#84791 - 03/09/10 08:53 AM
Low Tourism: Where are the deals?
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Andie
Member
Registered: 06/05/07
Posts: 403
Loc: Ottawa, Canada
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Hello to all,
I read everywhere the tourism is down in FP and that hotels are dying for clients...However, I don't see any extraordinary deals out there...(other than throwing in some meals)
Any advice? Better to deal with a TA or deal with the hotels directly for best prices?
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*When we can picture ourselves there, living our dreams, we know it's time...*
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#84793 - 03/09/10 11:28 AM
Re: Low Tourism: Where are the deals?
[Re: Andie]
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YosemiteGirl2
Member
Registered: 09/17/07
Posts: 335
Loc: California
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A little while back there was an article in some major paper about how the "luxury" brands (Hermes, etc.) never, ever offer discounts or sales, no matter how bad times get. This was for two reasons: their core market of the very rich still spends in tough times, and more importantly, discounting would damage their brand image as a luxury item, which would reduce the appeal of the products to a large section of their market.
I wonder if some of that reasoning is behind the lack of discounting in Tahiti. Not for the consumers -- I mean, a trip to Tahiti is not, for me and for most people on this board, the equivalent of a fancy "status" purse. We go because it's magical (and then we get addicted...). But the hotel brands probably have some kind of pride/status-based bare-bottom price that is a lot higher than their operating cost. How can they justify $1500/night next year when the market picks up, if someone snagged an OWB for $500/night this spring?
I don't know. I'm not in the industry. But still, something totally illogical must be going on, otherwise they wouldn't be throwing away the possibility of filling their hotels for half-price, rather than seeing them go empty for nearly full-price.
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#84799 - 03/09/10 12:47 PM
Re: Low Tourism: Where are the deals?
[Re: YosemiteGirl2]
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6042
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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Yes, that reasoning is definitely behind the lack of low prices. You will see deals like buy 3 nights, get 4th night free, or breakfast included, but very unlikely that the luxury places will significantly drop their prices.
Some things can be bargained for locally, once you are here and present...
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#84846 - 03/14/10 11:11 AM
Re: Low Tourism: Where are the deals?
[Re: BarbiJKM]
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rodjune
Expert Advisor
Registered: 07/08/03
Posts: 1726
Loc: Kalama Valley, HI
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Generally speaking, it's best for businesses to preserve their price points and throw in rebates or freebies. Once you lower the price point, it's much more difficult to raise it, and as Yosemite Girl 2, luxury brands don't want to cheapen or dilute their image.
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#84847 - 03/14/10 11:50 AM
Re: Low Tourism: Where are the deals?
[Re: rodjune]
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Patti.
Expert Advisor
Registered: 03/28/04
Posts: 2376
Loc: Las Vegas, NV
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Problem is...there are 2 Tahiti's...there's the 5 star luxury hotels and then there's the whole rest of Tahiti...the employees of those 5 star hotels, the pensions, the restaurants, the excursion companies, the transports companies, the small stores. It's THAT part of Tahiti that is suffering most from this. THAT part of Tahiti needs help.
The 5 start hotels can keep their prices as high as they want to protect their brand... and they probably have the financial backing to weather the storm.....but it's the rest of Tahiti that is truly suffering from this. There HAS to be a cheaper way to get people over there. Locally owned restaurants can not stay in business with 1 or 2 customers a night! Excursion companies can not stay in business with 2 or 3 bookings a day!
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#84848 - 03/14/10 05:58 PM
Re: Low Tourism: Where are the deals?
[Re: Patti.]
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BarbiJKM
Supreme Advisor
Registered: 02/14/07
Posts: 6042
Loc: Mesa, AZ
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And the small businesses are closing daily because of the lack of tourism. I can't believe how many restaurants and shops here on Moorea have closed since I left in late August. It's really sad -- unemployment is record high!
The world economy needs to improve first, and then the airfares have to become more reasonable to get any tourists here in this kind of economy.
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#84852 - 03/14/10 11:27 PM
Re: Low Tourism: Where are the deals?
[Re: BarbiJKM]
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Poehere
Expert Advisor
Registered: 08/18/07
Posts: 2340
Loc: FP
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And then came the "Pandanus war"...
As Barbi states, indeed the situation is worrysome... the local economy is bad, real bad!
After cyclone Oli blew over the Society islands, taking with him (or her??) many of the pandanus roofs that cover the OWB's, especially on Bora Bora, it turned out that the hotels are not allowed to cover and/or repair the damaged roofs with any other material than the "Fara" or Pandanus.
This plant grows on the motu's and is treated, cut and woven by quite a few poor families who try to earn a living by doing so on a daily basis, working in the burning sun.
Well it has now turned out that due to another monopolistic situation (especially in BB) no one other than the minister of culture owns the one and only company providing the roof material to the hotels and he threated certain hotel owners in case they'd repair their roofs with anything other than "his" pandanus...
If the poor families do not vote for him he doesn't buy the pandanus they have grown and woven under very hard conditions...
As the production of pandanus is kind of slow it would take normally more than a year to provide the material necessary to recover/repair the damaged roofs of the BB hotels...
Food for thought in this economic time and age where one would think people could/would be a little more flexible, quite sad really
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