What lawsuit? Marriott is under the microscope in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. While Marriott is the target of a recent lawsuit, it has ramification for all hotels, large and small. In fact, this suit (win, lose, or draw) will usher in a new era of pricing transparency with hotels worldwide for US citizens.

In the most basic sense, Marriott is being sued for deceptively charging guests for a “resort fee.” We all hate this fee ever since it appeared back after 9-11. But we all came to accept it. And now, Marriott is being called to task. It is anyone’s guess what will happen. Will consumers be entitled to a refund? Additional rewards points? Nothing?

Time will tell on that front, but I…

The only direction you can drift is downhill – My father

Ok, dad was admittedly all caught up in the Puritan work ethic, but I think he had a point. It’s easy to “go with the flow” without realizing the noise you hear is a waterfall.

Here’s what I do know. There was a time when being a travel agent was easy.  Really.  I was there.  People could book travel themselves, certainly, but fearless few.  Travel agents knew so much more about the products available than the general public.  Travel agents held the keys to the kingdom, what with our ARC appointments,  ticket printers and all. Airline tickets were the gateway drug, but then the public came in for the really hard stuff – tours, FITS and…

I was reminded of the power of “authenticity” this past week in an email arriving from a friend of mine who also happens to be the President of a speaker’s bureau.

In a back and forth communication (email ping pong), I shared my story for when people find themselves fretting about competition. I remind them that in my business my competition is anybody with a mouth. This usually draws a few chuckles from my audiences… but I am stone-cold serious.

Virtually anybody with something (anything) to say thinks they can compete for my lunch ticket. Scary but…