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What’s a To Prevent Consumers From Booking Their Own hotel

This is a transcription of the introductory comments made by renowned Chef and traveler William Jergen, when he addressed the NYC Region Association of Travel Professionals as part of its recent workshop on Mediterranean tours.  Complete presentation transcripts are available through the Association.

Hi there.  It’s good to be back home, even if only for a short visit.  For those of you who don’t know me, my name is William Jergen and I grew up in this area and eventually settled into a rather unglamorous career of cooking for people in a neighborhood called Hell’s Kitchen.  I gather that it’s rather famous now, but it wasn’t so well known back then.  Well, maybe a little infamous, but that’s hardly the same as famous now, is it?  For the record, I don’t consider myself to be a professional chef any more, but I do know enough to talk my way into many kitchens, and that’s a valuable “in” when it comes to my current career.  This is what I like to think of as a professional vacationer.

And that is where you folks come in.  I was invited to speak to you because I have spent years now learning the ins and outs of the Mediterranean region of Europe.  If there’s a Portugal hotel that I haven’t heard of, well I’d guess that you’re mixed up and thinking of a place in Spain.

 Basically my story starts with cooking and a fondness for Mediterranean cuisine and continues with me falling for the region.  Where it ends, I don’t know, but there’s more yet to come, including a TV series.  Now, the challenge for you folks is to maintain the pretty commission you make on package vacation deals to prime destinations like Lisbon, Cascais or Albufeira.  Before guys like me came along, it was reasonably straightforward.  But now that we’ve stated blabbing about individual hotels and the joys of exploration, and more options are available to the consumer via the Internet, how do you prevent people from simply booking the hotel they want online, at significant discounts, and then looking after their own travel arrangements?  With the right web site, it’s just as easy for them and way, way cheaper.  So, how to combat this trend? 

 That’s what we’ll tackle after the break...