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December NEWSFLASH
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Dear Owner,
We are in the final stretch of what has been a difficult year for all of us. The perfect storm we experienced during 2009 starting with the Travel Warning issued by universities in Arizona just before the start of Spring Break, the bad publicity Puerto Peñasco has received, the N1H1 influenza pandemic in May and June, the new Passport Entry Requirements for US citizens starting in July, a couple of earthquakes somewhere in between and the 2008 / 2009 economic crisis have all contributed to a dismay year. Although the worldwide economy still has a way to go before reaching levels dose to those two or three years ago we are looking forward to 2010 with optimism and confidence.
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International Airport
| The inauguration of the New International Airport in Puerto Peñasco (Aeropuerto Internacional Mar de Cortés -PPE) by Mexico's President, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, got extensive media coverage and with the prospect of flights from Phoenix beginning as soon as January, we believe that the first quarter of 2010 will mark the start of regular charters to Puerto Peñasco. |
| Rotation of Units | Rotation of units
in the Rental Pool has always been an issue in the past. A few months
back we asked the company that supplies our Reservations and Front
Desk's system (RDP) to develop an upgrade to make condo's rotation
fairer for owners such as yourselves. I am glad to inform you that we
have been testing the new enhancement to the program for two months now
without any problems. What this upgrade does is that for rotation
purposes, only reservations
sold by Las Palomas (sales, reservations, groups, etc...) will affect
the rotation, any reservations made by owners (referrals, guest of
owners or for personal use) will no longer move the unit down to the bottom of the rotation. |
| Illegal Rentals | Unfortunately, some owners continue renting their units at rates below those authorized. They offer rebates, use outside companies to provide their illegal guests with room keys, use Guest of Owner reservations to avoid reporting rentals and are very creative cheaters on the whole! On the other hand, I am happy to inform you that the number of these illegal rentals has been decreasing. Both, the HOAs and Operadora are working hard at exposing them and taking strong actions against them. Only this last week, 3 units were taken out of the rental pool and in one case, their account was billed 35% of the equivalent of 15 room nights at rack rate. We will obviously continue to monitor Craiglist, VRBO and all of the other rental websites to ensure that the correct rates and conditions are being posted.
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Staff Changes & Additions
| Most companies nowadays have been restructuring and reorganizing in order to ride out the current decline in sales and Las Palomas is not the exception! We have been downsizing staff, combining responsibilities and tasks and reinforcing those areas that most need it, all in all making us more productive without obviously having a negative impact on the quality of service.
 In the Human Resources we have just hired David Gaytan as our Training and Development Coordinator. He will be in charge of revising all of our operational manuals, job profiles, job descriptions, recruiting, interviewing and selecting potential candidates, compiling an inventory of the skills represented by the Resort's employee and coordinating all of our training programs.David is 28 years old and has a Business and Human Resources Degree from Universidad Panamericana (UP) in Guadalajara, where he is from. He has held similar positions (Head of Personnel) since 2003.
 Last but not least, we would like to welcome Fernando Olguin as our new Maintenance Manager. Fernando is 41 years old, married and also from Guadalajara. He received his degree in Mechanical Electrical Engineering from the University of Guadalajara as well as an array of courses and dimplomas on the field. Mr. Olguin has held managerial positions in various industrial plants since 1996 and has excellent organizational and communication skills as well as being a hands on type of manager. I am sure Mr. Olguin will be an asset to Las Palomas Beach & Golf Resort.
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PROMOTIONS & SPECIALS At the beginning of January, we will be sending
out information on Special Rates & Promotions for the first quarter
of the year. We will also send information on F&B promotions and
events on a monthly basis as well as any other important information we
think might be of interest to you. |
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E-COMMERCE
We have been concentrating on E-commerce as one
of the main sales tools and will continue to do so during 2010. We have
uploaded rates on important sites such as: Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity,
Hotels.com and a number of others and we are happy to say that the main Travel
Sites (Expedia and Travelocity) have been increasing their room night
production. We will continue to develop this segment of the market throughout
the year. | |
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CHANGES TO IVA
As of January 1st, 2010 the Mexican Government
has taken the decision to increase the IVA (VAT) by 1% point. That is to say,
that the IVA along the border increase from 10% to 11% (including Puerto
Peñasco) and in the rest of the country from 15% to 16%. |
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All of us here at Las Palomas Beach & Golf Resort wish you and your
family the very best for 2010, may it be a year of success, health and …. a lot
of room nights!!!
Best regards, Arturo & Staff
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