Penny-pinching consumers and fierce price wars are... - 搜题云问答

第1题

How do hotels react to the penny-pinching policy？A．They have to raise their rates.B．They c

How do hotels react to the penny-pinching policy？

A．They have to raise their rates.

B．They charge more on extra services.

C．They offer better deals for travelers.

D．They are suffering successive dismal.

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第2题

"For all the consumer interest"（Paragraph 3)means______.A．to the interest of all the consu

"For all the consumer interest"(Paragraph 3)means______.

A．to the interest of all the consumers

B．for the interest of all the consumers

C．all the consumers are much interested

D．though consumers are very much interested

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第3题

Business travelers used to be the cash cows of the hotel business. Armed with corporate cr

edit cards and expense accounts, they'd happily lay down hundreds of dollars per night for the privilege of a Godiva chocolate on their pillow and a sunken whirlpool tub in their bathroom. But just as pro longed corporate belt tightening has forced road warriors to use budget airlines, more and more of them are now eschewing five-star lodging in favor of cheaper accommodations. Indeed, earlier this year the U.S.-based National Business Travel Association released figures showing that 61 percent of corporate travel managers planned to book their people into lower-priced hotels in the coming year.

Here's the good news: penny-pinching is translating into better deals at cheap and up-market hotels alike. Services at middle-market hotels are rising to accommodate a new wave of more demanding corporate customers. And luxury hotels are working harder to keep business travelers coming, offering lower rates, special packages and extra services. Even though business-travel volume is set to rise by more than 4 percent in 2004 after three dismal years, hotels will continue to be under pressure—in large part because a weak dollar is forcing American business travelers to search for value.

Some of the best deals are coming from the big chains. In January Starwood Hotels announced it would upgrade its global middle-market brand, Four Points, by rolling out free high-speed wireless Internet access in all guest rooms. On the flip side, upscale brands like Inter Continental and Ritz Carlton are selling empty rooms at discount rates via online services. That has the effect of depressing luxury-room prices, because corporate travel managers can now demand that hotels match their own discount prices all the time. Inter Continental hotels in France and Germany have been hit so hard that they are actually repricing their rooms to reflect rates before the dollar began falling. Upscale hotels like Waldorf-Astoria, Sofitel are also trying to offer extra services.

But beware of new, hidden fees. In an effort to make up some of their lost revenue, hotels are starting to charge corporate travelers for things that used to be free—including breakfast, banquet or meeting rooms.

Aside from saving companies money, the trend in frugal business travel may give rise to a whole new market segment: the buy-to-let hotel room, Last week in London, British property developer Johnny Sandelson launched GuestInvest, a hotel in Notting Hill where users can purchase a room for ￡35,000, use it for a maximum of 52 nights a year themselves, then rent it out the rest of the time to make extra money. It seems an idea whose time has come: GuestInvest says it has already fielded hundreds of calls from business people interested in making a cheaper hotel their second home.

According to the passage, business travelers used to

A．take budget airlines.

B．book lower-priced hotels.

C．enjoy privileges in hotels.

D．be customers of luxurious hotels.

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第4题

Part ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by c

Part A

Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. (40 points)

Penny-pinching consumers and fierce price wars are bad news for the travel industry. Bad, that is, for everyone except the booming on line travel giants. Consider the sharp rebound of such on-line players as Travelocity and Expedia. While they suffered in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks, with bookings off as much as 70% in the weeks that followed, business has snapped back. "The speed with which those businesses bounced back surprised even the people most bullish about the sector," says Mitchell J. Rubin, a money manager at New York-based Baron Capital, an investor in on-line travel stocks.

The travel industry's pain is often the on-line industry's gain, as suppliers push more discounted airline seats and hotel rooms to win back customers. And many of those deals are available only on dine. At the same time, on-line agencies rely primarily on leisure travelers, where traffic has rebounded more quickly than on the business side.

The two biggest players, Travelocity Com. Inc. and Expedia Inc., are locked in combat for the top spot. Both sold some $3 billion worth of travel last year, though Expedia topped Travelocity in the fourth quarter in gross bookings. And thanks in part to a greater emphasis on wholesale deals with suppliers, Expedia is more profitable. For the quarter ended in December, Expedia posted its first net profit, $5.2 million, even with noncash and nonrecurring charges, compared with Travelocity's $25 million loss.

The airlines' latest cost cutting moves may only spur the on-line stampede. Major carriers are eliminating travel agent commissions in the U.S. That could lead to growing service charges for consumers at traditional agencies, driving still more travelers to the Web. Jupiter Media Metrix is predicting that on line travel sales in the U.S. will jump 29%0, to $31 billion this year, and to $50 billion by 2005. About half of that is from airlines' and other suppliers' own Web sites, but that still leaves plenty of room for the online agents.

This growing market is drawing plenty of competition and new players. Hotel and car rental franchiser Cendant Corp. snapped up Cheap Tickets last October. Barry Diller's U.S.A Networks Inc. bought a controlling stake in Expedia. And a group of hotels, including Hilton Hotels and Hyatt Corp., are launching their own business this summer to market hotel rooms on the Net.

Is the field too crowded？ Analysts and on-line agencies aren't worried, figuring that there's plenty of new business to go around. But, for now, the clear winners are consumers, who can count on finding better services and better deals on line.

We can learn from the beginning that the competition in the travel industry revolves chiefly around

A．suppliers markets.

B．price battles.

C．travel stocks.

D．on line services.

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