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Tuesday, July 17,
2007
Volume 2, Issue 28
PAII
News & Announcements:
PAII Staff on the Road for you
Karen Hudgeons and Marlene Sapir attended the Fancy Food Show in
New York last week to seek out specialty food vendors that would
be appropriate for the B&B and Country Inn market. We found
several interesting companies with unique products and are optimistic
that they will be at our trade show in Anaheim next April. We are
always looking for new vendor members that understand innkeeping,
so if you have any recommendations please let us know at vservices@paii.org.
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PAII
Membership Minutes:
Spring Business Survey Results
Thank you to the 61 PAII inns who responded to our survey. We would
like to encourage all innkeepers to take 5 minutes to complete these
quarterly surveys as they provide valuable information for PAII
to gauge the state of the industry as well as for you to measure
your seasonal business against. This information is also important
for use with the media as well as for comparison with the hospitality
industry as a whole. Be sure to look for the next survey in September!
How did your Spring (March 1-May 31) business in 2007 compare
to last year for the same time period?
Better than last year 52.5%
About the same
18.0%
Not as good as last year 27.9%
Not sure
1.6%
If your spring business was UP over last spring, please indicate
the approximate increase in revenue:
1-5 % 18.2%
6-10 %
9.1%
11-15 %
15.2%
16-20 %
15.2%
21-25 % 6.1%
26-30 % 6.1%
31-35 %
9.1%
Over 35 %
21.2%
If your business was DOWN over last year please indicate the approximate
decrease in revenue:
1-5 %
12.5%
6-10 %
18.8%
11-15 %
31.3%
16-20%
12.5%
21-25 %
0.0%
26-30 %
6.3%
31-35%
0.0%
Over 35 %
1 8.8%
To what do you attribute the increase in revenue?
Website Revamp
30.0%
Repeat Guests
70.0%
New Photographs on Website
27.5%
Traffic From Online Directories
37.5%
Online Reservation Service
20.0%
Special Packages
27.5%
Renovations
12.5%
Word of Mouth
57.5%
Local activities/events
22.5%
Increased Marketing Efforts
37.5%
Increased Advertising
17.5%
Raised Prices
25.0%
Weather
27.5%
More Business Travelers
15.0%
Better Customer Service
5.0%
Increased Visitation to Reg
15.0%
Networking with Local Businesses 15.0%
Upgraded Amenities
7.5%
Other (please specify) 15.0%
To what do you attribute the decrease in revenue?
Weather
70.6%
Economy
64.7%
Gas Prices
76.5%
Renovations
5.9%
Rate Increase
5.9%
Decreased Marketing Efforts
5.9%
Decreased Advertising
0.0%
Decrease in Visitation to Region
29.4%
Negative Media Coverage
5.9%
More Cancellations Than Usual 11.8%
Other (please specify)
5.9%
How do your advance bookings look for the Fall?
Better than expected
23.0%
Same as expected
57.4%
Less than expected
19.7%
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PAII
Forum Digest:
Do you Practice Conservation? &
More!
If you have not had time to log on to the
Forum located in the Members
Only section of www.paii.org,
here are some of the interesting topics that have been discussed
this past week.
Do you Practice Conservation?
In this day and age of global warming, I am curious to know how
many of you practice conservation in all its various forms, from
conservation of electricity to gas to water as well as recycling?
Coolers and Food in Rooms
We have a 9 room inn which we just completely remodeled. We don't
have any refrigerators in the rooms. We have had bad experiences
with people leaving food in the rooms that has taken days to get
the smell out and not to mention the spills. I am wondering how
many of you have a no food policy or no coolers in the room's policy.
Sheets
We just tossed the last of our new $85.00 colored queen sheets.
First use, a guest got some type of body lotion/suntan cream all
over it. Even though we have small signs requesting that they please
shower off these items before retiring so as to not damage sheets,
bedding etc. It makes no difference. We plan to go to all white
sheets so we can deal with it better. I am curious what others have
found that works great (sheet brands) so we can hopefully eliminate
the problem.
Magazine Subscriptions for Guest Rooms
Anyone have any suggestions for a source for multiple subscriptions
for entertaining magazines to place in guestrooms—we need 15-20
copies per months so even the discounters I see online seem too
expensive.
State Association Innkeepers
Please comment on the concept of state association inspections.
As a Board Member of the Indiana Association, I'd like to survey
other states innkeepers on how their state association handles inspections
as part of the criteria for membership.
Accepting Traveler's Checks
A guest arrived today and wants to pay by traveler's check. We have
never accepted these before. Is there any risk of fraud? What do
we need to do to protect ourselves?
ICT Credit Card Processor
We are thinking of changing credit card processors and have been
speaking with International Cyber Trans—a PAII vendor. Anyone
have any comments? From their analysis of 3 of our statements they
can save us money. I was hoping to be able to auto batch, but I
have been told to avoid charge backs and to have the ability to
charge a customer after they have left I need to be a motel/hotel
category (which won't auto batch by most companies). Any experience
with hotel/motel vs. retail category for B&B's or this company.
Does ICT help with charge backs?
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PAII
Food Feature:
Liza Simpson's Oatmeal-Nutmeg Cookies
Let us feature a recipe from your
inn!
Please send your submission (and a photo of the dish if available)
to Laura@paii.org.
Liza Simpson offers this great recipe for Oatmeal-Nutmeg
Cookies. Yields 24 cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter
1 1/3 cups light brown sugar
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 Eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 1/2 cups rolled oats
2 1/4 cups dried cranberries (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 dgrees. Butter should be room temperature, softened
but still firm. Cream butter in mixer. Add sugars and beat until
fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.
Combine flour, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder. Add to butter mixture
and mix gently. Add oats and optional fruit.
Use #20 ice cream scoop, or a 1/4 cup measure, to spoon out the
dough onto a parchment covered baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes, rotate
pan, and bake approximately 10 more minutes. Do not overbake! Edges
should be brown, but the rest of the cookie shold still be quite
light in color.
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PAII
Pointer:
Organic Cleaning: Kitchen & Bathroom Floors
Mix 1/2 cup of vinegar with 1-gallon hot water. This is safe to
use on hardwood, linoleum, tile, and any washable surface.
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About INNfo
INNfo is published weekly. Annual subscription is included
in the price of membership.
Publisher
Professional Association of Innkeepers International (PAII)
Editor-in-Chief
Laura Middleton
Production Coordinator
Laura Middleton
Editorial Staff
Laura Middleton, Karen Hudgeons, Jeanine Zeman
Editorial Suggestions and Contributions
Editorial comments and suggestions are welcomed. In addition, if
you have a suggestion or would like to contribute news and announcements
for INNfo, please contact INNfo’s Editor-in-Chief,
Laura Middleton, at 856.310.1102 or Laura@paii.org.
Advertising Rates & Information
Weekly sponsorship ads are available. Please send all inquiries
to Marlene Sapir at marlene@paii.org
or 856.310.1102. MC/VISA/AMEX/DISCOVER accepted.
Editorial Offices
c/o PAII
207 White Horse Pike
Haddon Heights, NJ 08035
Phone: 856.310.1102 • Fax: 856.310.1105
membership@paii.org •
www.paii.org
Title Image
Courtesy of Jumping Rocks
©2007INNfo, all rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means without written permission from the editor.
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