Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Friday 27 July 2018
A25

Marriott, Airbnb see opportunity in selling 'experiences'

By DEE-ANN DURBIN if they're accepted. through Airbnb. She also
Associated Press The larger Marriott Mo- booked a "Sherlock" tour
Hotel and home-sharing ments program, which through TripAdvisor in Lon-
companies don't just want launched in October, of- don, but felt it was too big
to sell you a room any- fers 120,000 experiences in and commercial.
more. They also want to sell 1,000 destinations, from a "The less commercialized
you an experience. $27 walking tour of Detroit and monopolized and
Want a "Game of Thrones" to a $588 full-day tour of standardized the better for
walking tour of Dubrovnik, Tuscany. Marriott's partner, an authentic experience,"
Croatia? Marriott can book online tour search com- said Ellis, a librarian from
it for you. Want to create pany PlacePass, finds and Fresno, California.
your own perfume in Paris? vets the experiences. Others say they would
Airbnb can help. Marriott still offers around avoid booking through a
Online operators like Tri- 10,000 exclusive activities big company. Matthew Ka-
pAdvisor and Expedia have for its loyalty program mem- gan, a partner at a Santa
been booking activities for bers. Those offers — like a Monica, California-based
more than a decade. But pastry class at Le Cordon communications firm, said
Marriott and Airbnb want Bleu cooking school in Paris he wouldn't necessar-
a bigger piece of that busi- — can only be booked with ily book anything through
ness, so they've added Marriott or Starwood points. Airbnb or Marriott even
thousands of offerings that On both sites, experienc- though he's a member of
travelers can book directly es cost the same as they Marriott's loyalty program.
from their web sites. would if travelers booked "I find sites like Yelp and
Airbnb debuted experi- directly with tour provid- other crowd-sourced op-
ences in late 2016; it now ers. West Wine Tours, which tions very helpful because I
offers more than 20,000 ac- gives tours of Sonoma and believe I'm getting real lo-
tivities in 800 cities globally Napa, California, in a re- cals' knowledge," he said.
through the "Experiences" stored Volkswagen bus, But Elizabeth Barber, an
tab on its web site. There's charges $125 on its site as associate professor at
a wide range, from a $12 well as through Airbnb. In this May 11, 2018 photo provided by Danielle Oteri, Oteri pos- Temple University's School
yoga class on a Nashville But Marriott offers a perk: es with a plate of pasta in Naples, Italy. of Tourism and Hospitality
porch to a $175 encoun- Members of its loyalty pro- Associated Press Management, thinks Mar-
ter with wolves near Se- gram can earn points for riott's experiences appeal
attle. Local hosts apply to booking experiences. Airb- haven't been announced. tour in Copenhagen and to travelers who want a
Airbnb with tour ideas and nb is working on its own Sarah Ellis booked a bike a Harry Potter walking tour trusted name vetting their
Airbnb puts them on its site loyalty program, but details tour in Rome, a walking in Edinburgh, Scotland, activities.q

Visits slip, but higher prices help

lift McDonald's US sales

Associated Press less than 14,000 domestic China, something it said
OAK BROOK, Ill. (AP) — locations. The results come could be partly blamed on
Higher prices are helping as McDonald's fights to win trade discussions affecting
McDonald's ring up more back U.S. customers by customer sentiment.
sales in the U.S., even modernizing operations, But overall, the company
though people are visiting with changes like ordering fared better overseas with
less often. kiosks and delivery. It's also global sales up 4 percent
McDonald's said Thursday making tweaks to its menu, at comparable stores. Its
that customers spent more such as by using fresh in- worldwide store count also
on average per visit during stead of frozen beef patties continues to climb; the
the second quarter, partly with select burgers. chain now has more than
because people also add- To keep pace in a highly 37,400 locations. This July 18, 2018, file photo, shows a sign outside a McDonald's
ed more extras onto their competitive fast-food mar- For the period ended June restaurant in Pittsburgh.
orders. Still, executives said ket, McDonald's said it will 30, McDonald's earned Associated Press
they need to get customers roll out new offers to attract $1.5 billion, or $1.90 per
visits growing. deal seekers. share. Earnings, adjusted
"We're not yet where we For the quarter, McDonald's for restructuring costs, were
need to be," CEO Steve said sales rose 2.6 percent $1.99 per share, or 7 cents
Easterbrook said during a at domestic stores open at better than Wall Street was
call with analysts. least 13 months. The metric expecting, according to a
The decrease in visits to ex- is considered a key indica- survey by Zacks Investment
isting McDonald's in its flag- tor because it strips out the Research.
ship market came even effect of newly opened Total revenue of $5.35
though there were fewer and closed locations. billion in the period also
stores than year ago. Mc- McDonald's is facing chal- edged out forecasts.
Donald's has been shrink- lenges elsewhere too. The Shares of McDonald's Corp.
ing its U.S. store base in re- company is also seeing slipped 2 percent to $155.60
cent years, and now has customer visits decline in in Thursday trading.q