Passport Rules May Change Yet Again.

The U.S. Senate approved a measure Wednesday that will delay new federal rules requiring U.S. passports for American citizens returning from international trips. The current deadline of Jan. 1, 2008, would be extended to June 1, 2009. Two senators attached this request as an amendment to the Senate’s immigration reform bill. The new deadline will not take effect unless the amendment survives a House-Senate conference committee and another round of voting.

An update on some of our Mexico properties that suffered Hurricane Wilma’s wrath:

CLOSED
Playa Azul Beach Resort, Cozumel - closed until 12/15/05
Ceiba del Mar Spa Resort, Puerto Morelos - closed for 6 months minimum - one beachfront building lost - no further info.
Hotel Casita del Mar, Puerto Morelos - closed until further notice - new restaurant & bar and pool coming.
Villas Chimay, Isla Holbox - completely destroyed with plans to rebuild.
Villas Delfines, Isla Holbox - closed until 12/26/05 - new restaurant & bar coming.

The eco-style theme parks:
XelHa - closed indefinitely after trying to reopen.
Xcaret - closed until 12/12/05.

OPEN
Ana y Jose Hotel & Spa, Tulum - negligible damage
Las Ranitas, Tulum - fully operational
Acanto Hotel & Suites, Playa del Carmen - fully operational
Mosquito Blue Hotel & Spa, Playa del Carmen - fully operational
Hotel Las Palapas, Playa del Carmen - minimal damage.

For those of you who have asked, I would not hesitate to book any of you into our operating properties in Playa del Carmen or Tulum, points in between, or further south. The damage sustained in these locations is substantially less than that experienced on Cozumel, Puerto Morelos, Cancun, and points to the north and I am confident that your vacation experience will not be compromised.

Contact me if you would like more details.

I was struck by an article in the New York Times this morning concerning rowdy children and unconcerned parents in coffee shops. Apparently, the need for parents to get out of the house, break from routine, and reclaim a taste of adult lifestyle is clashing with traditional patrons who find their kids an intrusion.

You could see this coming like the Perfect Storm - the convergence of diametrically opposed cultural forces creating anarchy out of order. It is understandable and it has a wider application to travel and your choice of vacation destinations.

I’ve been on all 3 sides of this issue: as business manager, as customer with kids along, and as customer sans children.

A business owner or manager has the right to foster an environment that is conducive to the attraction and loyalty of their target customer base. Often independent of that is another kind of right too. Now that they have control, they may simply wish to work in a particular kind of environment and may establish rules, formal or informal, that help to shape it to their liking. Both are reasonable expectations and, in my judgment, should be respected.

What methods are available to the business to set the desired tone? Explicit signage is one way of doing it, a method that I particularly appreciate since I am not then guessing about my welcome when with kids. Menus, products, pricing, magazines, and the inclusion or exclusion of child-friendly furniture, toys, etc. are another. The single biggest influence though is communicated by the attitude of the service personnel. You can tell a lot about an establishment’s commitment to a family-friendly clientele by observing their interactions with children and the adults with them. Staff are also the informal communicators of “house rules” to adult-only guests by the way they respond to their comments, critical or complimentary, about the presence of kids in their shared domain.

The flip side of the business’ right to set the environment is their responsibility to clearly communicate it. A business that neglects to consciously manage these elements risks creating a muddled environment that lacks a clear audience focus. It is my observation that most of us honor clear messages about the rules. We willingly comply with adults-only policies for gourmet restaurants, bed and breakfasts, antique dealers, art galleries, or real estate open houses that openly choose and communicate that restriction. It’s the business that is fuzzy about the depth of its welcome for families that will likely offer a compromised experience to the consumer with child in tow. The end result is confusion at best and, at worst, outright anger that leads to visible acts against the business.

Tying the lesson to travel, the experience of our family has been decidedly mixed in terms of satisfaction with our family vacation experiences. Over these many years we have been able to decipher the patterns though and the general principles I discussed above apply to hotels, resorts, inns, airlines, and recreational activity operators as well as coffee shops.

There is a clear difference in the family guest experience between suppliers who are family-tolerant versus those that are family-committed. Why spend your vacation dollars with the former when the latter is available?

That is why, at WayPointz, we invest the time and the money to inspect every one of our suppliers before choosing to recommend them to you.

Please share your feedback on this important issue that is the driving force of our business. I also invite you to share your recommendations of other family-committed vacation suppliers for us to investigate.

As always, we’re listening.

Part 3 of 3

In our two earlier installments, we reviewed the recent evolution of the travel agent, the influence of the information-rich Internet, and the rise of the niche-focused travel service. Yesterday, I gave you my opinion on when and why you would use a travel agent in today’s online environment. Today I will tackle the remaining question posed at the outset.

Why should I book through WayPointz rather than directly with the supplier?

I believe that our approach is unique and results in the following benefits to you and members of your family — benefits that are worth the modest service charges we levy:

WayPointz offers something unique and uniquely worthwhile. If you judge us to give good value then we ask that you reward us with your business. I promise that we will work hard to earn your continued trust and loyalty. As fellow consumers, we do, after all, respect your right to choose.

As always, we’re listening.

Your comments are invited. Email me directly at agreen@waypointz.com.

Part 2 of 3

Earlier I posed these questions: “When and why should I use a travel agent?” and “Why should I book with WayPointz rather than directly with the supplier?”. My first installment provides an overview of the use of agents, the impact of the Internet on their function and value, and what I see as the current state of affairs. Now it’s time to answer the first question.

My Top 10 Occasions to Use a Travel Agent:

1. If you dislike planning travel.
2. If you have higher priorities than doing it yourself, even if you have the time.
3. When your time to departure is short.
4. When free time for your own research and planning is in short supply.
5. If they have expertise that you cannot practically duplicate and that knowledge would make a meaningful difference in the quality of your vacation.
6. If they provide you with a better fare or rate than you can get on your own. (If you don’t call them, you’ll never know.)
7. If you’re considering arrangements that seem complicated and where you judge any mistake to be intolerable, whether resulting in added cost, inconvenience, stress, or a threat to personal safety.
8. If you are traveling outside of the U.S. and Canada and you lack prior international experience.
9. If you are coordinating a group and do not like negotiating everyone’s special requests.
10. If you are planning a special get-together for a group of 10 or more and you require special services beyond a group lodging discount.

Why would I use a travel agent?

Look for tomorrow’s entry for my answer to the second question: “Why should I book with WayPointz and not directly with the supplier?”

Part 1 of 3
Yesterday, a friend who loves the concept of WayPointz asked me a pointed question: “What’s to prevent someone from using WayPointz for your screened recommendations and then booking directly with the hotel?”

Coincidentally, I found the following on my news feed shortly after. It causes me to think that there is a broader issue inherent in his concern than just the viability of my own online service.

Online Travel Jumps 25 Percent in 2005
published by OSSN Travel News, 11/2/2005

Online travel bookings in the United States jumped by an amazing 25 percent during the last 12 months, says a new study by Jupiter Research. The firm predicts that a third of U.S. travel sales will be made via the Internet by 2010. Jupiter says the increase will come from growth in the overall number of online travel shoppers (including customers who buy via bookable Web sites operated by traditional and home-based travel agents!).

One interesting trend identified by Jupiter that must worry Web agencies like Expedia and Travelocity is that more consumers are shifting from online agencies to buying directly from suppliers. They bought 56 percent of online travel from supplier Web sites this (past) year, and that number may jump to 62 percent by 2010.

The gist of this news is these two undeniable facts: 1) Online travel bookings continue to grow at an incredible rate, and 2) More consumers are choosing to book directly with suppliers.

Neither of these measurable observations should be surprising to anyone in the travel trade. In fact, these two growing trends support my startup of WayPointz. The shift to using the web for travel research, planning, and booking makes total sense. The Internet and travel were made for each other.

Of the two findings published by Jupiter Research, though, the latter is the one that is relevant to my friend’s question. It causes me to wonder, on a broader plane, why do consumers book with suppliers directly? When and why should you use a travel agent? Exploring these will lead to an answer about WayPointz.

The Good (?) ‘Ol Days
Historically, there have been largely two avenues for you to purchase travel products. Before the Internet, we relied heavily on the services of travel agents for airline ticketing, train travel, lodging, and car rentals. We were willing to give up convenience and control in deference to the agent role of travel information gatekeeper. Agents had the ability to save us huge amounts of time, could be tremendous sources of expertise and comfort, and, sometimes, in-depth local knowledge. They could be counted on to help us if anything went wrong. If they were good, you got high value service without apparent cost as the suppliers’ commissions paid them for their efforts. I say “apparent” as the cost of supporting agents as customer service representatives was buried in the price of the ticket or the nightly or weekly rate.

(As a sidenote, with the elimination of most airline commissions, the cost of customer services including travel research, supplier brochure storage and delivery, travel expertise, and professional guidance, has been shifted to the consumer. As with many other valued holders of expertise, e.g., accountants, attorneys, consultants, travel agents now sell theirs as a fee-based service.)

Secondly, we might occasionally book direct with the supplier if we were a returning customer or had prior knowledge plus a phone number. Certainly, for many of us, road trips were the mainstay of our summer vacations and many nights were booked directly and spontaneously, in person, when you needed to call it a day. This was the ultimate act of convenience with control (provided there was space) and performed at no additional cost, either as a hidden or a stated service fee.

The Effect of the Internet

The Internet has disrupted these traditional methods by providing a means for suppliers to distribute travel product information directly to the consumer, free of charge. With the benefits of immediate and convenient availability and the timelier emailing of updates, travel product information is now independent of travel agency personnel as “information agents,” sowing the seeds for the development of new, direct relations between consumer and supplier.

It was an easy leap then to adapting the Internet beyond information-sharing to use as a full one-tier direct sales medium. The electronic storefront bypasses the traditional travel agent by dealing directly with the consumer. This has proved to be a boon in many regards by saving us money in a more visible, competitive environment, saving us time, and providing more convenience and control then any traditional agency could offer. For supplier and consumer alike, the great value is the new one-to-one relationship that they share.

Consumer Needs Still Exist

That said, there remains a need in the marketplace for travel planning assistance that offers first-hand knowledge of destinations and suppliers, eliminating the guesswork inherent in do-it-yourself research. General travel agencies rarely invest the time to move beyond the large corporate hotels, resorts, and traditional destinations. Their expertise is limited. Niche-focused travel services, like WayPointz, select a narrower piece of the pie and make it their focus. That allows for more in-depth knowledge to be made available to travelers.

Furthermore, with the exponential growth in the amount of travel information posted on the Internet, it is becoming increasingly time-consuming to sort it out enough to focus only on what is of interest. I often hear first-hand reports of dozens of hours being spent online to plan a 7-14 day family vacation. With our lives as busy as they are, there is a growing feeling that this is not time well-spent. While this is only anecdotal, I do believe it points to an increasingly real frustration that demands an alternative.

Good niche-focused agencies who do their homework can successfully fill the void. I believe that these smaller, more focused, travel services are a great addition to the industry and will be embraced as a real boon to the consumer and to smaller suppliers everywhere.

So, we’re back to: “When and why would I use a travel agent?” You’ll have to read my next post for my answers!

YUCATAN UPDATE

The U.S. State Department has now issued a public announcement urging American citizens to take care when booking trips to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula through Nov. 27, due to the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma. The announcement asks Americans who do travel in the region to register with the State Department first. The text of the announcement is a routine “know before you go” advisory.

Tourism officials in Mexico say that almost all of the stranded travelers in Cancun, Cozumel, and other regions hit hard by Wilma have now found flights home. The Cancun airport should have normal flight and service levels starting today.

I expect this to be my last general news update on the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma in the Yucatan. I will, however, continue to post news related to the availability of hotels there that we represent.

If you have the opportunity to lend financial assistance to those in need there, please give generously.

STATUS OF WILMA EFFECTED WAYPOINTZ PROPERTIES IN MEXICO

To date we are only able to confirm the following:
On Cozumel, the Playa Azul Golf & Beach Resort is closed until Dec. 15.

STATUS OF NON-WAYPOINTZ PROPERTIES IN MEXICO

What follows is the best information that our industry sources have collected from hotel companies and tour operators about availability. This report is as of Thursday evening, 10/27. None of these are represented by WayPointz but we offer the report as a service to the wider traveling public.

CANCUN

Closed:

Barcelo Tucancun Beach (until further notice)
Blue Bay Club Cancun (until Dec. 19)
Blue Bay Getaway & Spa Cancun (until Nov. 27, but not fully operating until Dec. 20)
Caribbean Village Cancun Occidental (until further notice)
Dreams Cancun Resort & Spa (until Dec. 16)
Fiesta Americana Condesa Cancun (until Dec. 15)
Fiesta Americana Grand Aqua Cancun (until Dec. 15)
Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach Cancun (until Dec. 15)
Golden Crown Paradise Spa (until Nov. 30)
Hyatt Resorts (all expect to be closed one month)
J.W. Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa (until Dec. 31)
Marriott Casa Magna Cancun Resort (until Dec. 31)
Melia Turquesa (until Nov. 10)
NH Krystal Cancun (until Dec. 14)
Presidente InterContinental Cancun (until Jan. 31)
Radisson Hacienda Cancun (until Nov. 1)
Ritz-Carlton (until Dec. 31)
Sheraton Cancun Resort & Towers (until Dec. 20)
Westin Resort & Spa Cancun (until Dec. 20)

COZUMEL

Closed:

Allegro Cozumel by Occidental (until further notice)
Casa Mexicana Cozumel (until Nov. 19)
Coral Princess Hotel & Resort (until Dec. 30)
El Cid La Ceiba Beach (until Jan. 15)
El Cozumeleno Beach Resort (until Dec. 15)
Fiesta Americana Cozumel Dive Resort (until Dec. 15)
Iberostar Cozumel (until further notice)
Melia All Inclusive Resort (until Nov. 10)
Occidental Grand Cozumel (until further notice)
Presidente InterContinental Resort & Spa (until Jan. 31)

RIVIERA MAYA

Closed:

Akumal Beach (until Nov. 30)
Allegro Playacar by Occidental (until further notice)
Barcelo Maya Beach Resort (until Nov. 10)
Barcelo Maya Tropical & Colonial Beach (until Nov. 10)
Copacabana Beach Resort (until Nov. 1)
Dreams Tulum Resort & Spa (no new guests accepted)
Iberostar Paraiso del Mar (until Nov. 23)
Iberostar Paraiso Lindo (until Nov. 23)
Iberostar Paraiso Maya (until Nov. 23)
Iberostar Tucan (until Nov. 17)
Occidental Grand Xcaret (until further notice)
Paradisus Riviera Cancun (until Nov. 11)
Royal Hideaway Playacar by Occidental (until further notice)
Sandos Caracol Beach Resort & Spa (until Jan. 31)
Sandos Gala Playacar (until Nov. 10)
Secrets Excellence Riviera Cancun (until Nov. 18)
Sunscape Puerto Aventuras Riviera Maya (until Nov. 18)
Viva Wyndham Axteca (until Nov. 19)
Viva Wyndham Maya (until Nov. 19)

Open:

Club Maeva Tulum (with minor problems)
Gran Bahia Principe Akumal
Gran Bahia Principe Coba
Gran Bahia Principe Tulum
Grand Gala Esmeralda (new hotel opening in December as scheduled)
Grand Palladium Colonial (as of Nov. 1)
Riu Palace Mexico (with minor problems)
Riu Playacar (with minor problems)
Riu Tequila (with minor problems)
Riu Yucatan (with minor problems)
Secrets Capri Riviera Caucun (as of Nov. 2)

If your future plans include one of these properties, we recommend that you ask your travel agent to contact the hotel directly for details on their status and the nature of any problems they would expect to have during your stay.

OTHER ITEMS WORTH NOTING
Tourism officials confirm that the annual Riviera Maya Latin Jazz Festival will take place as planned on Nov. 17-19.

Here’s the latest CONFIRMED update for travel conditions in Mexico in the wake of Hurricane Wilma:

In Cozumel, the good news is that (according to U.S. officials) all of the approximately 1,000 stranded American tourists in this region have now been evacuated safely. (Some left Cozumel for Fort Lauderdale aboard a Royal Caribbean vessel that was carrying supplies into the area.) The airport in Cozumel has resumed relatively normal operations. The bad news is that Cozumel apparently suffered major damage to its famous coral reefs.

In Cancun, however, about 5,000 international tourists remain stranded. Mexican authorities halted many buses carrying tourists to the nearby airport in Merida because the flights from that town are now booked solid for the next week. Though the Cancun airport is technically open to commercial traffic, the hurricane severely damaged the airport’s navigational aids — forcing pilots to fly by sight and instruments only (and ruling out flights in bad weather or darkness). And, in many cases, tour groups with chartered flights have been given precedence over airline passengers with individual tickets. (Marriott actually chartered planes to evacuate about 240 guests from its properties in Cancun.) Many airlines — including American, Continental, Frontier, and USA 3000 — are scrambling to send additional planes into the region to evacuate tourists. Travelers in Cancun must report to the airline booking office (on Avenue Xaxilan in downtown Cancun) to pick up a boarding pass before they proceed to the Cancun airport, because the airport’s ticket counters do not have access to e-ticket connections.

Tourism officials announced plans to restore approximately 12 kilometers of Cancun’s beaches that were badly eroded by Wilma. Another environmental worry in the Yucatan region is the fact that as much as one million acres of forests were mowed down by the storm, causing worries about forest fires later in the year.

In the Riviera Maya area (from Puerto Morelos south to Tulum), officials say as many as 10,000 tourists remain stranded today. They also say that 90 percent of the hotels in the area will be fully operational by Dec. 1.

The U.S. State Department has established phone lines to handle queries about American citizens stranded in Mexico: 888-407-4747 or 202-501-4444.

SOUTHWEST RETURNS TO DENVER

After posting strong third-quarter income figures, Southwest Airlines says it’s going back to Denver. Southwest left Denver 20 years ago, when the city had Stapleton International as its primary airport. Now, the carrier plans to begin flying from Denver International in early 2006, based in part on the facts that it can use airplanes that were previously deployed to New Orleans and that Denver International has “dramatically” reduced its operating costs for airlines

Twenty-four airlines have agreed to follow tougher rules governing the disinfecting of drinking water aboard their airplanes. The decisions come after a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigation last year that discovered coliform bacteria in 15 percent of the planes tested. Failure to comply with the rules could bring fines up to $27,500 for each violation. The agreements apply to 11 major and 13 smaller carriers, with deals still pending with JetBlue, Omni Air, and Southwest.

Source: OSSN Industry News Daily

After skimming my RSS feeds and doing a brief news search, it appears that Wilma’s nearly 30 hour pounding of the Yucatan has devastated most communities. Both Cozumel and Playa del Carmen appear to have taken a major hit. The true impact on Cancun is not yet known owing to the city’s size and the difficult travel conditions. What is known is that the hotel zone suffered substantial flooding and wind damage including substantial beach erosion and rupturing of the sewer lines.

News is slow in coming through traditional channels. The situation seems to be compounded by the magnitude of the destruction which is preventing communications and ground transport. Air flights are currently proceeding in and out of Chetumal, the capital of the state of Quintana Roo, but it is located 200 miles south of Cancun and, reports filed this morning, indicate that movement north on the coastal highway halts at Playa del Carmen. Downed powerlines, uprooted trees, and windswept debris prevents further progress.

To stay up on the latest news, I suggest you visit The Yucatan Newspaper. Their site, of course, is in Spanish but you can get the gist of their reports by using the webpage translator, Babelfish. Just copy and paste the URL for the page in which you are interested. The news site also has several photo galleries documenting the aftermath.

I will add a personal comment on one piece of information I read this morning. A story indicated that the U.S. has committed to providing aid in the paltry (sic) amount of $200,000.00 for hurricane assistance. I pray that that is not accurate.

To end this entry, I leave you with a short yet touching story filed this morning from the Mayan village of Xcan. It was broadcast on NPR’s Morning Edition. There is something to be said for living a simpler life.