or other restrictions lower the value of the room credits considerably.
And the shorter the expiration date, the lower the value.
Exclusivity
benefits both parties. Exclusivity is ranked at the top of
the barter company's wish list, since it uses the room credits to
create new barter agreements. If you trade rooms with more than one
barter company, the worth of the room credits to all of them is greatly
diminished, and you won't be getting the media value you expect.
Also,
the more media one barter company places with the same station or
magazine for all of its barter clients, the more "clout"
you have to get the best negotiated rates from that media source.
So work with one barter company for best results.
Since
you have negotiated tight control on use of the room credits and are
receiving negotiated media rates, you are getting full value for your
rooms. The bartered rooms are all net, non-commissionable, and no
credit card fees are involved. It is up to the barter company and
its customers to use the credits at the room rates you established
up front.
Copyright 2005 BarterNews.
All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of BarterNews
content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of BarterNews.
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