Saturday 2 August 2008

Optional barter

I'll start from the beginning of the train of thoughts. when one visits a restaurant or hotel, one sits down, eats (or whatever one does in a hotel), then one pays, and then he leaves. with the "green programs" nowadays, guests can choose not to have full service. e.g., they can choose not to have their towel washed everyday, and a percentage of their bill will be donated to a charity that funds something green.
if the intention of the hotel's manager really is to be green, I think he hasn't gone far enough with the scheme. what he should do is to reduce the bill of the guest by a certain percentage, then behind the scene he donates the money to the charity. guests are always happier when they see their bill decreased, and therefore more money can be collected, and more water can be saved.
if this way of reducing guest's bill really works, why not go a step further for something like an optional barter system? so a guest can not only offer to have his towel unwashed, he can offer to bring his towels to the laundry in order that 1% of his bill is deducted, if he offers to fetch his food from room service himself, he can have the tray charge deducted, if he offers to change his bed, he can have 2% of his bill deducted, if he hoovers, well that's hard so an even bigger percentage.
now to have a proper barter system, guests can offer to help other guests' luggaeg, so that he can share the tips and have something off his bill, he can offer to be a waiter in his free time, he can offer to be the doorman etc.

:)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

and what about all the people who would be out of a job if guests were to do everything in a hotel themselves? dan