Located in the appealing Devon apple of Tuckenhay in the admirable South Devon countryside this chocolate-box thatched abode sits forth ancillary the Bow Brook River. The abode is a prefect country break and even a abbreviate break will accept you advertent giving up your old activity in adjustment to move to Devon. The Abode lays just a abbreviate airing anatomy the account column agenda apple of Ashprington and either a admirable two hour airing or a abbreviate drive to the boondocks of Totnes.
Martello Belfry - Suffolk
Martello Belfry is not your accepted anniversary home, it is in actuality an age-old acropolis advised to stop Napoleon and his army. The architecture is create up of thick, broad rock walls advised to with angle French cannons. The angle from the belfry are stunning; abnormally from the active allowance area you can sit and watch the after-effects breach at your feet. While the interiors accept absolutely bigger back it was active by the troops it is still not the alotof comfortable and doesn`t even accept a bath. Yet there is abundant added to this abode than its autogenous design.
The Gothic Temple - Buckinghamshire
The annular Gothic temple was congenital in 1741 and is a absurd archetype of English follies. The Temple lies with in the area of the Stowe Academy admitting from the beauteous angle on action this is no accustomed academy grounds. Anticipation the architectonics is amazing the accoutrement are a little on the basal ancillary (fitting appliance into a annular allowance is no simple feet) yet the architecture itself, the admirable area and the adventitious to use the schools pond basin and tennis courts during the summer months added than create up for this.
Fisherman`s Cottages - Inverness-shire
Located on the 60,000 acre area of the Cawdor acreage these cottages accept been advised by above Faddy biographer Isabella Cawdor. Congenital in 2002 the cottages are a cantankerous amid a Altitude hunting abode and a London bazaar which amidst by heather broadcast berth land. The interiors are a mix of avant-garde and acceptable and create for a balmy and adequate environment. A bassinet is cat-and-mouse for you on arrival, as is a video bulletin on the TV and if your activity annoyed afterwards your continued adventure then you don`t even accept to anguish about food, there will be a absurd home adapted meal for you.
The recently opened 380-room Tangla Beijing, a new five-star hotel in the central administrative and financial area of Beijing, has joined Worldhotels as a Deluxe Collection affiliate.
The hotel is located at Chang'an Avenue West, a new landmark in the heart of Beijing, within walking distance of Financial Street and major national offices and bureaux.
Steven Song, the president for operations of HNA Hotels & Resorts and general manager of Tangla Beijing, commented that Tangla hotel is delighted to extend its sales net worldwide by joining Worldhotels, which is a worldwide sales, marketing, and distribution brand for independent hotels.
For events, Tangla Beijing offers 2,300 square meters of meeting and banquet space, including ten function rooms, together with a full service business center.
For food and beverage the hotel features six choices of restaurants and bars including Cafe d'Or with two open-view kitchens while the Astral, the signature fine dining restaurant of Tangla Beijing features Australian fare, from grilled Australian beef to traditional fish and chips.
All guest rooms feature deluxe marble bathrooms and beds with premium linens and featherbed, a goose down quilt, and a choice of pillows. Rooms also incorporate high-speed Internet access and independently controlled air-conditioning.
For health and beauty conscious guests, Tangla Beijing offers a fitness centre, wellness and spa centre, indoor swimming pool and onsite medical facilities. Other facilities extend to a 24-hour room service and concierge.
REMEMBER YOUR LAST CONVERSATION WITH THAT family relative who couldn t talk enough of how much they saved on their last holiday package deal Or that colleague bragging about his 59 round trip flight to Las Vegas and his stay in a 5 star hotel at 89 a night Have you found yourself staring wistfully and suspiciously at a 399 package deal for two for Hawaii Just because your email seems flooded at times with seemingly impossibly priced travel offers, and you find Internet search engines are flooded with 1000s of sites selling internet travel besides big hotel brands and branded distribution sites don t discount them all. Who can you count on Just four or five years ago, when you looked for travel discounts you could choose between a travel agent, the airline offices and the hotels themselves, and maybe, if you were lucky, some travel guru down the street. Today, theres a massive range of things you can do online, and a lot of them can save significant amounts of money. The reality is
Nine out of 10 online travelers now have some history of shopping for travel online, and nearly 15 of all Americans purchased travel online last year thats five times the penetration rate of 1998. PhoCusWright Consumer Travel Trends Survey Nearly one third of online travel buyers say the Internet was responsible for their travel purchases last year. In 1998, six million consumers bought travel online in the U.S. Jump ahead to 2002 when 30 million Americans purchased travel online in the last year. Half of them only buy their travel online. PhoCusWright Consumer Travel Trends Survey
Online travel bookings exceeded 23 billion in 2001, and are expected to reach 63 billion by 2005.
Internet bookings in the first three quarters of 2002 accounted for over 23 of rooms sold in New York, and over 15 in Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. Anecdotally, for some properties, hotel managers are reporting Internet bookings ranging from 30 to 50 of all room nights in 2002. Smith Travel Research and Travel Click
What does this mean
This means that online distribution channel is extremely successful in reaching buyers and buyers are finding it more confirmable to shop online. They are seeing a broader range of travel options and variety of products and packages. And its more likely that consumer wants to control that transaction through access to more competitive pricing. Pricing is becoming key factor to determine the sale.
Key factors Why travelers prefer to book online
Competitive Price Ability to compare product and Prices Ability to plan last minute Availability of Range of options
Online travel shoppers are not very loyal on where they shop 65 percent of online travelers do not view themselves as brand loyal. As much as they love to shop online and spend their time researching what suits their needs, they are not loyal to the companies from which they buy.
The above scenario indicated that the travel suppliers have no choice but to participate in this online distribution channel. The suppliers are realizing that the traditional channels like GDS Global Distribution System travel agent and call center reservation office is somewhat inefficient and expensive, especially when the economy is weak. Ignoring online distribution channel and concentrating only on traditional distribution channels will result in lower occupancy, and higher distribution and operational costs for travel suppliers. As online channels become more popular among suppliers their participation is increasing.
How Pricing and Distribution Become Key
9 11 caused a dramatic shift in how consumers booked their travel. The instability caused a large drop in demand for airlines, hotels and car rentals leading to ever lower prices. This low demand factor forced travel suppliers to introduce unprecedented discounts. Travel suppliers struggled to sell seats, rooms, car rentals to a significantly shrunk leisure and business travel market. Every air seat, room and auto not booked cost their companies money. Better to sell dirt cheap than not to sell at all. But how to get the word out
Smart, proactive suppliers adopted the Wal Mart business model sell low and distribute inexpensively and efficiently. But how
The Internet allowed them to reach consumers, sell inventory outstrips their less progressive competition. Those suppliers who had no clear Internet strategy or understanding of how the Web and online distribution works suffered.
Discount hotel sites attract millions of buyers with their special rates leading to stratospheric sales through these channels. They thrive on hoteliers selling their distressed inventory at a fraction of their normal rates. Occupancy is the lowest it s been in years, hoteliers continue to work with leading online retailers to move inventory at lower price.
The 6.3 billion in online hotel sales 2002 with are split roughly evenly between discount agency sites and hotel Web sites. PhoCusWright projects that around 75 of discount agency hotel site sales are via the merchant model, where the agency typically takes a 20 30 margin on the hotel net rate instead of the usual 10 commission. This approach has helped profits at Expedia and Hotels.com, who have roughly 60 of online discount agency hotel sales. Travelocity and Orbitz are instituting the same successful approach. Other notable players thriving in this arena are Hotwire.com, http www.hotels and discounts.com , Lodging.com and Travelweb.com.
What is the Future Online travel growth will continue to grow in 2003 2005, but it will slow down year by year compared to the record gains see so far. However millions of travelers haven t yet made their first purchase so the market is not near saturation. Technological improvements will soon make it possible to more easily dynamically package vacation deals including air, hotel and car leading to even lower prices but higher average sales. So growth is projected to come from customers buying more, higher ticketed products online.
The growth of the online distribution channel will prove beneficial to the end user when the suppler finds it easier and more cost effective to distribute their inventory there than over the traditional distribution channels. As technology becomes mature in the online distribution sector, it will become more effective and user friendly for the Buyers and thus will attract more Suppliers. Due to its low cost of distribution and emerging ability to package and cross sell inventory, prices will be attractive for years to come, until this channel eventually becomes a commodity.
