Mexico; good or bad choice for a destination?

For many months now, all we are hearing about is the violence in Mexico. The reports are not unforunded. The border towns such as Juarez and Tijuana are nearly battlefields. This violence has affected some tourists but is not centered in tourist areas. The imporant note is that this violence is not found in the interior/colonial/tourist ctities such as Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Merida and such. There is still petty theft problems in Mexico City but as long as you are using reputable, licensed providers.... you would not experience a problem. The best way to guard against this is to use a experienced travel agency. and maybe chose some private services so you are not left to find taxis or hire guides on the street.
It is also important to note that the Dollar/Peso exchange rate has become favorable to the Dollar by 30% in just teh past 12 months. I can remember last eyar with it was 10 to 1 and now it is 13 Pesos to 1USD> this makes the upscale hotels, restaurants and services a terrific value. Additionally, there is no sales tax for meetings in Mexico. This accounts for an extraordinary 15% savings.
In being mindful or budgets and corporate expenditures, Mexico might just be a much better value than most US cities.

CARMAX

I had my first experience this week interacting with CARMAX (http://www.carmax.com/). This business was started in 1996 and deals in used cars and mechanical service. I sold a car to them. The process was structured, easy and they provided a very fair offer. I am impressed. This seems like car selling & buying as how it should be; value, courteous, clean/convenient store & efficient.

I dealt with a sales consultant in San Diego named Craig Church. If you plan on buying used car at any CARMAX, I would recommend calling him. He explained to me that all the stores work as one unit. His mobile is 858.967.4357

Hotel observations, NBTA & airline news

These last two weeks have been very busy with travel & events.
I will try to summarize a few "musings";

1. The Holiday Inn that shares a building with FEMA in DC is interesting. After the rent a cop, armed security frisk you, check under your car, under your engine hood & trunk, you get the privilege of paying $30 to park! The breakfast buffet is super expensive and gives you little more than what a Residence Inn provides for free. However, they have a very nice BBQ lunch in a center outdoor courtyard on Thursday's. It seemed as popular with local workers as with hotel guests.

2. The Four Points on K Street in DC does seem much from the outside but it has very good staff, especially Doria the convention services manager, Norma in sales and Mark in banquets.

3. The National Business Travel Association annual conference in San Diego was again the epitome of excellent planning but the San Diego convention center served cold lunches. That was disappointing to say the least. This conference does not offer breakfast's so, in essence, there was no hot food. The conference was very sparsely attended by buyers but the speakers were exciting; Jay Leno & President Bill Clinton.

4. The airlines are again raising their checked baggage fees, AGAIN. Enough with the nickel & diming please? The overheads will be bursting at the seems as people know if they bring onboard a huge bag, they can gate check it at no charge.

Travelers Stranded at Stansted After Ryanair Gaffe

News story posted Aug 3rd on Travel Agent Central.
I think it speaks volumns for the airline not wanting to provide customer service and just pushing everyone to not have nay contact (i.e. check in online, etc). Lesson learned; You get what you pay for, but also the second lesson here is as customers, we should demand service. Not just accept no service of lack of it. If a business makes decisions you dont agree with, stop doing business with that company!
____________________________________________

Hundreds of travelers missed their flights from Stansted yesterday after Ryanair failed to open enough check-in desks.
The low-cost carrier is being blamed for only opening 11 check-in desks for 255 fights on what is one of the busiest weekends on the holiday calendar.
About 500 passengers had to find alternative flights or cancel their vacations altogether, and some, including those with young children, were sleeping in the terminal. Police officers at the terminal were called upon to ease the mounting tension and help out with coordinating the queues.
The chaos has called into question the airline’s policy of encouraging passengers to check in online, and saying it plans to scrap check-in altogether from October.
Ryanair subcontracts its check-in desks to Swissport, but neither was available for comment last night.

Forrester Study Finds More Frustration with Travel Websites

As you read this article, please remember; POTHOS is a great travel agency that is available for corporate or liesure clients.
_________________________

Forrester Research issued a new study, “Using Digital Channels to Calm the Angry Traveler,” by Henry Harteveldt, that reports there are 15 percent fewer travelers who enjoy using the web in 2009 than there were in 2007. Just one in three online travelers in the U.S. feels that travel websites do a good job presenting travel choices, down from 39 percent in 2008. A slightly greater percentage of travelers who are fed up with travel websites may be returning to use traditional travel agents.
According to Harteveldt, travelers feel that they, and their business, are taken for granted by travel websites. “Travelers -- both business and leisure -- are frustrated, confused, and annoyed,” he writes in the report. “They’re unhappy with the way the channels they’re asked to use are designed and configured. They’re not sure what they’re actually buying, because travel organizations’ focus on generating revenue has come at the expense of the selling and customer engagement process. And travelers say the service they receive is inadequate.”
According to the report, more travelers express interest in using offline travel agencies. In a 2008 Forrester survey, 23 percent of U.S. online leisure travelers stated they would consider using a good offline travel agency if they could find one. This year that’s up to 26 percent in 2009. “That more travelers would consider using a less convenient channel reflects their growing frustration with the confusing, uninspiring experiences found on most travel websites,” the report says.
To reverse travelers’ dissatisfaction and avoid having them abandon the web in favor of other, more expensive offline channels, the Forrester report says travel eBusiness professionals must rethink their approach to travel eBusiness. To reverse this trend and re-engage travelers, travel eBusiness professionals must recognize that travel eBusiness is comprised of four continuous phases supported by the five pillars of merchandising, context, engagement, value, and customer appreciation. The report says to expect travel eBusiness professionals to be asked to become more involved with customer data strategy and for global distribution systems (GDSs) to evolve into more useful global merchandising systems (GMSs).
There are 130.3 million online travelers in the U.S. and another 127.7 million in Europe, representing 87 percent of U.S. travelers and 73 percent of European travelers, respectively. As a result, the report says, travel organizations, especially commercial enterprises like airlines, hotels, cruise lines, and travel agencies, must pay more attention to the eBusiness processes and experiences they deliver to their customers. For information on ordering the full report, call Forrester at 617-613-6000, email forrester@forrester.com or visit www.forrester.com

news piece about TSA and our constitutional rights

"Airport searches are the most common encounters between Americans and law enforcement agents. That's why it is so important for TSA agents to do the job they were trained to do and not engage in fishing expeditions that do nothing to promote flight safety," said Ben Wizner, a staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. "It is, of course, very important to ensure the safety of flights and keep illegal weapons and explosives off planes. But allowing TSA screeners to conduct general purpose law enforcement searches violates the Constitution while diverting limited resources from TSA's core mission of protecting safety. For the sake of public safety and constitutional values, these unlawful searches should stop."
On March 29, 2009, Steven Bierfeldt was detained in a small room at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and interrogated by TSA officials for nearly half an hour after he passed a metal box containing cash through a security checkpoint X-ray machine. Bierfeldt was carrying the cash in connection with his duties as the director of development for the Campaign for Liberty, a political organization that grew out of Congressman Ron Paul's presidential campaign.
Bierfeldt was detained and questioned as he returned home from a Campaign for Liberty event transporting proceeds from the sale of tickets, t-shirts, stickers, and campaign material. Bierfeldt repeatedly asked the agents to explain the scope of their authority to detain and interrogate him and received no explanation. Instead, the agents escalated the threatening tone of their questions and ultimately told Bierfeldt that he was being placed under arrest. Bierfeldt recorded the audio of the entire incident with his iPhone.
"I do not believe I should give up my constitutional rights each time I choose to travel by plane. I was doing nothing illegal or suspicious, yet I was treated like a potential criminal and harassed for no reason," said Bierfeldt. "Most Americans would be surprised to learn that TSA considers simply carrying cash to be a basis for detention and questioning. I hope the court makes clear that my detention by TSA agents was unconstitutional and stops TSA from engaging in these unlawful searches and arrests. I do not want another innocent American to have to endure what I went through."
"Mr. Bierfeldt's experience represents a troubling pattern of TSA attempting to transform its valid but limited search authority into a license to invade people's privacy in a manner that would never be accepted outside the airport context," said Larry Schwartztol, a staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. "Just as the Constitution prevents the police on the street from conducting freewheeling searches in the hopes of uncovering wrongdoing, it protects travelers from the kind of treatment Mr. Bierfeldt suffered."
TSA officials have the authority to conduct safety-related searches for weapons and explosives. According to the ACLU's lawsuit, TSA agents are using heightened security measures after 9/11 as an excuse to exceed their search authority and engage in unlawful searches that violate the privacy rights of passengers. The lawsuit also charges that unconstitutional searches and detention by TSA agents have become the norm.
The ACLU's lawsuit was filed against Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, which has authority over TSA. It was filed in federal court in Washington, DC.
Attorneys on the case are Wizner, Scott Michelman and Allen Hopper of the ACLU, Art Spitzer of the ACLU National Capital Area and cooperating attorney Alan Gura of Gura and Possessky, PLLC.

Study says SB, DVBE utilization strengthens economy

Excerpt and information taken from DBEgoodfaith.com newsletter:

In recent years, the State of California's small business (SB) and disabled veteran business enterprise (DVBE) programs, which aim to increase the utilization of these firms through various measures, has been accused of diluting the public works market and weakening the state's economy. A new study by two scholars at California State University, Sacramento challenges this assumption and claims that SB and DVBE utilization on state contracts is beneficial for California's economy.“The incremental value of the State’s awarding contracts to SBs and DVBEs is positive, resulting in tremendous net new job creation, creation of net new Gross State Product, net new labor income for California employees, and indirect business taxes,” the study concludes.One of the studies findings highlighted in a California Department of General Services (DGS) press release is that SBs and DVBES produce roughly 50 percent more economic activity per dollar than larger firms.In addition to crunching data, the professors' surveyed SB and DVBE firms, revealing correlations between bid attempts and bid success. “Bid success seems to be a function of the number of applications made. For example, 56.9% of the respondents who have bid two to five times have been successful at least once, and 85.4% of the respondents who bid for at least six contracts have been successful at least once,” states the study.Just over 60 percent of California's SBs and DVBEs have tried to obtain state contracts. Each year, the DGS attempts to contract at least 25 percent of all state contracts to SBs and 3 percent to DVBEs.The survey also revealed why more SB and DVBE firms have not competed for contracts. In the survey responses, over a quarter of the firms indicated that they were not aware of bid opportunities with the state. Still, an overwhelming majority of respondents – 76 percent - want to bid on state contracts.The studies results may have several implications for contractors and suppliers. First, it supports the continued existence of California's SB and DVBE programs. Second, it may spur the Department of General Services to better advertise the programs and the benefits of SB and/or DVBE certification. Third, the state may implement SB and DVBE goals more stringently on contracts. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses make up 99.2 percent of all employers in the State of California and employ 52.1 percent of the state's private-sector labor. As a result, “small businesses account for almost all of the economic growth the State has witnessed since 1975.”

To read the full study, visit: http://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/dgs/PIO/SB/SmallBusinessStudy.pdf