Published Articles
Jon meets up with an old friend who now works in Europe.
Fly on the wall -or in the ointment
Is Jon alone in wondering what harm is done to towns and cities by these fly on the wall documentaries?
Jon takes a look at one of the most popular destination areas.
Cracking Cheese, Cracking Visit
Jon joins Wallace for some good old Yorkshire cheese
To Sell or Not to Sell
Jon opens a can of worms.
Up market tours - Worth the exspense?
Jon takes a look at the continuing move towards upmarket tours.
Scotland - Far mor than bagpipes & haggis
Jon Hartley gives his personal view on his past and present experiences.
Jon looks at the North East of England.
City, Seaside & See more for your money.
Jon looks at some the regular and irregular venues of London.
With all the request for sponsorship theese days Jon takes a look at how it may benefit you and your company.
This may seem to be a strange question, but I suspect whilst most of you do, some don’t, and as our industry changes perhaps our relationships need to as well.
My Hebridean, Orkney & Shetland adventures
Jon takes a look at the wonderful Isles of Scotland.
I suspect very few of CBW readers will be able to understand that welcome, as it is Good Morning in Scottish Gaelic, and it is the use of Gaelic that is my question of the day.
Thought provoking seminar at CTC
One of the seminars at the Coach Tourism Council AGM was regarding the relationship between coach holiday operators and hotels, and I was invited to act as mediator.
Well I don'T suppose we will see too many Buy One, Get One Free offers from holiday operators - although some do offer this out of season, but it got your attention, so fullfilled its purpose.
Welcome to Jon Hartley Solutions!
I have spent over forty years in Travel and Tourism, and am well known and respected. Following almost twenty years as the Hotel Contracts Manager for a major tour operator, where I gained a reputation for being prudent and trustworthy , and contracted over one million bed nights every year from almost 500 hotels,I moved to the InterContinental Hotels Group. Here, as the Account Director – Coach Sales EMEA, I not only looked after my major accounts, but put together and presented easy to understand PowerPoint Presentations to Sales, Revenue, and Reservation Managers of the franchisees. Here they learned not only how and when to attract groups, but just as importantly how to keep them for the future. I was a major part of the team that enabled the Holiday Inn brand to win the Most Group Friendly Hotel Chain in the Group Travel Organiser Awards twice in four years, and only left when as the result of a fall, his back started to cause mobility problems.
Not one to sit on his ‘more than ample rear’, I have set up my own company, Jon Hartley Solutions, to advise both coach operators and hoteliers how to get the best deals available.
“Although wheelchair bound travel has become less of a problem to me as a new
car and powerchair has arrived. As it is a Ford Galaxy, with me in the front, and the
powerchair in the back it will be like my opinions - well balanced!
Jon is a past Fellow of The Institute of Travel and Tourism, a member of The Tourism Society, and Jon Hartley Solutions are proud to be members of The Coach Tourism Council.
A FREE THOUGHT FOR OWNERS OF ATTRACTIONS
AND VISITOR CENTRES
The Problem - you open at 09.30 hours, normal admission £8 per person, group rate £4 per person, but your first groups seldom arrive before 11.00 hrs. Your staff are there, the tea shop and souvineer shop are open - but no customers.
Coach operators and group planners have to include your admission costs in their selling price, plus travel agents commission plus extra VAT, so are reluctant to include anything which even if it may add 'sellability', also increases the selling price which may be detrimental
TIME TO THINK OF THE UNTHINKABLE
FREE ADMISSION!!!!
You gain shop sales, you gain tea shop sales, you gain free publicity, and get people through the door either very early or late in the day you otherwise wouldn't have seen. Madness? Impossible?? The road to ruin??? Not if you control it! By targeting the right groups from the right market segment, and having total control over arrival times, you could gain extra income you otherwise would never have seen!
As an example - coaches leave hotels about 09.30 hours for 'an excursion', so target those within 30 minutes travelling time. A wholesaler could include a visit on a set day every week, with possible sales of say £3 pp in the tea room, and maybe £3 in the shop. So £6 then. Pennies. But £6 x 40 passengers, x 25 seasonal visits = £6000!
Remember this is income you would never have received if you hadn't offered free admission. Of course this goes against everything you have thought of to attract customers, and to some it will seem madness. Fine. Sit there empty when you open and are still having to pay staff, but whilst this wouldn't work for every attraction, could it work for yours?
