Exercise Caution When Perusing the Travel Deals Offered by Groupon Clones

Based on the phenomenal success of the flash sales offered by Groupon.com, literally dozens of imitators are now appearing on the Internet, and some of them are offering travel products. Except for straight hotel and resort stays, I find most of their travel offers to be less than compelling.

The discounted sales of hotel and resort rooms are, to me, the one attractive product that many of them offer. Hotels and resorts have fixed costs, and it costs them very little extra to fill one of their rooms rather than let it remain empty. Accordingly, they can accept the formula offered by the Groupon imitators, which involve 50% discounts on hotel or resort rooms for midweek stays (when the hotel expects many vacancies). The public pays 50% less than the standard published rate, and the hotel or resort then splits that 50% of income with the internet service that advertised the offer: 25% to the internet service, 25% to the hotel or resort. Since it is better for these resorts to receive any income at all for a room that might otherwise remain empty, the resort is able to content itself with 25% of its normal room rates. And accordingly, as I have said, the advertising of hotel or resort discounts brings value to the public.

The situation is otherwise with respect to virtually every other travel product. I find the Internet prices offered for African safaris, tour packages, and other standard travel products to be ridiculously inflated to begin with, by the imitators of Groupon. Even with major discounts, the public often buys a product that costs them more than they would spend by simply buying the travel products offered by the companies that have been in business for decades.

Thus, I find some of these imitators of Groupon advertising a price of $3,000 per person for a short African safari, not including airfare to Africa, for a safari that the public is able to buy -- including airfare -- for $2,700 from well-known operators of such safaris. I find numerous other travel products that are marked up in price to an absurd extent, so that the Groupon-imitator can claim to offer a 50% discount. Even with that discount, they end up charging more than the standard price available in the marketplace.

So exercise caution in responding to these inflated offers. Most of the famous travel suppliers are specialists whose massive buying power purchases tour features at prices that no internet-johnny-come-lately can match. And because of the fierce competition in tour operating and other travel activities, these travel specialists mark up their costs so gently that it is virtually impossible for an internet-johnny-come-lately to undercut their prices with large percentage discounts.

I am usually astonished to learn that various imitators-of-Groupon claim to have sold hundreds of travel products to the public when their prices are higher than what the public could obtain by going to the standard sources of travel products, paying standard rates.

Source: http://www.frommers.com/blog/?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a3ec3ac40-db8a-4d10-a884-acf9ccad0879Post%3a9f092e6b-fed3-4fa1-9a80-cde4471ab160

spa vacations romantic vacations bahama vacations fun vacations kid friendly vacations