Ruth A. Hill’s article “When the Little Things Add Up” (Meetings West, January 2007) gave some good advice on how to circumnavigate resort fees.
Before negotiations begin, it’s a good idea to understand why the resort charges a resort fee. My resort resisted charging resort fees for most of its existence. We debated amongst ourselves for some time about what a resort fee would do to our business and the impact on the culture of our independent company.
As of Jan. 1, we began charging a resort fee, of which the vast majority goes to our employees. Our decision in favor of a resort fee was largely due to the stunning escalation of workers’ compensation insurance coverage.
In effect, the resort fee raises the compensation of many of our employees, thereby allowing the resort to address spiraling healthcare costs. This is why many of us insist on the resort fee.
Knowing the cause of the resort fee (where the resort fee goes) allows a planner/broker to determine the likelihood of the fee being a negotiable item.
Tom Blackman
Director, Sales & Marketing
Seascape Resort Monterey Bay
Aptos, CA
Resort Fees Are Negotiable
No doubt in my mind that as the old saying goes, “everything is negotiable,” and I believe that still stands today—good economy or not!
Resorts may say they are not, but in the long run I can’t think of a thing that is provided by a resort that could not be negotiated. To say otherwise would be very shortsighted by their sales staff and not wise in the long run.
Now, when you talk about taxes...those I would say are non-negotiable, and to the best of my knowledge would not be controlled by any resort or property. I think any property that specifically states that their fees, room rates, catering, or anything else is non-negotiable is making a very big mistake and would certainly be counterproductive to their efforts.
Kenneth “Ken” Hennrich, CMM, CMP
Independent Meetings Professional
Portland, OR
Huzzah for the Redesign!
It is apparent that you’ve spent a good deal of effort in researching and developing your redesigned periodical, and the result is nothing short of entertaining.
You substantiate your tagline “The Destination Experts” with details that allow planners to choose from a more and more elaborate buffet selection of choices of things to do and places to go with attendees within each destination highlighted. You demonstrate a broad scope of knowledge about destinations and this is a handy resource for the industry to use, subsequently make themselves look good on-the-job, and then ultimately profit from.
Your redesign is certainly visually stimulating. It’s easy for me to agree with “A picture is worth a thousand words,” and the photos in your magazine are splendid—just like eye candy. The graphics and photos in the mag do convey nonverbally the meaning that parallels the words they accompany. Excellent use of color to enhance positive emotions and to reinforce varied learning types.
Perhaps the greatest contribution your magazine has to its readers is the jolt to the creative juices it gets flowing. That creativity is a fleeting and fickle friend that we all wish would stick around longer than it usually does. So, it’s a welcome relief to pick up your mag for a quick creative pick-me-up and get me back to making my clients smile!
Stan Aaronson, CSEP
S M Aaronson Marketing Strategies
Valencia, CA
