Sales Promotion in Hotels:A British Perspective

In their article - Sales Promotion In Hotels: A British Perspective - by Francis Buttle, Lecturer, Department of Hotel, Restaurant, and Travel Administration, University of Massachusetts and Ini Akpabio, Property Manager, Trusthouse Forte, Britain, Buttle and Akpabio initially state: “Sales promotion in hotels is in its infancy. Other industries, particularly consumer goods manufacturing, have long recognized the contribution that sales promotion can make to the cost-effective achievement of marketing objectives. Sales promotion activities in hotels have remained largely uncharted. The authors define, identify and classify these hotel sales promotion activities to understand their function and form, and to highlight any scope for improvement.” The authors begin their discussion by attempting to define what the phrase sales promotion [SP] actually means. “The Institute of Sales Promotion regards sales promotions as “adding value, usually of a temporary nature, to a product or service in order to persuade the end user to purchase that particular brand as opposed to a competitive brand,” the authors offer. Williams, however, describes sales promotions more broadly as “short term tactical marketing tools which are used to achieve specific marketing objectives during a defined time period,” Buttle and Akpabio present with attribution. “The most significant difference between these two viewpoints is that Williams does not limit his definition to activities which are targeted at the consumer,” is their educated view. A lot of the discussion is centered on the differences in the collective marketing-promotional mix. “…it is not always easy to definitively categorize promotional activity,” Buttle and Akpabio say. “For example, in personal selling, a sales promotion such as a special bonus offer may be used to close the sale; an advertisement may be sales promotional in character in that it offers discounts.” Are promotion and marketing distinguishable as two separate entities? “…not only may there be conceptual confusion between components of the promotional mix, but there is sometimes a blurring of the boundaries between the elements of the marketing mix,” the authors suggest. “There are several reasons why SP is particularly suitable for use in hotels: seasonality, increasing competitiveness, asset characteristics, cost characteristics, increased use of channel intermediaries, new product launches, and deal proneness.” Buttle and Akpabio offer their insight on each of these segments. The authors also want you to know that SP customer applications are not the only game in town, SP trade applications are just as essential. Bonuses, enhanced commission rates, and vouchers are but a few examples of trade SP. The research for the article was compiled from several sources including, mail surveys, telephone surveys, personal interviews, trade magazines and newspapers; essentially in the U.K

My Ship O\u27 Dreams

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/5195/thumbnail.jp

Reinforcing Our Relevancy in a Local Context: Case Studies from North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association Contributors

Carolina Planning regularly publishes a feature highlighting projects from members of the North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association (NCAPA). This year’s submissions focus on initiatives that are reinforcing the relevancy of planning in various North Carolina communities. From case studies discussing the role of robust plans in shaping the future of a community to articles highlighting the importance of using data to help inform planning activities and funding, these writers provide valuable insights into the important role North Carolina planners play in shaping the futures of their communities. Includes: Creating a Place-Based Vitality Index for Western North Carolina; Comprehensive Plans and Key Public Investments: Promoting Land Uses that Generate Positive Fiscal Impacts; Positioning Research Triangle Park for Continued Prosperity; Area Plan Implementation Program: From Paper to Progres

Supplemental Information 3: MArVD

Oceanic viruses that infect bacteria, or phages, are known to modulate host diversity, metabolisms, and biogeochemical cycling, while the viruses that infect marine Archaea remain understudied despite the critical ecosystem roles played by their hosts. Here we introduce “MArVD”, for Metagenomic Archaeal Virus Detector, an annotation tool designed to identify putative archaeal virus contigs in metagenomic datasets. MArVD is made publicly available through the online iVirus analytical platform. Benchmarking analysis of MArVD showed it to be >99% accurate and 100% sensitive in identifying the 127 known archaeal viruses among the 12,499 viruses in the VirSorter curated dataset. Application of MArVD to 10 viral metagenomes from two depth profiles in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific (ETNP) oxygen minimum zone revealed 43 new putative archaeal virus genomes and large genome fragments ranging in size from 10 to 31 kb. Network-based classifications, which were consistent with marker gene phylogenies where available, suggested that these putative archaeal virus contigs represented six novel candidate genera. Ecological analyses, via fragment recruitment and ordination, revealed that the diversity and relative abundances of these putative archaeal viruses were correlated with oxygen concentration and temperature along two OMZ-spanning depth profiles, presumably due to structuring of the host Archaea community. Peak viral diversity and abundances were found in surface waters, where Thermoplasmata 16S rRNA genes are prevalent, suggesting these archaea as hosts in the surface habitats. Together these findings provide a baseline for identifying archaeal viruses in sequence datasets, and an initial picture of the ecology of such viruses in non-extreme environments

Softly I sail o\u27er the ocean of memory, drifting on "star" [first line of chorus]

Performance Medium: Piano and Voice (with lyrics

The effects of predation risk from crab spiders on bee foraging behavior

Recent studies have suggested that top--down effects of predation on plant--pollinator interactions may not be, as previously thought, rare and/or weak. In this paper, we explore the effects of crab spiders (Araneae: Thomisidae) on the behavior of 2 species of bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) foraging for nectar and pollen on 3 different plant species in central Portugal. In 2 experiments, we found that the eusocial bee Apis mellifera was significantly less likely to inspect and accept a flower or inflorescence if it harbored a spider. In contrast, we found no such effects of spiders on the behavior of the solitary bee Eucera notata. Further experiments showed that the effects of environmental cues associated with predators on flower visitation by A. mellifera were detectable even when no spider was present at the moment a flower was encountered. Such indirect effects were only identified, however, in bees foraging on 1 of 2 plant species studied. In a final experiment, A. mellifera was shown to respond negatively to the presence of the corpses of conspecifics glued to flowers. This suggests that prey corpses left exposed on petals or bracts by spiders provide an obvious cue that bees can use to avoid predators. These results add to a growing body of evidence that plant--pollinator interactions are not immune to the effects of predation and suggest that the strength of such effects vary both between and within species. Copyright 2006.Apis mellifera; Eucera notata; flower visitation; inflorescence; pollination; top--down effects