Travelers in survey rank mini bars low
Is it time to say goodbye to the hotel mini bar?
A recent survey by the travel website TripAdvisor.com found that the hotel mini bar was the least important amenity for U.S. travelers. Only 21 percent of travelers ranked it as an important amenity, compared to 89 percent who called free in-room wireless Internet the most important.
There is little financial reason to keep mini bars. Hotel consulting firms estimate that mini bars generate no more than 0.24 percent of total hotel revenue, with much of that eaten up by the cost to check and restock the bars.
Companies that build and sell automated mini bars that electronically charge guests when a drink or snack is removed from the bar say they can cut the labor costs up to 60 percent.
Still, industry experts say mini bars won’t be around for long.
Many hotels don’t offer them because of the hassle of restocking and the disputes with guests over mini bar fees, said Lynn Mohrfeld, president of the California Hotel and Lodging Association.
But the future of mini bars is bleak mostly because of social trends that have pushed travelers into the lobbies to socialize and surf the Web, instead of sitting alone in their rooms, eating mini bar food or room service, said David Corsun, director and associate professor at the Knoebel School of Hospitality Management at the University of Denver.
— Hugo Martin
Los Angeles Times
Hints from Heloise:
Labels help others
read handwriting
Judy in Milwaukee writes: Sometimes I can’t even read my own handwriting. So I have developed a habit of carrying name and address labels with me (in my purse). I use them for gifts, weddings, funerals, forms at the doctor’s office, etc. It saves writing the same information, and it helps other people who might not be able to read my handwriting.
— King Features
High-profile smoker hikes quitting effort
Researchers have found that a diagnosis of cancer in a high-profile person sharply increases efforts among the general public to quit smoking.
In October 2011, a hospital in Sao Paolo announced that Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s former president and a smoker, had throat cancer. In the weeks following, researchers monitored Google News and Google Trends in the country for stories and queries about smoking cessation. The results appear in the January issue of Preventive Medicine.
The volume of media stories about smoking cessation spiked 163 percent in the week after the announcement but returned to normal levels within two weeks. Cessation queries also rose after the announcement and remained 130 percent higher the third week and 71 percent higher the fourth week after the announcement.
“Brazil has been very aggressive in tobacco control,” said the lead author, John W. Ayers of San Diego State University. “But Lula’s diagnosis was more significant than graphic warning labels, than raising taxes, and than events where they tried to focus attention. It just happened.”
— Nicholas Bakalar
New York Times