Each day during the Christmas season, many businesses and private individuals turn to printers, asking them for personalised calendars and corporate Christmas cards. Writing Christmas cards became a tradition in the XVIII century, when the British royal family started to use them as a form of congratulation for social acquaintances.

So, Christmas cards became the ideal way to congratulate someone during the holiday season, without having to spend a lot of money on the purchase of gifts and wrapping paper. Furthermore, Christmas cards could be sent by mail without any problem; as the XX century advanced, more and more people turned to Christmas cards as a solution to an increasing social ambiance and to lessen the need to provide tokens or gifts of friendship that overwhelms their entire financial income.

Even so, Christmas cards became a great advertising and marketing opportunity since trade cards started to appear. Trade cards are prints on one single sheet or card, with the business simply wishing the customer a Merry Christmas; but the idea of the Christmas card as we know it started to appear and become more popular in the XX century. In 1961 only 2000 of them were printed, while in 2005 an average of 1.4 million Christmas cards were printed, sent and distributed.

This makes Christmas cards one of the strongest money-makers for the printing industry, not only from the private sector, but also from the commercial sector that seeks to elevate their business higher in the ranking of the target market, in contrast to their competitors.

Frequently, printing workshops linger through the year with a small amount of work, according to the difficulties and economic events that happen in the location where they are found; it might be that all the work they do relates to marketing promotional products. Big printing companies do not worry much about the off season, since they carry on the printing requirements for other companies, however, the small printing business, the one that suffers the changes of the printing business season, suffers the consistent reduction of marketing promoting products.

The Internet, with its online marketing potential, makes it less necessary for advertisers and marketers to use promotional products to enhance the presence of a product, service or business in the target market. Consequently, printing workshops have to subsist as much as possible on alternative means, until the Christmas season. Christmas cards are still popular among private citizens and businesses; however, the appearance of the laser printer and the increasing use of the Internet has modified greatly the way Christmas cards are viewed, printed and even created.

In yester years, Christmas cards were printed on cardboard and decorated with water colours and even glitter; now, even serigraphy is taken off the Christmas cards, making laser printed Christmas cards the new fashion statement; this might end up reducing the printing workshops to a thing of the past.

Despite it all, Christmas cards are still the biggest income source for all printing workshops alongside the printing of catalogues and calendars. Therefore, the effect that Christmas cards have on the printing industry is evident to the naked eye.

As the major industry of national economy, the mining machinery has played a major role in our country”s development in economy and social area. Applied in deep-processing and constructive exploration area ,the mining equipments have continuously provided quantities of infrastructure industry products and energy for all walks of life , which has greatly promoted the rapid development of our national economy. For all above these, the mining equipment manufacture has played as the basement of our country”s independent industrial system, which has also become a key signal to the balance of one country”s industrial strength.

To the 2011 development trend in mining equipment, Henan Hongxing shows that world mining machinery will experience the most rapid growing in 2011.And to China mining machinery manufacturer ,the development opportunity is very valuable .And our enterprises must rapid the independent research and innovation pace and set up a comprehensive after-sales service network .Meanwhile, we should proceed the market trend to organize production , optimize product structure ,explore market, balance the ends to seek more fast and better development, which have become the major challenge in China domestic mining market.

Integrated domestic demand and export growth, HC Construction Machinery Network believes that in 2009 the domestic construction machinery industry sales growth rate may be 23% or so. To give a intensive research to the current development of mining equipments in the global market and particular in the advanced technology of crushing and grinding equipments ,we mining manufacturers will definitely provide more quality and high-efficient equipments with world level for our country”s coal, metal and non-metal mining development, which will play an significant role in the need of national economic development of energy and materials.

And we mining machineries should see the present development opportunity to continuously improve the technical service level to solid the market share and also strengthen the research .We mining markets will challenge the technical innovation wave with high enthusiastic.

As a key component of mining machinery, the crushing grinding equipments include various crushing equipments like jaw crusher and other grinding equipments , super fine micro grinding mill and super-huge grinding mill .The grinding and crushing equipments have not only found their extensive application in the material fine-processing field of mine, electricity, chemic, construction but also provide equipments with high-efficient and reliable technical backup for the construction of railway, roadway, hydropower ,municipal project and so on.

Prevent additional credit card charges on car rental.

First of all, you must understand how the total price you pay is calculated. Everything starts with the daily base rate this is the rate you pay for the daily use of the car excluding all other charges. It doesnt mean that this is the price you pay!

Instead, you may find your total bill is double of that of the base rate. Extra mandatory charges like GST, airport location surcharges, administration fees, vehicle registration fees are all part of the total bill given to you at the rental counter. I cant stress enough the importance of getting a bill at the end of your rental, but this is another story. So, by the time all the extra charges are added onto your bill, you may find yourself paying almost double that seductive base rate.

To give you an example, a friend of mine rented a car in Australia with a base rate around $177 for four days. The final total? Including a vehicle registration fee, admin fee, airport location surcharge, a surcharge for not filling the gas tank, and a GST on top of all those other charges, my friend paid about $358 – more than a 100 percent increase over the base rate.

So how can you avoid nasty surprises? Below you can find a list of standard surcharges you’re most likely to find at most car rental locations in Australia, as well as some tips for your next trip to the car rental counter.

Airport and GST Surcharges

The majority of car rental transactions happen at the airports around the country. Airport surcharge is something that car rental supplier has no control over and it varies considerably from one airport to another. Therefore, when you pick the car up from the airport you should expect to pay between 3 and 18 percent extra on top of other charges. Unfortunately, you can’t avoid paying GST, which can will add 10 percent. However, if your car rental bill amounts to over $300 and you leave the country within 30 days after returning the car, you may claim GST component of your car rental at the airport.

However, you can avoid the airport charges – such as airport location surcharge fees by picking up and dropping off your car at an off-airport location. Be sure to weigh the possible inconvenience and the price of any additional transportation against the concession fees charged by the airport location – which can be between 3 and 18 percent of your total price.

The bottom line? If you don’t want to pay the airport location surcharge, check out your rental options downtown.

Insurance

Your rental car comes with a standard insurance liability of between $2900 and $3300 depending on a car rental supplier. This liability can be further reduced by paying an extra daily charge of between $25 and $27. However, since the price of insurance is almost half of what you pay for you car, I recommend that you check your credit card/travel/car insurance to make sure it doesnt cover you in a rental car.

Gasoline Charges

For your convenience most car rental companies provide cars with a full tank of fuel, however, be assured that if you dont return the car with a full tank you will pay a higher price for petrol used to fill up the empty tank. However, most car rental companies now offer the option of purchasing a full tank of gas when you first take the car, enabling you to return the car with as much or as little fuel as you wish.

Please note that there is no refund for unused fuel, so its likely youll be paying a little extra for the convenience of skipping the trip to the gas station.

Drop-Off Charges

An extra fee is usually charged if a car is returned to a different location than where it was picked up. This fee varies by location; in some instances there is no charge, while you could pay $300 or more for cross-country drop-offs. However, some companies do not require a charge when dropping off in-state at many Queensland and New South Wales locations.

The 24-Hour Clock

Car rental industry operates on a 24-hour clock rate. However, there is also a 59-minute grace period before hourly charges apply. To give you an example, if you rent a car at 12:00pm on Tuesday and return it by 12:59pm on Wednesday, you will be charged for one day only. However, if you return the car after 27 hours (in this case after 15:00) you’ll then be charged for the full extra day. Hourly charges apply between 25-27 hours.

Early Returns

When you rent a car for a particular number of days, you sign a sale contract for that period. So, just like with any other contracts out there, if you break your contract you must pay cancellation fees. Since, car rental companies set their rates based on the rental period, the longer you keep the car the cheaper the daily base rate. If you managed to reserve a car for 7 days using one of these hot weekly specials and then decide to bring the car two days earlier, you might get charged at a default daily rate and your total car rental charge for 5 days might end up costing you more than if you kept the car for 7 days. Therefore, please dont forget to ask a car rental agent if you pay different daily rate for earlier returns.

Mileage

Most car rental companies offer unlimited mileage in metropolitan areas, including all major capital cities (with an exception of Northern Territory) and some tourist destinations. I would suggest checking your contract prior to signing it as it clearly displays whether you get unlimited kilometres or not. Keep in mind though that smaller car rental companies usually charge mileage if you exceed a given daily km quota. In addition some “hot” special rates may not include unlimited mileage, so be sure to check before you sign a rental agreement.

Vehicle Registration Fees

Varying Rates and Peak Season Surcharges

Here is a tip that will potentially can save you hundreds of dollars. Book in advance!
Rental car companies’ rates vary a great deal from city to city, and sometimes even within the same city. Make sure to shop around. Be aware that you may pay a specific surcharge for traveling at a “peak” time, e.g. School and Public Holidays, Major events in your city, etc.

Age Penalties

Due to the insurance limitations, if you’re under 25, you may have to pay an additional fee, usually about $25 per day. Those companies who will rent to drivers under 21 often charge much steeper surcharges. Internationally, you’ll not only see penalties for underage drivers but also for older ones — those over 70 may have to pay extra (if they’re able to rent at all).

Additional Drivers

Adding more than one driver to your rental agreement often carries a surcharge, anywhere between $7 and $25 per day. Note that some companies, like Avis and Budget, will allow the renter’s spouse or life partner to drive the vehicle for no extra charge — so if both partners are planning to take the wheel, consider renting from one of these providers.

Frequent Flier Fees

Car rental companies often charge a small fee when you request frequent flier miles for your rental. The fee varies by airline, and can range anywhere from a few cents to $2 a day.

Extras

There may also be additional charges for things you had not considered, like infant and child seat rentals, roof racks and other extras. These could run you anywhere from $5 to $25 or more per day, depending on where you rent.

With the advancement in science and technology, the film industry all over the world, has grown immensely and contributes significantly to the worlds economy. The film industry has both commercial and technological benefits that have led to further growth of many countries economy. Currently, the film industry is controlled by the Hollywood and Bollywood film makers. The work and processes in the film media technology involves a lot of work in cinematography, film production, script writing, screen writing, pre and post production, directorship, film studios and finally distribution.

The film industry is a large job opportunity provider for many people who are jobless. The industry needs a lot of financial backing and thats the reason that many countries have not been able to invest in it well. The industry has its own big players who have been around since time in memorial and who have large control over it. Some companies like Disney and Universal studios have been around for some time and are major contributors in this industry.

The film making process involves a lot of work and purchasing of a lot of materials. The expenses involved are high and the process needs a company that has money and time to spare. The equipment and film materials used needs the investor to put undisrupted amount of capital that will be specific for the film company. However, many multi-national companies have invested in the industry and are now funding the business.

The Bollywood movie industry is not that old in the market but it has made a huge a gigantic entrance into the industry. Some of the movies made by the Bollywood industry have recently gone on to scoop awards in international film and music awards. The industry has great actress and actors and no wonders the products coming from it are taking the world by storm. Bollywood actresses are elegant and full of surprises before the screen. One of these personalities is Bollywood actress, who has caught the attention of the media fraternity and is a darling to many film viewers is Bachchan Bahu. She is a former Miss World and is also the brand ambassador of a Swiss watch company. Top Bollywood actress Bachchan Bahu is making a good buck from the industry.

The oldest and most loved movie industry is the Hollywood movie industry. It started operations in 1911 and has been in the limelight till now. Producing the best block buster movies, Hollywood is a darling to many. It also has re-known and some of the best movie actors and actresses in the world. Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie is one of the highest paid and most re-known personalities in the industry. The movie industry has over 2.4 million Americans and is a large major contributor to the US economy.

HOTEL LOYALTY
Hotels get nearly half of their revenues from the small segment of travelers who spend about a month each year on the road: frequent visitors make up only 10 percent of all hotel guests but account for 44 percent of
hotel nights . In the early 1980s, hotel chains began to recognize the value of such customers by introducing loyalty programs patterned on the airlines’ frequent-flier model. These programs have succeeded in maintaining the loyalty of people who travel moderately often but are not as effective as they might be with other segments, our research suggests.

The frequent-traveler segment represents $40 billion to $50 billion in revenues each year. These guests spend some of that money in their preferred hotel chains, but their wandering ways leave $22 billion to $27 billion in play. Persuading such people to narrow the field from three or more chains to their favorite two could add seven to ten nights at the chain they prefer. To capture this opportunity, hotel executives must ask, “What do you get the person who has everythingor at least more points than he or she can use?”
Part of the answer might involve changing the way points are redeemed. Even for elite-status members of a loyalty program, redeeming them for free hotel rooms can be cumbersome at popular times and destinations.

2.Loyalty Club Members Habitat
The percentage of all guests who indicated club membership is “very important” when selecting their most
recent hotel stay increased steadily throughout 2003 with a 25-percent annual increase.
Frequent travelers are four times more likely to consider club
membership very important when selecting a hotel.
Among frequent travelers, club members have considerably higher incomes, pay slightly more per room
night, stay more nights per year in hotels and are more tolerant of price increases compared with
nonmember hotel guests
The average profile of a frequent traveler who joins a loyalty program is a 47-year-old male traveling on
business. He stays 31 nights per year in hotels, is very brand loyal, pays an average of $103 per night and has an annual income of $104,000

E-CRM IN HOSPITALITY TODAY

Electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM), in the context of the exploding Internet distribution and marketing in hospitality, is a business strategy supported by Web technologies, allowing hoteliers to engage
customers in strong, personalized and mutually beneficial interactive relationships, increase conversions and sell more efficiently.

e-CRM cannot exist in isolation
Today’s multi-channel marketing model requires a single brand image to be communicated across all channels. In the same time it requires interactive customer relationships to be established and maintained across all
channels.

Anytime an Internet user lands on a hotel website, a branding interaction occurs. This branding interaction can
be positive or negative . Unfortunately for some hoteliers on many occasions a
visit to the hotel website turns out to be the last point of contact with this particular customer.
Two key questions are facing hoteliers today:
Who owns the customer in this new online environment? The online intermediary, which made the
booking, or the hotel where the guest stayed?
How can hoteliers establish mutually beneficial interactive relationships with the customers in order
to increase repeat business, boost revenues, and retain loyalty?
Here are the main aspects in e-CRM in hospitality:
1. Know Your Customer
2. Customer Service
3. Personalization
4. More Efficient Marketing
5.Building Customer Loyalty

1. KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER
Knowing your website visitors is an extremely important consideration when conceptualizing and designing your hotel website and your e-CRM strategy. After all, addressing your key audiences and providing them with relevant information is one of the key aspects of any hospitality site. Different customer segments should easily identify areas on the site that speak to them. Internet users visit a hotel website not as John Smith or Jane Smith, but as a Business Traveler, Meeting Planner, Special Event Planner, Family Traveler, Spa Services
Seeker, Golf Outing Seeker, Vacation Planner, Convention Attendee, Wedding Planner, etc.

Case Study: Who Are Your Online Customers?
The 2004 RUSH Report, a joint effort by Hospitality eBusiness Strategies and iPerceptions, based on nearly
40,000 customer survey respondents on 30 major brand hospitality websites, shows that 56 % of all visitors on
hotel branded websites are Leisure Travelers and 32% are Business Travelers. The benefits are obvious:
Identify your most valuable customers with best lifetime value perspective
Allows guest-centric data mining: guest history, guest profiles, past bookings, preferences, etc.
Enables informed decisions in real time
Allows fast response times
Real-time Guest Lifetime Value
Deliver business insight to executives, marketers, sales
2. PERSONALIZATION Personalization is more than providing the right information to the right person at the
right time. Personalizing the customer experience on the hotel website is a powerful conversion and retention
tool. Customizing your interaction with your most valuable customers will provide significant long-term rewards.
Adopt a policy on how to address your guests via email Addressing the customer segmentation issues on the property website is a logicalnext step. Creating a targeted email marketing campaign is another good step.

For the major hotel brands, the personalization efforts are much more complex and expensive. Customization tools used by some major brands and airlines allow website users to actively personalize their website experiences using over 250 criteria. Here are some of the efforts by the major travel and hospitality companies to make the user experience more personable:
Personalization agents using a variety of customization applications, capable of creating Behavioral
Profiles and a Real-time profile for each customer
Collaborative filtering: Using preference matrix and artificial intelligence to capture and predict
customer interests
Decision-support applications utilizing various applications for Behavioral Profiling, Predictive Modeling, Collaborative Filtering and Click-Stream Analysis, capable to sense the purchasing behavior and patterns of the user. By providing a customized booking experience these applications can boost the conversion rates.
2. CUSTOMER SUPPORT
It is important to understand that customer service is only one aspect of e-CRM and is primarily a reactive function aiming to improve performance and efficiency, while e-CRM as a whole is a proactive long-term strategy.
On the Internet the customer support aspect of e-CRM is an extremely important trust building and customer retention tool. A well positioned Contact Us or Help button or Push-to-talk feature speaks volumes about the
hotel brand and builds trust. 57% of online shoppers actively seek sites with good customer service

Case Study: e-CRM Comp Analysis of 9 major upscale hotel brands.
HeBS uses its proprietary CyberScore system to evaluate various aspects of 9 upscale hotel brands. HeBS addresses e-CRM features and functionalities considered essential for optimum customer experience, such as customer support, ease of use and visibility of customer support throughout the site, customer support by phone and email, personalization, “Self-service” Customer Service Tools , “Live” Customer Service Tools, corporate and property level help desks and contact info. Evaluated were a total of 9 e-CRM features. The maximum score is 90

Live Service Tools: Push-to-talk functionality and real-time interaction with live agent; instant messaging and chat-room type of assistance; Voice-over-Internet Protocols (VOIP) applications; automation to pre-screen live
support (selective approach) E-Mal Service Tools: Inbound e-mail management; automated e-mail response systems, capable of
automating 80%-90% of e-mail volume with 98% accuracy, and dramatically improving service and reducing support staff by up to 40%.

4. MORE EFFICIENT MARKETING
eMarketing plays a crucial role in establishing interactive relationships with your customers. eMarketing is a
marketing strategy that uses the Internet as its medium.
The main issues facing eMarketers in hospitality today are:
Guest profiling and one-to-one marketing.
Accurate segmentation: focused segmentation equals higher response rates
Create narrow-focused marketing campaigns
Utilizing lifestyle data and personal preferences in the marketing
Building opt-in email lists and precision e-Mail marketing (fivefold higher response rates)
Internal benchmark of customer lifetime value
Cross-selling opportunities
Campaign tracking and ROI analysis
Developing a robust and effective eMarketing strategy requires not only an extensive knowledge of your
customers and precise customer segmentation, shifting marketing finds from offline to online channels, but
deciding what your marketing objectives are.
Display Ads (e.g. Traditional Banners): Steady decline: 2003: 21% (as percentage of total online
advertising spend); 2002: 29%; 2001: 36%; 2000:50% (PWC/IAB). Click-through rate 0.83% in
Feb 2003 (eMarketer)
Keyword Search (e.g. PPC, paid-inclusion, etc): Steady increase: 2003: 35%; 2002: 15%; 2001:
4%; 2000: 1%.

Classifieds: increased usage of this format: 2003: 17%; 2002: 15%; 2001: 16%; 2000:7%.
e-Mail Marketing: Currently between 3%-4% of total spend; Jupiter Research reports that US email
marketing spending will rise from $2.1 billion in 2003 to $6.1 billion in 2008.

Overall Site Satisfaction: How would you rate your website experience overall?
Excellent 18.80%
Very good 35.73%
Good 28.94%
Fair 12.22%
Poor 4.31%
Total: 100%
Different customer segments perceive the hotel website differently. While not dramatically different, Business Travelers appeared slightly more critical than other user groups. Even when they felt satisfied, Business Travelers
appeared more critical: 54.57% found the site to be Very good or excellent compared to 55.14% for LeisureTravelers.

Conclusion: e-CRM is an integral part of online distribution and marketing in hospitality. The Internet provides the best direct means to reach existing and potential customers. Establishing interactive relationships with your
customers, which is the essence of e-CRM, will help you retain your customers, increase revenues, and build brand loyalty.

To know more about HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY check out ITC Infotech Website

http://www.itcinfotech.com

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