IF YOU’RE UNDECIDED ON PLANS FOR YOUR WEDDING AND/OR HONEYMOON, JUST CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING IDEAS:

SANDALS AND BEACHES “LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED”

WeddingMoons

Free for couples who stay five nights or longer. Your Sandals complimentary WeddingMoon’s package includes:

Preparation of documentation Certified copies of marriage license, legal fees Ceremony Officiant Wedding announcement cards Champagne and hors d’oeuvres wedding reception Flower bouquet and boutonniere Elaborate Caribbean wedding cake One 5” x 7” wedding photograph Honeymoon candlelight dinner for bride and groom “Just Married” T-shirts Many additional options available

Choose from many locations including those in Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia and Bahamas.

CRUISING INTO MARRIAGE

Many cruise lines offer shipboard weddings. Most offer honeymoon amenities packages. A sampling is listed below:

Carnival Cruise Lines Amenities for newlyweds include a Couples and Lovers Party, complimentary cake in dining room and, on request, continental in-cabin breakfast daily.

Crystal Cruises Highlights include new Mediterranean itineraries, an East Coast U.S. cruise that calls in Bermuda, Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA.

Whether you are an independent or branded hotel, a major hotel chain or hotel management company, you can stay ahead of your competitors and capture new market share with an effective Online Distribution Strategy. Utilized properly, your online distribution strategy and especially its direct-to-consumer component, can play a major role in softening effects of travel and economic slump and will, over longer-term, define winners in these trying times. But hoteliers should remember that Internet in 2003 can be your best ally or your worst enemy.

As part of your 2003 Internet resolutions, here are Top Ten Questions you should urgently consider:

1. I will make Direct-To-Consumer Online Distribution centerpiece of my Internet strategy, because I know Internet is ultimate “Direct Distribution Medium” and it will provide my hotel with long-term competitive advantages and lessen my dependence on intermediaries, discounters and traditional channels that are about to become obsolete. I will make it my mission to reach and exceed national average and have at least 52% of my online revenues generated through my hotel website.

2. I will re-evaluate my exposure in Indirect Online Channels and take measures to decrease my dependence on online discounters to avoid brand and price erosion with long-term negative repercussions. I no longer want my online discounted rates to become, de facto, my hotel’s Internet published rates which will put downward pressure on my offline rates. I will stop being taken advantage of by Web-proficient online intermediaries. I will limit my distribution through indirect channels to below national average of 48%.

3. I will institute a comprehensive Total Online Distribution Strategy, which turns direct-to-consumer distribution model into main focus of my Internet strategy and optimizes balance of use between Direct and Indirect Channels. I will aim to position my hotel at all "points of contact" with potential Internet travel bookers. My goal will be to utilize expertly important online direct and indirect channels and generate at least 13% of all my hotel revenues from Internet, while keeping my hotel company in full control of its brand and price integrity.