New Florence. New Renaissance.

A la carte pricing at hotels?

In exchange for lower room rates, one hotel brand is charging for other perks — like early check-in or pool access — that guests pay for only if they want it.

“By going to an a la carte menu, it allows people to customize their experience and get exactly the product that they want when they want,” MCR Hotels Chairman and CEO Tyler Morse recently shared with Yahoo Finance Live. “Consumers always have a choice in the matter.”

The model is being piloted in several independent, non-branded MCR Hotels, Morse said, and feedback has been positive, so far. The new pricing strategy isn’t dissimilar to how airlines began charging for luggage, he said, noting it took some time for flyers to accept the ancillary fees. 

Yahoo Finance

More West Coast on the East Coast - the immigrant influence

Over the Labor Day weekend, Margaret and I did day trips to local towns which reflect influences of Italian, Greek and Scottish coasts and immigrants

For each we have links to an Instagram post of 10 photos:

Venice

No gondolas in this Venice but a street named Piazza Di Luna and over a dozen pizza places. And several beaches the Italian namesake does not offer including Caspersen which is famous for its collection of fossilized shark teeth which wash ashore continually.

Tarpon Springs

Plenty of Orthodox churches and restaurants serving saganaki and gyros to cheers of opa. Also celebrates its history of sponging and diving. Gorgeous Fred Howard park and beach as a bonus.

Dunedin

Named after the Gaelic interpretation of Edinburgh, Dunedin hosts an annual Highland Games with Scottish pipes and other traditions. The quaint downtown and pier hosts several pubs, parks and monuments. A short ferry ride takes you to really nice beaches at the Caladesi and Honeymoon islands.

 

The Fast & Furious impact on Car Culture

Along with its effect on the car community, the original Fast & Furious film had massive repercussions for the aftermarket industry. "I went back to the companies that provided us parts for the movie," Lieberman recalls, "companies like Sparco, GReddy, and Nitrous Oxide Systems, and they all reported their sales went up. Not hundreds of percentage points, but 1,000-plus percent."

Craig Lieberman, whose YouTube channel is a treasure-trove of behind-the-scenes information, served as a technical consultant for the first two films. "A lot of people became car fans because of the movies' influence," he says today. "I hear it every day on social media: 'This movie got me into cars. '"

Motor Trend

If you are a fan of the franchise you will enjoy this video with Craig

Growing Mobile Auto Services

In a survey I did earlier in the year, I was surprised to find auto dealer services were some of the more poorly rated. People complain about the erratic scheduling options, the time it takes for even basic services, the poor hygiene in wait rooms, the scarcity of loaner cars and drop off services, the predatory behavior - they always seem to suggest additional services when they have your car. No wonder there is growing market for mobile services - where they come to you and provide specific support.

AAA has long provided basic services around flat tires, dead batteries etc. With their growing brick and mortar service stores, it is likely their mobile services will grow.  Tesla has been delivering a variety of mobile service to its customers.

Services like Safelite have honed car glass replacement or repair at your home, office or on the road.  See video below

 

And there are a growing number of startups aiming at that category. FastCompany profiles RepairSmith.

"RepairSmith’s pricing falls above local budget options. Today, an in-home-driveway oil change on an aging Honda CR-V in Portland, Oregon, costs $97, which is far north of the $39 coupon option available at a nearby Jiffy Lube. An air conditioning compressor replacement costs $1,583, double what a local garage charges. But neither requires the CR-V’s owner to lose hours of work while marooned at a garage, nor multiple trips to the garage for diagnosis and then repair, nor sharing air with a cabbie on taxi rides back and forth to the garage during the repair."

 

A tipping point for EVs?

"Automakers are multitaskers. They are working on minor improvements for the next model year while engineering new models to debut four years out and developing technology that might be decades from reality. But now, more than ever before, designers and engineers are seeing green. CEOs such as Mary Barra at General Motors, Herbert Diess at Volkswagen, Håkan Samuelsson at Volvo, and Adrian Hallmark at Bentley are staking their careers on a successful transition to electric and autonomous vehicles."

and the more sobering reality

"Automakers have attempted to lure the public into electric vehicles but made little headway. Part of it is confirmation bias: Automakers spend far more advertising gas-guzzling SUVs than battery-powered hatchbacks. As the O'Jays sang, you got to give the people what they want.

As a result, pure electric vehicles still account for less than 2 percent of U.S. vehicle sales, and four out of every five of those sales is a Tesla, according to consultancy IHS Markit."

Motor Trend

Diehard EV fans like Andy Slye keep growing. Here he is discussing the cost of charging his Tesla - only $1,404 after 75,000 miles. 

Now, if EV makers could start passing along the cheaper cost of their much lighter bill of materials compared to combustion engine vehicles, they would become much more popular.

 

 

The early innings of the space tourism game

Space tourism has suddenly become a hot topic as Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos went last month on their respective flights to the edge of space. Frank Scavo shared with me the graphs below of their two mission profiles. SpaceX and Boeing are poised to take civilians even further to the International Space Station.

But as this McKinsey graph summarizes, space tourism has actually been evolving for a couple of decades - click to enlarge

and it is accelerating. As McKinsey says

"The space industry saw record-breaking growth in 2020 as investors, undeterred by the COVID-19 pandemic, poured almost $9 billion into private companies. While some of these businesses are simply providing parts and services to government agencies like NASA, others want to venture into space with their own crew and rockets. One ambitious goal, which several companies are now pursuing, involves space tourism for any private citizen willing to pay a hefty fee."

The Bezos/Branson flights led to a number of snarky comments about playgrounds for the wealthy. Not sure they realize some of the benefits Elon Musk is already bringing to earthlings in the form of internet access for remote locations. Or if they have listened to Bezos's sweeping vision for man in space.

Besides, here is the market reality. Man has always looked up to the stars, and modern man has grown increasingly intrigued with space travel thanks to Hollywood's long string of space movies. 

Yes, the price today for space tourism is lofty, but many other industries which initially looked to be destined to be niche markets for the wealthy - aviation, mobile phones among them - grew exponentially as price points dropped and convenience and reliability improved. Chinese, Indian and other global efforts will only accelerate the competition. 

The game is starting to get exciting. As the title says - we are merely in the early innings. To infinity - and beyond! Starting with edge of space, ISS and the Moon.

Photo Credit above - FT

 

20 from 20: West Coast on the East Coast

This is the 16th post in a series of 20 highlights from the Acrobatics during the crisis, Analyst Cam, Burning Platform,Technology and my Passion and other series I ran last year. 

While most of the other series involved video footage, one only profiled images posted on Instagram.

As she wrote in the Passion series, my wife Margaret is a packing pro - as in lots of activities on a day trip. Over the last few months, on weekends, she has used it to great advantage navigating all the lockdowns. We have gone up and down the West Coast of Florida mostly between Cedar Key and Marco Island - roughly 300 miles of Gulf coastline.

They have been day trips, with masks and distancing precautions. Most were one gas tank trips. FL roads are excellent, and access to many of these places costs only a parking ticket. One of the best investments we made was annual memberships to local museums and botanical gardens. They have opened up access to many other places with their reciprocal arrangements.

Most folks think of Florida as Orlando or Miami. The West Coast of the state is way better - not that I am biased. Some of the places here are still rustic, some are swanky, most offer plenty of history, almost all of them have stunning scenery with the water in the Gulf, in springs, lakes and rivers.

Come visit the West Coast of FL in 2021! In the meantime, enjoy this gallery of 10 photos from each visit.

Caladesi Island

Cassadaga

Cedar Key

Christmas

Clearwater Beach

Crystal River

Dunedin

Eureka Springs

Ft Myers

Ft Myers - Edison and Ford Estate

Gainesville

more Gainesville

Key West

Lake Apopka

Naples

Oldsmar

Osprey

Plant City

Punta Gorda - Babcock Ranch

Ruskin

Sanibel Island

Safety Harbor

Safety Harbor

Sarasota - Celery Fields

Sarasota - Ringling Museum

Sarasota - more Ringling Museum

Sarasota - even more Ringling Museum

Sarasota - Selby Gardens

Sarasota - more Selby Gardens

Sarasota - Tibbals miniature circus

St. Petersburg - Christmas 

St. Petersburg - Crescent Lake Park

St. Petersburg - Dali Museum

St. Petersburg - Edge District

St. Petersburg - James Museum

St. Petersburg - Museum of Fine Arts

St. Petersburg - New Pier

St. Petersburg - more of the new Pier

St. Petersburg - Sawgrass Lake Park

St. Petersburg - Sunken Gardens

Tampa - Channel A

Tampa - Cypress Point

Tampa - Historic District

Tampa - Lettuce Leaf Park

Tampa - River Walk

Tampa - River Walk at Christmas

Tampa - River Boat Parade - Super Bowl 55

Tampa - Raymond James stadium - Super Bowl 55

Tampa - River Walk prep for Super Bowl 55

Tampa - Upper Tampa Bay

Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs - Easter

Thonotosassa

Thonotosassa - Hillsborough River State Park

Tierra Verde

Treasure Island

Venice

West Coast on the East Coast

Many of my readers have been following along with 4 series of blogs/videos I have run over the course of the pandemic - Acrobatics during the crisis, Analyst Cam, Burning Platform, and Technology and my Passion.

There is a fifth series which has mostly shown up on Instagram and in my notes squirreled away on Google Drive. As she wrote in the Passion series, my wife Margaret is a packing pro - as in lots of activities on a day trip. Over the last few months, on weekends, she has used it to great advantage navigating all the lockdowns. We have gone up and down the West Coast of Florida mostly between Cedar Key and Marco Island - roughly 300 miles of Gulf coastline. A couple of destinations like Christmas (yes!) and Gainesville, are a bit inland. (Some of these posts are pre-pandemic.)

They have been mostly day trips, with masks and distancing precautions. Our roads are excellent, and access to many of these places costs only a parking ticket. One of the best investments we made was annual memberships to local museums and botanical gardens. They have opened up access to many other places with their reciprocal arrangements.

Most folks think of Florida as Orlando or Miami. The West Coast of the state is way better - not that I am biased. Some of the places here are still rustic, some are swanky, most offer plenty of history, almost all of them have stunning scenery with the water in the Gulf, in springs, lakes and rivers.

Come visit when you are comfortable getting on the road again. In the meantime, enjoy 10 photos from each visit. I will be happy to share my notes when you are ready. And many more photos.

In the meantime, I think I will donate a copy of my photos and notes to a time capsule of the pandemic of 2020. Hopefully, in posterity, someone will find them and contrast them to all the doom and gloom they will read about this year in the media clippings.

Caladesi Island

Cassadaga

Cedar Key

Christmas

Clearwater Beach

Crystal River

Dunedin

Eureka Springs

Ft Myers

Ft Myers - Edison and Ford Estate

Gainesville

more Gainesville

Key West

Lake Apopka

Naples

Oldsmar

Osprey

Plant City

Punta Gorda - Babcock Ranch

Ruskin

Sanibel Island

Safety Harbor

Safety Harbor

Sarasota - Celery Fields

Sarasota - Ringling Museum

Sarasota - more Ringling Museum

Sarasota - even more Ringling Museum

Sarasota - Selby Gardens

Sarasota - more Selby Gardens

Sarasota - Tibbals miniature circus

St. Petersburg - Christmas 

St. Petersburg - Crescent Lake Park

St. Petersburg - Dali Museum

St. Petersburg - Edge District

St. Petersburg - James Museum

St. Petersburg - Museum of Fine Arts

St. Petersburg - New Pier

St. Petersburg - more of the new Pier

St. Petersburg - Sawgrass Lake Park

St. Petersburg - Sunken Gardens

Tampa - Channel A

Tampa - Cypress Point

Tampa - Historic District

Tampa - Lettuce Leaf Park

Tampa - River Walk

Tampa - River Walk at Christmas

Tampa - River Boat Parade - Super Bowl 55

Tampa - Raymond James stadium - Super Bowl 55

Tampa - River Walk prep for Super Bowl 55

Tampa - Upper Tampa Bay

Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs - Easter

Thonotosassa

Thonotosassa - Hillsborough River State Park

Tierra Verde

Treasure Island

Venice

Snow Park in Florida!

Snowcat Ridge – the one-of-a-kind alpine snow park – will feature a massive snow tubing hill, Alpine Village and a ten thousand square foot snow-covered arctic igloo.

The snow tubing hill will be 60-feet-tall and 400-feet-long, with a magic carpet lift that will whisk riders and their snow tubes to the top of the hill. Guests can ride in a single, tandem, or 6-person family tube to slide down the snow-covered slope.

ABC Action News

 

Back to the Future - Supersonic flight

Built out of carbon fiber, the sleek white and black craft resembles a fighter jet more than a passenger transport. The 71-foot XB-1 will start making its first flights early next year, reaching a speed of Mach 1.3 before going even faster as testing progresses. If all goes well, Boom will turn its focus in late 2021 to completing the design of its first commercial plane, dubbed Overture.

The 199-foot Overture will get the blood of businesspeople and travel enthusiasts pumping as they picture a thrombosis-free future. The jet will carry 65 to 88 passengers, with roomy seats on either side of the plane separated by a walkway, meaning everyone gets a window and an aisle seat, ideally at business-class prices.

BusinessWeek