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#31
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"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com... For example, let's say we do an "Aerobatics Weekend" at the inn -- something that would be VERY cool to do. Let's say we get a marvelous response, and we're sold out. Therefore, no one else can book a night at the hotel... ...and then it's crap weather for the weekend. No one can fly, including the aerobatics instructor. Then what? Do I simply write off any income for the weekend? Or do I charge everyone anyway? Who would want to pay *that*? Just thinking out loud here... What to do, what to do...? Just a thought... Instead of planning for weekend deals, what about a week-long deal? You wouldn't have to worry as much about the weather being crappy the entire week. There may be enough things to do in the area if the weather isn't the best such as the National Czech museum, Amana Colonies, riverboat casinos, Kirk's birthplace, Hoover's museum, etc... I'm sure there are a lot of other points of interest in that area, not sure if there's a week's worth. Schedule the flying activities (aerobatics, Wings, BFR's, etc.) early in the week and if the weather isn't good those days, push them back and do other activities. Who knows, if there is enough to do for a week around IC, both flying and non-flying activities, it could become Oshkosh II! ;-) |
#32
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Just thinking out loud here... What to do, what to do...?
Limit your exposure to disaster by combining the outdoor flying event with indoor events, off sight trips/tours or romantic dinners. Most pilots will understand that the weather is out of your control, by providing alternative activities or services, you can limit the number of complaints by those who insist that they only came because of the flying activity. Jim |
#33
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Jay,
Just read an article in the current issue of Private Pilot about a "annual inspection parties." Take a look at it. Basically, a bunch of aircraft owners of a similar type of aircraft get together for a week and help each other out with owner-assisted annuals over a watchful eye of an IA. The article was about a bunch of Navion owners but could be done with any type of course. By the end of the week, all of the aircraft are signed-off and a bunch of folks have had a geat time all week. Marco Leon "Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:zexZe.366651$_o.277188@attbi_s71... Opinions, please! (No one on Usenet has any of *those*, right? :-) We're considering putting together a combo deal with a couple of other local airport businesses, along the following lines: 1. Come to Iowa City and stay the weekend in one of our aviation themed jacuzzi suites... 2. While you're here do your BFR with _________, a local CFII... 3. While you're here, have your aircraft annualed by ___________, a local shop with 40 years experience... 4. Any other suggestions? Tickets to a football game? Dinner at the Old Capitol Brew Works? Of course the package price would be very attractive -- much less than normal. I've seen these kinds of things for "Overnight IFR Training" and "Weekend Ground Schools" -- but do they work? Anyone ever done anything like this before? Would you feel comfortable having a strange shop annual your plane? (Or is that actually a selling point, having "new eyes" check things over?) I've talked to a couple of CFIs, and my favorite shop, and they're interested in trying it -- but I don't want to waste their money if the consensus here is that it's a dumb idea... Thanks! -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- ** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY ** ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com |
#34
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-"Marco Leon" mmleon(at)yahoo.com wrote in message
... Jay, Just read an article in the current issue of Private Pilot about a "annual inspection parties." Take a look at it. Basically, a bunch of aircraft owners of a similar type of aircraft get together for a week and help each other out with owner-assisted annuals over a watchful eye of an IA. The article was about a bunch of Navion owners but could be done with any type of course. By the end of the week, all of the aircraft are signed-off and a bunch of folks have had a geat time all week. That'd be neat! Schedule different types for each week. You'd have business for quite a few weeks. My type week would probably end up being in the middle of January... |
#35
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I'm paying close attention to all of this thread's posts in case I am
able to actually fly out or pass through the Inn there in the next couple of years. I went to the Jay's website and was not able to really find a lot of information about the area. I'm NOT a sports fan, (yes, I'm weird that way) so I like to look for other interesting things that can show me the unique "character" of the region. For example, Baker City, Oregon, (KBKE) has the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, an unrelated Oregon Trail Museum, historic downtown district, skiing, the Sumpter Valley RR, and there is probably more that I (who am not from the area) know about. Jay, one good thing you can do to help your Inn is to add more information about the local area and link to various activities. How about throwing in a page about the local history? Those kind of things might catch people's attention as much as a "deal" or, it might be the deciding factor in City A vs City B during route planning. Good luck! I'll be watching! (PS add more hot tubs! Chris G. Salem, Oregon PP-ASEL Jay Honeck wrote: I don't think you're crazy for considering combo deals, but make sure you think carefully from the point of view of the customer. Just because YOU know the deal is a good one, that doesn't mean the customer can be convinced. Yeah, that's always the catch. I've come up with some of the best deals in the world (in newspapers and at the inn) that flopped horribly. Although it's often a case of not being able to find the best advertising venue for the deal. Another problem we've got is that summers -- the best flying time -- are already full up. Now, would I rather have a hotel full of pilots rather than a hotel full of weddings? You bet! But everything you do with pilots is weather-dependent, and how can I make it "non-cancellable"? For example, let's say we do an "Aerobatics Weekend" at the inn -- something that would be VERY cool to do. Let's say we get a marvelous response, and we're sold out. Therefore, no one else can book a night at the hotel... ...and then it's crap weather for the weekend. No one can fly, including the aerobatics instructor. Then what? Do I simply write off any income for the weekend? Or do I charge everyone anyway? Who would want to pay *that*? We want to be pilot-friendly, but we can't lose an entire summer weekend because of weather. Our inn is simply too small to put all of our eggs in a potentially leaky basket like that. SO, can we do this kind of thing in the "off-season" when it wouldn't matter so much? Things are slowing down now, except for Big Ten football weekends. The weather is still pretty good around here through the first of November, and then we could build in "leaf-peeping" flights, too, I suppose? Then, if everyone had to cancel due to weather, I would only be out "potential" money rather than "real" money, since we probably wouldn't be sold out anyway. Just thinking out loud here... What to do, what to do...? -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#36
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"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com... [...] For example, let's say we do an "Aerobatics Weekend" at the inn -- something that would be VERY cool to do. Let's say we get a marvelous response, and we're sold out. Therefore, no one else can book a night at the hotel... ...and then it's crap weather for the weekend. No one can fly, including the aerobatics instructor. Then what? Do I simply write off any income for the weekend? Or do I charge everyone anyway? Who would want to pay *that*? As Jim said, the solution is to ensure you have an appropriate backup plan for anything you can't guarantee personally. Like the weather. He gave some good suggestions, but you shouldn't be limited by those. You could still honor the flying aspect of the deal by providing rain checks, or developing a network of associated aerobatics instructors (for example) elsewhere, allowing at least some guests to take advantage of the aerobatic flights at or near their home at a later date. You could minimize your risk of being affected by weather (but not eliminate it) by finding an aerobatic instructor who can also fly in IMC, so that the aerobatic portion of the flight takes place above whatever inclement weather is present. Or, you could simply refund the portion of the package that represents the cost of the flying element. Another option, at least for those dates when you're NOT likely to be overbooked (that is, more demand than rooms) is to simply offer a rescheduling for the entire package. I understand what you mean about having the rooms booked for pilots who might cancel when you could have booked for football fans who wouldn't. So don't do that. Only allow the cancellations when that booking didn't represent a lost booking by someone else (obviously you have to specify those dates up front). Lots of other service industries are very comfortable with "blackout dates"...should work well here too. Keeping in mind that I would be surprised if you managed to get even 50% bookings of pilots taking advantage of a weather-dependent offer, so even if you did have to let everyone just cancel without rebooking, it's not the complete loss that it could be. You would have to actually set aside all your rooms, booking them ONLY to people taking advantage of the offer, in order to come close to having only pilots taking advantage of the offer booking those dates. Otherwise, the general flow of business will ensure that most bookings aren't by pilots taking you up on the offer. Bottom line: yes, the issue you describe is a potential roadblock. So, work around it. That's what a good business owner does. If the customer sees that you are trying to provide an offering that provides them a benefit, and is at the same time understanding (through your communication to them) what limitations may exist, everyone can come out happy. Pete |
#37
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Good advise Pete,
The more I think about it, the more I would be tempted to have a two-pronged multi faceted plan. A) Basic maintenance/BFR/IPC/HP-Complex/Tailwheel type Weekend for the single pilot and his/her significant other offered year around. This package would be based upon what is available year around at IOW, namely a CFI and an A&P. Day One: Fly in for the weekend, get basic maintenance performed on your airplane while you sit down with a CFI and do the ground portion of your flying event. Mean while, your significant other spends that time shopping, swimming, relaxing, visiting Amana, getting a make over, massage, or hitting the local hot spots. That evening borrow the Alexis Super Van to drive down to a class A restaurant for a nice dinner, then head back to the Inn for a night in one of the Suites. Day Two: Pilot assists the A&P finishing up the basic maintenance and getting the log books completed, then finishes the flying event with the CFI. During this time the non flying spouse could do additional activities as above. This should leave enough time for an afternoon departure towards home. The "pilot/spouse" weekends could be individually customized to meet the requirements of the pilot & spouse. Obviously a PP would not need a IPC, and a CP may not need the HP endorsement. Maybe give them a checklist with options and alternatives with different prices. Same thing for maintenence, a pilot with an airplane with only a suction screen wouldn't want his package to include an oil filter. B) Special Event type programs offered several times a year designed to bring in larger crowds and planned in conjunction with other pilot organizations. More work, more expense, more risk, more planning required but these events could produce repetitive business. These would be planned to take place during non-peak weekends at the Inn. Jim (hey, it rained and I've got too much time on my hands) |
#38
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Jay, one good thing you can do to help your Inn is to add more
information about the local area and link to various activities. How's this, from our website: http://www.alexisparkinn.com/links1.htm Or are you looking for other stuff? (PS add more hot tubs! Good God, man, I've already got 15 hot tub suites! How many can one guy use???? :-) -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#39
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Good God, man, I've already got 15 hot tub suites! How many can one
guy use???? :-) -- Jay Honeck Imagine them all filled with beautiful women and then ask yourself that question again! ) Jim |
#40
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What???? No Six Flags? Dollywood? C'mon...you can't be that far from
Silver Dollar City! You links are a good start... What about any tourist attractions like parks (national & local), Nat'l monuments, historic sites, water slides, ummm..... hell, I don't know. I'm not into soloists (unless it's me flying). A thought...what about adding your own opinions of some places you, your wife, and your kids like to go to? I can't put my finger on what (for me specifically) is lacking... I guess I still don't feel like I know the area well enough to plan, though I did only check out iowacity.net (at work, not a lot of time). I guess think about it from my perspective. Besides the fantastic service and accommodations at the Inn, what else would draw my across several states to stay there? How would I find out about it? Chris Jay Honeck wrote: Jay, one good thing you can do to help your Inn is to add more information about the local area and link to various activities. How's this, from our website: http://www.alexisparkinn.com/links1.htm Or are you looking for other stuff? (PS add more hot tubs! Good God, man, I've already got 15 hot tub suites! How many can one guy use???? :-) -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
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