Bonjour Magazine - Living the French Experience

Whether you are a small business or a large corporation it is important to recognise that you are in business to make a profit and not to make money. Understanding this simple fact will determine whether you succeed or go out of business. Being able to accurately project your likely income and overheads to establish your cash flow and end of year profit is never easy as so many unpredictable things can enter the equation. These will take the form of events you can take action to overcome and those that you can only stand by and watch unfold.

The Iraqi conflict, fear of terrorism, Sars, the strong Euro and the world economy in general have all had an effect on tourism Americans and travellers in general, view Europe as a single landmass and any threat no matter how small has an enormous effect on their travel habits. The fact that Britain is surrounded by water has always made the British feel more secure during times like this and they tend to pull up the drawbridge and stay at home.. It only takes one over anxious member of a family or party to upset the apple cart and refuse to visit France and everyone's holiday plans go out the window. Once people, who are often creatures of habit change their routine it is sometimes changed permanently and these travellers need to be enticed back, especially as they would normally have come in June.

Twenty years ago, someone retiring with a personal pension could expect to purchase an annuity at a rate as high as 13% pa. These people are now either dead or too old to travel and are being replaced by people who are retiring and lucky to obtain a rate of 5 or 6%. Building society rates are also at an all time low having a drastic effect on retired people's disposable income These people would normally book a holiday outside of July and August. We are losing this market and it is not being replaced. The weather also plays a significant role in the equation. The United Kingdom and most of Europe has had poor summer weather for the past few years. People sitting down of an evening to watch the news on a wet and cold April evening, have been confronted with satellite pictures of atrocious weather over France. Anyone considering organising a holiday in May and June was going to have their enthusiasm dampened by weather forecasters telling them they were going to get wet if they visited France.

The major tour operators, with their incessant advertising campaigns and the satellite TV holiday channels publicising inclusive package deals to sunnier climes at bargain prices all take their toll. Recent bad press of late, regarding renting properties in France and low confidence in the European manufacturing sector all adds to the problem. Even the ferry companies seem to have failed to realise that they are not just competing against each other and the Eurotunnel but against all the other holiday destinations as well. On top of all this, travellers have to cope with the threat of industrial action by ferry staff and lorry drivers.

Taken on the whole all these factors add up to a significant obstacle to overcome. We can't control the weather, or what is happening in the world. Property owners will limp financially through to next year as a result of the brochure companies shooting themselves in the foot and concentrating only on the UK market. Short of a miracle, there will always be French industrial problems and where travel is concerned, it is always the traveller who will pay for a company's inefficient services.

Despite the fact that France is still the most visited country in the world, the French government is lethargic about promoting the tourist industry abroad and has yet to wake up to the fact that France has a lot to offer outside of July and August. Despite all this gloom and doom there are a variety of solutions at your disposal. The Where On Earth group now offer an advertising package that embraces all the major sectors of the market and have huge databases that they use to stimulate the markets. Whilst the rest of the competition have sat back hoping that things would pick up, the Where On Earth group have been busy working on their Internet strategies and using their databases to considerable affect.

They don't claim to have a magic wand but they do put their money where there mouth is and are pro-active in reaching the markets other companies cannot reach. If you are looking for somewhere to advertise your property next year or even try and salvage this year, you could do no better than give them a call. Tel: (UK) 0871 717 9091 (calls charged at only 10p per minute) and from France 05 53 91 65 44 or 05 61 88 26 73