Barter News Weekly

According to the Hotel Industry Trends.com website, room revenue fell 14% in 2009, across the world. That translates in to billions of dollars of lost business. Add to that the room vacancy numbers being high and “staycations” on the lips of just about everyone, and you have a difficult environment in which to do business, if you own a hotel, motel, resort, or bed and breakfast.February’s numbers for room vacancy point to a 55% vacancy rate in the United States. That means that more than half of the rooms available for travelers in the U.S. are sitting empty, generating no revenue…generating nothing for the owners and operators of those properties.

Now is the perfect time to barter if you are in the hospitality industry. Trade those unused and empty rooms for things like media, vacuums, car rentals, or restaurant certificates and you now have a new way to boost the vacancy rate, offer perks to frequent visitors, or cash convert your inventory through resale of the items you trade for. Imagine bartering an empty room for a restaurant certificate, and then selling that certificate to a visitor for cash. It’s a win-win-win for everyone.