HOTccc Launch

If you live in the 21st Century, you already know a couple of things about marketing and the tourism industry. First, the Internet is the best way to market yourself - your message can be disseminated to thousands of people in a matter of seconds. And the second? Social network sites like Facebook and My Space are a hit. They're not going anywhere because remember that message you just sent out? Well your friends, family and even people you don't know have just responded to it.

For the regional hospitality industry, that's where HOTccc steps in. Those strangers responding to your messages are potential employees looking for a position within your hotel/restaurant/ministry. In fact, that's the main objective of the Trinidad and Tobago's Hospitality and Tourism Institute's (TTHTI) new social network, to put the industry in touch with skilled graduates, whereby facilitating direct recruitment on both a local and regional level.

HOTccc launched last night at the Courtyard Marriott in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Introductory notes were made by the Head of the TTHTI, Patricia Butcher and the President of the Trinidad Hotel and Restaurant Association, Barry Bidaisee. The Honourable Fitzgerald Jeffrey, Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education applauded the platform and it's vision and hailed it as the "perfect medium for the tourism field".

Robert Baur, the site's founder and one of the TTHTI's lecturers gave a practical demonstration of the new platform and highlighted it's key features. Usability of the site was the top priority, with the "Career Centre" option being the core piece. As a potential employer, the most promising aspects of the site are the built in credentials that come with every job seeker HOTccc sends your way - when registering on the site, every potential employee must upload or generate a resume. Also, email notifications are sent out when someone has posted a job listing that matches your criteria - HR has never been easier.

But, I think Robert Baur said it best - you'll enjoy it more if you experience it for yourself. So please have a look, register and use it - HOTccc!
For more information on HOTccc please contact Kyra Santana - administration@hotccc.com

Visit the Competition, Visit Indonesia

I did a flight search on Expedia. A flight in June for a week from London to Barbados costs just over US$1,000. Then I did another one. The same dates applied, except this time, the destination was Bali - the flight cost is US$1414. It's not a huge difference for the traveler willing to journey far and wide for white sands, clear waters and great food and all these things can be found in both the Caribbean and Indonesia.

It's fair to say then that Bali is one of the Caribbean Tourism industry's main competitors. The "dangerously beautiful" Bali recently got some great news from the American Government - the travel warning in place since 2000 has now been lifted - they're not considered so dangerous anymore. What will this mean for Indonesia's tourism industry? Bali is already winning with the proximity factor with regard to the new emerging markets of China and India. The European market could go either way, they're right in the middle and the US market's domestic tourism is on the up with the threat of recession looming. So really the question is - what will this mean for the Caribbean's competitive edge?

Thank God, for the diaspora that travel home regularly enough to keep flight prices moderate and who like to buy pieces of "home", pumping a little extra money into our island economies. No wonder the Trinidad Development Company is focusing primarily on this market. But what will it mean for the other markets like Barbados and the Cayman Islands that depend of foreign visitors? Only time will tell. But until then, it's worth seeing what the competition is doing...

Check out a couple of their promotional videos here and here

Mom, Can I Have My Virtual Allowance?

Why It's Important to Pay Attention to What Kids Are Spending Real Money on

Reuben Steiger
Sometimes the most amazing things happen right under our noses and we miss them because we're not in fourth grade.

Take a stroll down the aisles at your local Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens or Rite-Aid and you'll notice an interesting phenomenon -- pre-paid gift cards for as many as 26 virtual worlds. Let me try to explain what this means (if you have a fourth grader, feel free to skip the next couple paragraphs).

There are roughly 100 million people in virtual worlds at the moment and the vast majority of them are kids and teens. These worlds, which in general are rather simple looking, allow kids to hang out together on the web. Jeff Yang of Redpoint Ventures, a prominent investor in a variety of these worlds (he was also the sole venture capitalist behind Myspace), likes to call these worlds the "new mall." Collectively, the kids in this "mall" are spending over $1.5 billion on avatars, clothing, pets and the like. That's real money on virtual stuff.

Now here's where the cards come in. While these kids have a seemingly endless appetite for virtual goods, they don't have credit cards. Even if they did, the stuff they're buying costs between 20 cents and $5 -- creating a problem when the cost of clearing the transaction is greater than the value of the item. The cards solve this by allowing a parent to buy their child $10 or $25 worth of virtual currency. The card company takes a fee off the top, generally somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% (nice business model, huh?) and the rest goes to the kid to spend at the virtual mall.

Now I'm guessing a few of you are wondering why on earth anyone would spend real money on virtual stuff. Let me try to explain this in truly simple terms, because I think it's a really fundamental concept, no different than what goes on when we buy stuff in the real world.

First of all (and this is beyond fascinating), teenagers view their avatars, or characters in virtual worlds, very differently than adults. While you or I might refer to the avatar as "my avatar," a teenage just calls it "myself" or "me." Perhaps an equivalent for us older folks is that we'd never ask someone if they received an e-mail from our "e-mail account," we'd simply say, "Did you read what I wrote you?" So these teens see their avatars as themselves, which makes sense when you're spending over an hour a day communicating through that character. And when that's the case, how your avatar looks is critical to the way in which one's social status is perceived. So virtual goods become the markers of social hierarchy -- we are social creatures after all (even non-fourth graders) and that stuff really matters.

If you're still thinking that this is beyond bizarre, let me leave you with a little thought experiment. How much does your average pair of jeans cost? The truth is that if you bought jeans based simply on utility (in other words, discounting social perception to zero), you would spend $10. This means that the difference between what you really spend on jeans and $10 is the value you place on what other people think. In my case, it's embarrassingly high -- more than $100.

Guess those fourth graders spending $2 on virtual bling aren't so crazy after all.

The Plight of American Airlines

We all know that the rising oil prices are having a significant impact on airline travel, but the latest issue of Fortune talks to American Airlines CEO Gerard Arpey about manic mergers and loosing US$3.3 million a day.

The article entitled "Saving American Airlines" claims that the airline has had 300 planes grounded by the FAA for not meeting safety standards, picketing pilots, the merger of two main competitors (Delta and Northwest) and, lest we forget, astronomically high fuel prices - US$110 per barrel. Traditionally, American Airlines' major problems are their old gas guzzling jets and high staff overheads... This has all contributed to a US$328 million loss in the first quarter.

Fortune claims that "the problem is that no airline was ever designed to make a profit with jet fuel at these prices, and no carrier has figured out a way to charge enough to make up the difference...already this year, record fuel prices have forced five carriers to file for bankruptcy".

Solutions? Delta Airlines head, Richard Anderson, claims consolidation. However, the merger of Delta and Northwest and their complimentary routes - Delta has a stronghold in Europe and Northwest in the Far East - has met mixed reviews. Skeptics believe that mergers could work, but routes should overlap rather than compliment, resulting in the closing of flights and the reduction of fuel used.

For American solutions will include developing software to identify flights that customers will pay extra for, selling off large chunks subsidiary companies such as American Beacon Advisors (reportedly sold 90% for US$480 million) and the reduction of domestic flights. But these are short term. In fact, American's CEO Gerard Arpey has no new solutions and is not optimistic about his industry.

LOCAL BUSINESSES TO MEET UK TRADE DELEGATION IN JUNE

The British High Commission will host a 12-member business delegation from Britain between June 4th to 10th 2008. The visit, organised by the West Midlands Business Forum, will comprise members of various Chambers of Commerce from the UK's West Midlands region.

Ms. Joy Heatley, International Trade Advisor of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce will lead the delegation's visit, and Mr. Athelston 'Tony' Sealey, Managing Director of Canefield Limited is the delegation's Business Leader. Last year, the Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, led the West Midlands’ delegation to the Caribbean, which included Trinidad & Tobago. The upcoming visit is the third consolidated mission to the Caribbean comprising various members of different chambers.

The delegation to Trinidad will offer a wide range of UK goods and services, including Business Development Consultancy, Market Entry Solutions & Strategic Partnerships, Restaurant Franchise Operations, Childcare Training, Hair & Beauty Professional Training, Distribution Partner required for Hair Products, Management Development & Internet Marketing and Training & Development Opportunities for the Construction, Leisure & Hospitality sectors.

The business community will have an opportunity to interact with members of the delegation at a ‘Trade Drop-in Session’ at the Kapok Hotel from 10:00a.m. to 1.00 p.m. on Thursday 5th June 2008. The 'Drop-in' allows for local companies to make contact with visiting UK business representatives who are seeking distributors, suppliers, agents and other partnership arrangements, which would result in an improvement in two-trade between the UK and Trinidad & Tobago. Similar sessions in the past have yielded favourable results leading to increased commercial value in goods and services for both countries. Businesses or individuals that are aligned to any of this multi-sector group's business areas should attend the drop-in.

The visit is being supported by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the Government organisation that helps UK-based companies succeed in international markets and assists overseas companies to bring high quality investment to the UK's vibrant economy, and is also part financed by the European Union. Ms. Heatley and Mr. Sealey will meet private sector and state enterprise officials including the Trinidad & Tobago Coalition of Services Industries; British Caribbean Chamber of Commerce; PriceWaterhouseCoopers Limited; M. Hamel-Smith & Co., the Tourism Development Corporation, the Trinidad & Tobago Manufacturer's Association and several other leading businesses. The group's itinerary also includes visits to Barbados and Jamaica.

For further information on the Delegation's visit, please contact the Trade & Investment Section, British High Commission at 622 2748.

High Oil Prices Stall Silverjet

The business class airline Silverjet is facing crisis from lack of investment and soaring oil prices. The group is yet to receive a 12.7 million pound sum from a Middle Eastern Investor. As a result, company shares have plummeted and the troubled airline has called out to Viceroy Holdings for a 2.5 million pound loan to keep them afloat amidst rising oil prices (US$130 a barrel).

For the full article from BBC News, please see here.