Last weekend my radio show came to you from the Ritz-Carlton Cancun. It reminded me of the time I was there many years ago after the hurricane, and this place was trashed.
But the private sector went to work and they didn’t necessarily wait for the government. I saw them hauling in thousands of palm trees that they replanted.
They dredged in tons and tons of sand to replace the beach and to keep it from eroding. And guess what? Cancun is back.
As you know, Mexico got hit by the triple whammy of border violence, the swine flu, and even an earthquake in Puerto Vallarta. But it’s still a good time to be here for the simple fact that it’s affordable. The peso is nowhere near where it used to be.
The economy is in the dumps, which we’re especially seeing in Greece. Two years ago the euro was up to $1.70, and now it’s around $1.19. How cool is that for travelers? That’s having a ripple effect across Europe and other major currencies around the world. It’s become a buyers market which means now is a good time to travel.
Worst Weather Blues
I saw an interesting survey the other day from the NOAA on the worst winter weather cities. They didn’t have to do a study; you already know who you are! Cleveland, Boston, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Chicago. what a surprise. That’s what happens every year. The important thing is how these cities deal with the weather.
In fact, I’m a big fan of Milwaukee, particularly because it’s the third secret airport of Chicago. If you look at the airport at General Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee, you’ll see that one-third of the cars in the parking lot have Illinois plates. And they tend to keep that airport open a whole lot more than Chicago does with its two airports, O’Hare and Midway.
Southwest Stands Strong
There has been a very interesting development in the travel industry, and if I had made a bet on it, I would have lost!
Last August, I was giving a speech at the National Business Travel Association meeting. At that speech, I was talking about the number of airlines that were charging for checked bags. That ancillary revenue is huge—the airlines are making more than $1 billion in checked bags this year.
The one airline that steadfastly said they weren’t going to charge for checked bags was Southwest. I asked the airline’s CEO, Gary Kelly, on stage, “You’re leaving so much money on the table by not charging for checked bags. Are you still saying you’re not going to charge passengers?”
He said, “Well, we’re going to review it at the end of the year.”
Well, everyone thought that meant by January 1, they would add the charge. The exact opposite happened. Why? So many people were fed up by having other airlines charge for their checked bags that the market began to shift. One to 2 percent went to Southwest.
The revenue on tickets was so huge, it more than made up for the revenue they lost by not charging for checked bags. In fact, Southwest made it part of its marketing and advertising campaign, where every ad was “Your bags fly free.” You can’t beat that.
By Peter Greenberg for PeterGreenberg.com.
PeterGreenberg.com Links:
- Mexico Unveils New Travel Health Insurance to Win Back Visitors
- Sand-Snatching Scandal Shutters Mexico’s Gran Caribe Royale Beach
- Mexico Tourism Uses Deep Discounts to Lure Back Travelers
- Spring Breakers Warned to Avoid Travel to Mexico Amid Increasing Violence
- Great Spring Break Alternatives
- Travel Detective Investigates the Swine Flu Fuss in Mexico
- Travel Detective Tip on Mexico Travel: Go Now
- Ask the Locals Travel Guide: Cancun, Mexico
