Still Kicking

Yes, still here. Alive and well. Well, pretty well, as they say.

Hope to be back to my regular blogging schedule next week. Meanwhile, to those innkeepers and other regular readers who have wished me well and sent along warm thoughts: many many thanks.

We had a slight sprinkling of a first rain a few days ago and the Fabulous Frenchie captured the magic of that in the photo above.

The good news? We have a good chance next week of a wee bit more rain and you know what that means. Yes, with any luck it will signal the end of fire season. On a more personal note, that means it's almost cookie time around here.

It's all good.

Well, no, what's happening in Europe is not good and all signs are that it's going to get worse before it gets better, despite the best efforts of the American media to ignore the elephant in the room.

But grapes will still be growing on vines old and new the next time I see them. Chestnuts will still fall from the trees this time of year, hungry to be found, roasted, and savored. And the cousins will be digging up their fall flowers to brighten everyone's day just before winter sets in.

Hard to complain about any of that.

Hello Cart, Your Horse is Way Back There

When it comes to promoting ethical tourism, sustainable tourism, or the fact that tourism is "a vital force for the promotion of international understanding, peace and prosperity," well, regular readers know I don't need convincing.

So it's not surprising that I would think that the 1st International Conference on Ethics and Tourism, held last week in Madrid under the auspices of the UNWTO, was a good thing.

Sadly, though, it's not folks like me who need convincing.

And the folks who do need convincing? Well, let's just say that starting the conference with the position that:

Now that the world’s economies appear to be overcoming the serious problems that have beset them,

is probably not the best way to establish credibility.

So here's the thing. I've been saying this for a very long time now and it looks like I'll need to keep saying this for a good while longer. We are, economically speaking, in big trouble. There are no quick fixes to our serious problems. Never were, no matter how tempting the Pollyannaish view might appear.

While Europe is in especially deep trouble right now, we in the states have our own problems. As in there are no jobs and Americans don't spend money on tourism when they aren't working. And the problems of Europe will not only spill over to our side of the Atlantic, they will take over if we're not careful.

From where I'm sitting, the world economies that might be overcoming the serious problems that have beset them are nowhere to be seen.

What will help us get out of this situation? Not austerity, of course. But neither will hiding from reality.

We innkeepers put on a happy face every day when dealing with guests. Good innkeepers know, of course, that the happy face doesn't mean sending guests into danger. Whether it's dangerous currents or dangerous road conditions, we innkeepers are often the ones providing the information. We look at those honest warnings as basic innkeeper responsibility towards cherished guests.

Can't we at least be honest with each other when talking about serious problems that impact every one of us?

If we are to work together to establish credibility for sustainable tourism that is both respectful of the environment and respectful of the laborers and communities who make that tourism possible, we have to start from a place of truth.

If we can't at least do that, how's this for a question:

Just which of the world economies does the UNWTO actually think appear to be overcoming the serious problems that have beset them?

Curious minds would really very much like to know.

Ever Evolving

A subtle attempt to bury the fact that for years now TripAdvisor has been promoting the trustworthiness of its reviews?

Or simply evolving communications? Ever evolving.

Hmmmm.

Now they're no longer "reviews you can trust" but "reviews from our community" which might lead a cynical innkeeper to believe that they're no longer willing to say that their reviews can be definitively trusted. Because, you know, they can't.

Of course, unverified reviews can't be trusted. And even the verification game itself is open to rigging by ethically challenged inn owners.

Whatever the reason, it's a smart move and one that's long overdue, in my humble opinion.

How can anyone say a review is trustworthy when it hasn't been verified?

And with the shenanigans going on every bit as much by inn owners as by traveling bullies, well, verification could be quite difficult, couldn't it?

Why the change? I think Kevin May is right on target.

I think that whole FTC investigation has finally gotten their attention. It's a good thing someone did. They sure haven't been listening to innkeepers who have been crying foul for years.

A Moment of Reflection

With all that's on the minds of Americans this weekend and heading into next week, I am hopeful.

Hopeful that you have an inn full of guests to nurture.

Hopeful that you have time to nurture your own dreams, too, and can remain mindful of the blessings those dreams have brought to you.

And whether you have an inn full of guests or an inn full of dreams, I am especially hopeful that you will find a moment to yourself over these next few days, days that have such profound meaning to us all.

A moment of reflection. To heal the soul.

And as we know only too well, healing the soul is not only good for the guest. It's good for the innkeeper.

Of course, that blackberry ice cream I made this week seems to be turning out to be very good for everyone's soul. Yours truly included. Add 2 waffle cookies (thank you, you clever Belgiques) and voila, a perfectly reflective ice cream sandwich to impress even a Fabulous Frenchie's soul.

Hope you have a great weekend. I know I am.

Consciousness Rising

I did not grow up in a union family. That's no surprise to you, since if I had I'd probably have known what crossing the picket line even meant when I was a young adult. Ahem.

I was extremely fortunate in my early career. I was given opportunities to develop skills, to travel, to not only become a leader myself but to develop leadership skills in others. I was also given the opportunity to understand first-hand how valuable unions are not only to their members, but to all of us. And I learned those lessons not as a union worker but as a manager.

Today the chances are that I would not be given the opportunity learn those same lessons. And the impact of that loss of understanding the totality of relationships within an organization would reverberate throughout my life and throughout my work. That would have been quite the loss, not only for me but for the organizations I have impacted.

We all benefit when workers unite. Even we managers. And that's not a new view, a California new age hippie view, or a liberal view. It's just reality.

B&B innkeepers, for instance, can thank unions for most of their guests. Why? Because most B&Bs serve the vast majority of their guests on weekends. Without unions, many of those guests would still be toiling away. Without unions, we would have no weekend as we know it now. How many B&Bs anywhere could survive without those weekend guests? How many would have ever opened their doors to begin with?

I have been deeply saddened to see the union-busting mentality of the lodging industry grow and fester over the last few years. Along with that growing yet foolhardy resentment of workers who take their jobs seriously enough to want to band together, extreme views and actions become the norm.

These days we hear stories of worker abuse that should make any caring person's hair stand on end.

Firing housekeepers making $15 an hour to replace them with contract housekeepers making $8? If you think that makes sense - or that anyone in America should do backbreaking work for those kind of wages - then we probably don't agree on the level of quality and commitment that any inn should seek in its employees.

Remember, too, that while those workers may be only receiving $8, there's also an enormous cost in agency fees along with those workers. Not to mention the cost of employee turnover itself, which most of the bean counters who espouse such bad policies tend to ignore altogether.

And anyone who thinks it's okay for any housekeeper anywhere to clean thirty rooms a day, should really consider a new profession.

I hear there may be some salt mines looking for some good overseers.

Will guests boycott the fat cats over the abuse of their workers? Many will. At the very least, the PR debacle does nothing to promote relaxation at an inn that should be an oasis in itself. Why would anyone trust that a general manager who abuses her workers cares about her guests? Why would any traveler want to be a part of that debate at all?

And the karma that's going to come out of that? I just don't think it's going to end well. And I don't think it's going to end up saving any hotelier anywhere a single dime in the long run.

Giving Up The Ghost

It is not simply because I have family in Europe or that I'm married to a European that I watch the exploding financial crisis there so closely.

And it's not simply because I have lived and worked in Europe myself.

Yes, it's true that I expect to spend my final years and retirement in France. Of course, the Fabulous Frenchie wants us to spend our final years in Tahiti, which is still French territory. Viva la difference.

And it's true that if the only sustenance available to me at that point will be the veggies in my meager garden, wine from the surrounding grapes, and chestnuts gathered from the forest, I will lead a very frugal life. Yet that potential becomes more real each day of the pending crisis Europe faces today.

But I generally live a very frugal life anyway so the truth is that I'm not afraid of poverty, if that is to be my reality in retirement. Truth is, there's not much that scares me and least of all potential frights is poverty. Of course, I know I'm not the norm in that way.

No, it's because what is happening in Europe effects us all. In ways that many Americans don't really yet appreciate. I fear they will soon and I don't think the collective helplessness Americans will feel at that point will be good for any of us.

Our economic safety, the economic safety of all of us, is connected in so many ways that it simply cannot be detangled. When one of us hurts, we will all hurt. And right now, Europe is heading into a world of hurt.

I can't help but wonder just what kind of wake up calls are being felt at the conference in London this week for investors in European hotels. Wonder if they still think they're working their way out of this crisis.

Because, you know, they're not. And, truthfully, neither are the politicians.

What can we do about that? Be kind to each other for starters.

And remember that while austerity may seem like a good plan for surviving personal poverty, it is not a viable solution to tremendous economic problems. It will only make things worse. It has never helped any country move towards anything short of dangerous upheaval. It is a plan that is only pushed by those who don't think they'll feel its impact.

Personally, I believe we can all do better than that. And I still hope against hope that somehow we will.

Pushing Back

Marriott says it will seek tens of millions in damages over the Waikiki coup disaster.

The war of words will escalate quickly now but here's the thing. 67% and 80% occupancy in a new hotel, the first of a brand new chain of hotels, in the luxury market, in Hawaii in summer, in this economy - well, I think you know where I'm going with this. I may not be a fan of the whole neo-boutique movement, but those numbers are nothing to sneeze at.

Of course, those results differ wildly from the results the owner is asserting. Certainly something is askew and it's fair to say that the relationship is moving into can-this-marriage-be-saved territory.

Something to change the locks over? Call me old fashioned but it seems to me that there are more fruitful ways to achieve change. So, no, it would not have been an option I'd consider as, well, even an option.

Even if there weren't that sticky little detail of, you know, 29 years remaining on a 30 year contract.

All that said, this whole drama is far from over. May the best hotelier win the day.

Labor Day

Have a good one.

Yes

Just another in a long line of simple answers to simple questions.

Labor Day weekend edition.