Jun 20th, 2011 at 8:00AM: I am jealous of Michael O'Leary. Very. The CEO of super-low-rent European discounter Ryanair, O'Leary has developed a reputation. He's loud. He says what's on his mind. He really doesn't care what you think about him. He's probably broken every rule of public relations and investor relations. I've been with Gadling since December 2008, and O'Leary has been a great source of posts every step of the ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
financialcrisis posts
Five reasons I'm insanely jealous of Michael O'Leary
Jun 20th, 2011 at 8:00AM: I am jealous of Michael O'Leary. Very. The CEO of super-low-rent European discounter Ryanair, O'Leary has developed a reputation. He's loud. He says what's on his mind. He really doesn't care what you think about him. He's probably broken every rule of public relations and investor relations. I've been with Gadling since December 2008, and O'Leary has been a great source of posts every step of the ...Manhattan hot doggery Gray's Papaya set to raise prices (again)
Jun 10th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
It's murder, I say! Murder!
Well, I don't say it ... Gray's Papaya does. The Manhattan hot dog institution is about to raise its prices once again. This will be the third price increase since I moved to the Upper West Side in 2004.
There's a rather dramatic sign hanging in the window at Gray's Papaya screaming, "MURDER!" It continues:
WE ARE GETTING KILLED BY THE GALLOPING ...Hotels get beat up on the web as online travel agencies score deals
Dec 16th, 2010 at 1:30PM: Hotels were doing a great job of selling online before the recession hit. But, thanks to a healthy dose of innovation and greed, the global economy has been in rough shape, forcing those still traveling to hunt for deeper discounts and bigger deals. Unsurprisingly, this led to relatively strong market conditions for the online travel agent sector, particularly in the hotel space. For the hotel ...The death of cheap tickets? Four factors to watch!
Dec 7th, 2010 at 1:00PM: Are the days of bargain pricing over? There's a lot of pessimism around this issue. After getting smacked around in 2008 and 2009, this year has been a good one for air carriers, and USA Today reports: "Airfares are on the rise again and unlikely to fall again anytime soon." Yet, a travel industry recovery comes with advantages, as more people want to fly, and they tend to be willing to stomach ...Consumers spending again, travel included ... but what's next?
Dec 1st, 2010 at 8:00AM: We know that people around the world are traveling again. U.S. travel exports are up, and the airlines are having a solid year (relative to 2009, at least). Meanwhile, two years after the financial crisis erupted only a few miles from where I sit now, people are spending money again. Consumer credit is once again the culprit, as Black Friday deals touted financing with long periods of ...Business travel to U.S. from overseas spikes
Oct 25th, 2010 at 4:30PM:
Suits and ties are no longer in short supply on visits to the United States from overseas. The latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce shows 11 percent growth year over year for the first six months of 2010 ... for total travel. Business travel led the way, with a 19 percent year-over-year gain for the same period. Leisure travel was up 9 percent.
Of course, this follows the ...Airline profits may mean more elbow room for a little while
Oct 24th, 2010 at 10:00AM: The airline industry wants to thank you. Last year, it was mired in despair. The post-financial crisis recession left the carriers beleaguered and desperate for a turn of fortune. Corporate and leisure travel had fallen precipitously, and doubling down on extra fees, though prudent for profits, alienated both those considering a flight and the passengers with little choice but to hit the road. The ...New Mexican town created by hedge fund causes layoffs?!
Oct 13th, 2010 at 1:00PM: Hedge fund DE Shaw laid off 150 employees a couple of weeks ago, and the reason is being traced back to a town the company tried to create in New Mexico. Trying to add to the map of a state, it seems, doesn't pay.
DE Shaw and real estate developer SunCal Cos carved out 55,000 acres (twice the size of Boston, according to Business Insider) and sought to turn it into a new town. The financial ...Are airline fees about to go higher?
Sep 27th, 2010 at 2:00PM: What could possibly be next? Absent Ryanair-style fee insanity, there seems to be little the airlines can do to our wallets now. Blankets, bags and beverages are just the tip of the iceberg: it seems anything that can come at a price does. The only thing missing is a seemingly well-intentioned Congress that wants its share of the airlines' recently found largess.
Make no mistake about it: extra ...Five signs that the hotel meeting business is recovering
Aug 17th, 2010 at 2:30PM: Business meetings are back in style. Group customer is on the rise for the hotel business, signaling that the corporate crowd Is getting back out on the road. Joining the party are other groups, such as associations, sports teams, religious groups, social organizations and the military, according to USA Today.
The U.S. Travel Association is predicting a 7 percent increase in meeting and ...Germans give Iceland a reason to brag, Italians not so much
Aug 11th, 2010 at 4:30PM: The past few years haven't been all that kind to Iceland. After practicing a uniquely aggressive form of finance – maybe it should have been called "Viking derivatives" – the country felt massively the effects of the global financial crisis, screwing things up for British depositors who were parking their cash in these arctic savings accounts to score double-digit interest rates for ...Top five ways to use social media to look like you're working on vacation
Aug 3rd, 2010 at 8:00AM: We've put some distance between us and the September 2008 financial crisis, but unemployment – and tension the workplace – is still high. There's plenty of anxiety over whether people appear to be working hard enough, because it's safe to assume that the budgets being allocated or raises and bonuses are unlikely to be generous. So, in the quest to appear productive, employees need more ...Starwood bets on Hollywood allure
Feb 23rd, 2010 at 2:00PM: What do you do when lenders take over two of your hotels, as your coping with the worst recession in seven decades? Well, if you're Starwood Hotels, you make a $350 million bet with a single property from your W line. The hotel opened on January 15, 2010, and it's banking on the reputation of Los Angeles as the center of the entertainment world. Located on Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, the ...Guests to stay in control of hotel industry until at least 2012
Jan 19th, 2010 at 3:00PM:
The light at the end of the tunnel is always cause for hope. When market conditions are at their worst, the promise of a recovery keeps morale from plummeting and gives a reason to keep pushing forward. For the hotel industry, however, there's nothing but darkness for the next year. The latest research from PhoCusWright paints a pretty dismal picture, evident immediately from the title of its ...Change the Trend: Use Your Vacation Days
Jan 19th, 2010 at 8:30AM: Not everyone is as brazen as Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter. While his publication was in the middle of cutting 5 percent of its staff, he made himself scarce. But, you can do that when you're the top dog. Most people don't take vacations when the Grim Reaper is mingling among the cubicles. They'd rather be at their desks, they convince themselves, generating value for shareholders and demonstrating ...Mexico relies on Facebook to kick travel slump
Jan 6th, 2010 at 12:00PM: Travel to Mexico got a big ol' kick in the cojones last year. The global recession spanked airlines and hotels around the world, and since the United States was ground zero for the financial crisis that accelerated the recession, Mexico likely lost some action from its biggest trading partner. And then swine flu came along, bringing much of the Mexican tourism and travel industry to a crawl. When ...Big Apple beats the Mouse: New York City tops tourists' lists
Jan 5th, 2010 at 1:00PM: Tourism to New York City dropped close to 4 percent last year. For a city already beleaguered by the financial crisis, this represents lost revenue we really could have used. But, the damage wasn't as bad here as it was in Orlando, which slipped from its spot as the top tourist spot in the United States. This is the first time America's cultural and financial capital has been the #1 tourist ...Hawaii needs your help!
Dec 24th, 2009 at 2:00PM: Hawaii needs $1.23 billion and could use your help. Governor Linda Lingle is calling it a "fiscal crisis" and says it won't be fixed with budget cuts alone. Essentially, the fiftieth state wants everyone else to chip in. This year's budget gap is $721 million, which will be followed by $509.5 million next year. The state might not hit pre-recession levels until 2014.
According to Lingle, "The ...Airline recession will continue into 2010, good news for passengers
Dec 16th, 2009 at 4:00PM: The airline industry must be excited to see 2009 coming to a close. It was a year of route cuts, perk cuts and abuse from passengers over all kinds of sacrifices in the cabin ... and a genuine commitment to fees for extra bags. The global financial crisis triggered in September 2008 hit the travel industry with extra severity, forcing airlines, famous for not being able to generate easy profits ...Virgin America: Financials prove service makes a difference
Dec 12th, 2009 at 3:00PM:
We've all gotten used to bailing out airlines that can't figure out how to take care of their paying customers, operate profitably or otherwise get their respective acts together. And, there really isn't much hope of this situation changing. To be an airline, in general, is to be dysfunctional ... until you look at the new entrant, Virgin America. The privately held carrier announced on Friday ...
