We, I am talking about us Brits here, have this reputation amongst ourselves of being 'rip off Britain' and amongst our European cousins of being 'Treasure Island' - the people who will pay whatever price is asked regardless of quality or service. Well it's reassuring to report that we aren't alone in this and that in Germany businesses are quite prepared to increase prices in search of profit as much as anybody.
I was online looking at hotels in Duisburg next June, my annual visit to Germany is moving forward through the year, who knows by the time we get to 2019 I may well be attending one of the many Christmas Fairs on offer and paying for my goods in NDM (New Deutsch Marks) rather than Euros. In 2010 I visited at Easter, which was the beginning of April, in 2011 it was Easter again but this time at the end of the month which when combined with the Royal Wedding took me up to May, for 2012 I decided to go the first week in June. I entered the arrival and departure dates into the online booking agency site that I have used before and when the room costs appeared I thought somebody was having a joke. I entered a variation on the dates and again the room which cost £600 for eight nights in April was being charged at £1,900 in June! At the top of the booking page a message appeared informing me that because 'Duisburg was busy during the period between the dates chosen that room prices might be higher than at other times'.
'Might be higher' - how's that for understatement, I make it a 216% increase. Anyway a little googling (other search engines are available) revealed that it was due to a Trade Fair that hotels were putting up their prices.
It wasn't all bad news though, Eurotunnel have actually reduced their fare for the return trip by £2 - woo hoo!
2 comments:
...they've all been on the same courses: How to sell, How to buy, How to make profits higher etc.
Span's right. They're all the same. Try getting a room in Edinburgh in any August!
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