NetSol Technologies, Inc., provider of global business services and enterprise application solutions, is forming a wholly owned subsidiary in China. To date, the company has operated in the region out of its representative office in Beijing.

China’s Economic growth, government economic stimulus policies and ten consecutive years of double-digit increases in disposable incomes are driving higher levels of demand for the company’s automotive and consumer finance software solutions, said NetSol officials.

NetSol expects to grow China specific revenues to nearly 25 percent of total revenues in fiscal year 2010. In addition to the core NetSol Financial Suite™ solutions, the company plans to offer a number of additional services through its Chinese Delivery Center.

NetSol officials said the company will follow a comprehensive compliance process while forming the new subsidiary. And the company anticipates the process to be completed within the current fiscal year.

For the past ten years Marjie Wells has steadily grown her business Stellar Events, which is exclusively devoted to planning large meetings and events for corporations.

Corporate incentive trips, her favorite to plan, have taken her to Cabo San Lucas, Las Vegas, Laguna Beach and as far away as Amsterdam and Machu Picchu in Peru, where she planned itineraries and coordinated activities and meals to the smallest detail for groups as large as 400 people.

A photo of the Inca ruins perched high on the Andes Mountains in Machu Picchu, where she took a group of 40 people in 2007, hangs proudly on the wall of her small office in Calabasas.

“It’s hard to imagine what really goes into getting all the people there in the right place at the right time, helping them with activities, and holding these great parties that are memorable,” she said.

In a business that’s all about relationships, her avid negotiating skills help maximize an event experience, getting the most value for a company’s budget, she said.

Ranging from $50,000 all the way up a $1 million per event, it’s been her accumulated industry knowledge and roster of contacts what has grown Stellar Events into a $3 million business by 2008.

Companies like Entravision Communications Corporation have relied on her services for years to plan events both big and small. Last year Wells planned the company’s incentive trip to Buenos Aires.

“It feels like you’re doing business with somebody who works for your own company, she’s that invested and committed to your interests,” said Penelope Wakeman, executive assistant to the president of the radio division of Entravision. “She’s very flexible and very insightful, we’ve used her for years and we just love her,” she added.

But the event planning industry has taken a hit.

The collapse of the economy and public backlash against excessive spending by corporate giants such as insurance company AIG, put a halt on most incentive trips and even impacted once routine meetings and conferences, Wells said.

“AIG had the most unbelievably devastating effect on our entire industry,” she said.

It happened in September 2008 when Congress found out that AIG spent $443,000, including $20,000 on spa treatments, for about 70 top-selling insurance agents and a few AIG executives at a luxury California resort, just days after accepting an $85-billion federal bailout.

Just like that, the incentive trip – a decades old industry practice used by companies to reward top producers who met sales goals, a proven way of improving business productivity, and a trip that in theory pays for itself- was considered excessive and lavish.

Almost immediately, hotels and event planners felt the impact as an estimated $1 billion worth of conferences were cancelled in the first two months of 2009.

Others cut back due to the recession.

Entravision, for example, scaled back on their incentive trip this year, and Wells planned their smaller event in October.

“Everybody in my industry would agree that there are not as many meetings, that they are smaller than they ever were, and in a way it’s more competitive [for event planners] and quite a few companies have gone out of business and given up.”

Like others, Wells has lost clients and annual revenue has decreased, but she has no intention of giving up. Instead, she’s honing her strengths looking for opportunities to diversify and adapt to the changing market.

The company already launched a strong marketing push that included upgrading their web site. Now, Wells said she is beginning to redirect efforts towards helping companies raise sponsorships for their meetings as an additional service.

“If you want to survive you’ve got to think ahead and be realistic,” she said.

At a time when everyone is looking to save money, pursuing the sponsorship concept would allow Wells to help businesses who understand the value of meetings as a way to build moral, create employee loyalty and build relationships, to also get a return on their investment.

With her years of experience Wells could offer businesses concerned about wasting money and staying within their budget, an opportunity to also get “more bang for their buck” she said.

As a way to test the ground, Wells recently launched a mall sponsorship campaign for one of her clients and in a very short time was able to raise enough money to pay for about 25 percent of their meeting.

“We had a really good response,” she said. “I’m thinking about pursuing the sponsorship concept because it doesn’t matter how good you are, if people don’t have the money to pay for an event, it doesn’t matter,” she said.

Even though incentive trips are not so big or popular anymore, there’s also an opportunity for Wells to help plan those more strategic meetings that help employees increase their sales and learn about marketing, for example, which she said are more needed in the current economy.

Wells, who majored in theater arts and started her career in the entertainment industry as an assistant director in film and television, excels at managing large crowds of people, something she learned in her earlier career, and is determined to continue to grow the business in the future.

Moving forward she plans to continue to stand strong behind the business principles that got her where she is: don’t get into debt, and don’t spend more money than you have.

”

We have no debt and we never have,” Wells said. “I think if you need to commit to a lot of debt to start a business you should really wait or think about it because it’s going to be your downfall. If you don’t have cash flow it’s very difficult.”

Stellar Events
Year Founded: 1999
Revenues 2008: $2.9
Revenues 2009: (projected) $1.9
Employees: 3

Mark Twain was famously quoted as saying,“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” CEO Tama Holve of Willett Travel in Studio City has adapted this quote when she teaches her five students at the Willett Travel Academy, a small class she teaches to future agents making career switches if they give her a one-year comittment to the company. She tells them “the demise of the Travel agency has been exaggerated.”

With the recession and the Internet people might be left wondering what are travel agencies doing these days to adapt to new technologies and how are they doing it?

They might be left wondering if the demise of the travel agency has been exaggerated. Holve says “they are alive and well.”

The industry has seen tremendous consolidation since the recession, including large numbers of mergers. According to a CNN report, the American Society of Travel Agents said there were 37,000 brick and mortar travel agencies which have been reduced now to 18,000 agencies as of August when many “merged or folded.” However, according to a CNN.com story that ran last August travel agents may be making a comeback. A Forrester study indicated that only 43 percent of travelers are enjoying their online booking experience while 57 percent do not.

This means people may be returning to the travel agent to figure out how to navigate their trip details on the Internet.

According to Holve travel agents are still in around, just in a different form. Their role has changed and adapted to fit the modern world and Economic situation. Local Travel agencies Willett Travel and Montrose Travel were interviewed about how the role of the travel agent has changed in a post-travel Web site era and how the role of the travel agent has changed since the recession.

Holve has been with Willett since 1978, owned the agency jointly started in 1987 and took over sole ownership about 10 years ago. In that time Holve said she saw in the early 90s the introduction of these Internet sites for booking. Holve said Willett specializes in “customized individual travel.” Holve said the customer base was so diversified she could not give a breakdown. However, she did say that entertainment , business and family travels were some of the demographics that they target.

“It was just really snuck up on us,” Holve said of the Expedia and Travelocity era. “I think it was something we were going along doing what we were doing and all of a sudden we realized we are not getting as many calls.”

Holve said they reacted to client demand, with some agencies and agents “reacting more quickly than others.

“It’s just knowing the years of experiences that many of us have.”

Lots of experience

Holve says travel agents can offer the knowledge of 60 professionals that share their clients experiences and personal experiences, and travel industry reviewers that they pay for.

“Then we have our vendors or our hotel representative whose job it is to sell the properties but more importantly to develop a relationship with them with us so that we can trust their advice,” Holve said. “ The representative or hotel sales representatives are the ones we have developed trust with through the years.”

She gave an example of a couple she had recently heard about who booked their honeymoon to Mexico on Expedia but the site neglected to mention that their hotel’s swimming pool was not yet completed.

“It’s extraordinarily important and the Internet wasn’t going to tell them the hotel wasn’t finished they wanted those bookings they wanted the money,” Holve said.

She said her reaction to the Internet age was based on the clients needs which Willett is here to fulfill.

“You can get all the information but whose going to tell you that it’s really right for you,” Holve said. “If a woman is buying an important dress, let’s say she’s buying a wedding gown. How many women go out and buy a gown without someone that cares about them? Not many because they want to be with someone who really cares about them . . . That’s the same thing. If we sell the client just anything to make a quick buck they won’t come back to us because you can’t take a vacation back. That time is gone forever. It really is our desire to make sure that the business traveler has the easiest most successful trip ever. The vacation traveler has their dreams fulfilled.”

Another trend in the post Expedia era that Holve mentioned was corporate travel returning to travel agencies to help save time.

“If you think about it’s a very time consuming proposition to book your own travel, “ Holve said. “ If you’re looking at an executive who has a lot of tasks at hand and whose time is highly compensated by the corporation, for him to spend an hour doing a reservation and if he needs to make a change online, where’s the value in that? When we book that and we can do the hotel reservation and we’ll take advantage of all of our corporate discounts and take advantage of the relationships that we have.”

Holve said this is also true for lower level employees. She said enforcing corporate travel policy on behalf of companies is easier for travel agencies.

“A lot of web sites are used to purchase air,” Holve said. “Many people feel that travel agencies are out of business. If you’re buying air on the Internet or hotel or a cruise most of the time you’re buying from a travel agency just like mine. They’ve just chosen to put their marketing money into an online presence.”

Holve also made the point that Expedia and Travelocity are often nonrefundable. She said the cost of losing one $400 Expedia ticket is like 10 $40 service fees where the trip is refundable.

Adapting

Leisure division manager of Montrose Travel Kate Bernier said with the advent of the Internet the biggest adaptation they’ve made is in their need to specialize in specific types of travel. They have agents at Montrose that specialize in cruises, the US and Hawaii, International travel and romance.

Montrose opened in 1956. When Bernier started at Montrose Travel 20 years ago, there were 14 employees and it was a $4 million company. Now it’s a $110 million company with 150 in house and 500 home-based employees according to Bernier. Bernier said Montrose is divided into 50 percent international and Hawaiian travel and 50 percent cruise travel. Bernier said her agents have learned how to price shop.

“Our agents embraced the Internet in finding the lowest rates. . . Online booking makes rates searching faster.”

Some of the other tools they use to learn about vendors are industry functions and welcome home conversations where they learn from customer feedback, a practice which is also used at Willett.

“The industry is constantly changing. We have to keep learning new things. Our agents want to know how somebody got a lower price and they used the Internet to do it.”

She said the reason for this adaptation and embrace of the Internet partially has to do with the popularization of social media.

“Booking agents feel safer,” Bernier said. “They are using technology in their personal lives . . . For some agents the transition was immediate. The younger they were the easier it was. But they taught it to the other agents. We saw the Internet as an opportunity although some agents struggled more than others.”

Post Recession

Holve also said the travel agenct’s role has changed to adapt to the recession. She said that despite economic woes, people especially want to go with a trusted company in times of trouble.

“People will say if they’ve been around they really must be doing something right,” Holve said. “ We couldn’t be taking advantage of people or not being honest or working without integrity because we wouldn’t last very long. We’re probably the oldest travel agency in Los Angeles. We opened in 1943 and I’m only the third owner.”

Holve said their largest financial issue is that since prices are so attractive to the consumer the travel agents are making less money.

“The cruise that was $1000 last year is $700 this year,” Holve said. “Clients are getting added value but we’re making less money. We’re selling more and working harder for less money. We’ve also reduced overhead costs a lot. But the customer isn’t seeing that reduction. It’s all internal.”

In addition, Holve has asked employees to pay for 25 percent of their healthcare costs for the first time, and she said they had to remove their full-time receptionist position.

“People that work in support positions are sharing that role,” Holve said.

At Montrose Travel, Bernier said they had a huge marketing push at the end of 2008 and the company actually grew during the recession in 2009.

“We saw people were wanting to go somewhere but are scared to spend a lot of money,” Bernier said. “They wanted the best deal and value. No one sets the market. They didn’t advance the budget they advanced the good value idea.”

As far as the cruise relationships have changed, Bernier said cruise line directors are looking at the bottom line as travel agencies are. She said they can help to fix problems.

“Last year was tough, a family of five could take a five day cruise for $149,

Bernier said.” This year is not as tough but still low. Vendors are looking at the bottom line.”

Overall Bernier said travel agents aren’t going away “We’re just in a different form. We’re savvier with specialized agents and focused on information.”

Virgin Galactic showed off for the public its SpaceShipTwo, a craft that will take passenger astronauts into sub-orbital flights as early as next year.

The unveiling at the Mojave Air and Spaceport was another milestone in Virgin Galactic’s role in the private commercial space industry.

SpaceShipTwo, dubbed Enterprise, was designed by Scaled Composites based at the Mojave spaceport. The craft can carry up to six passenger astronauts and two pilot astronauts.

Enterprise will be carried by WhiteKnightTwo to an altitude of 50,000 feet and dropped before the spaceplane fires its rocket engines for its sub-orbital flight.

The recent $2.5 million in renovations at The Beverly Garland Holiday Inn are only the beginning of a major transformation to bring the hotel up to speed and leave it better positioned once the economy recovers, its executives say.

The new courtyard, new pool (complete with pool-side fireplace), the lobby expansion, the new business center, new gift shop and upgrades to the hotel bars, restaurant and meeting rooms are all part of a growth strategy that more aggressively pursues business travelers while maintaining a balance with the family friendly feel of the hotel.

“We’ll be ahead of the game when things begin to turn,” said James Crank, Asset Manager of The Beverly Garland Holiday Inn and General Partner of the Rio Vista Development Company which owns the North Hollywood hotel.

“We haven’t been caught-up in a long time. We’ve been catching up and now we have the opportunity and the financial resources to do some of these improvements in this period of struggle,” he said.

Crank, who worked alongside his mother Beverly Garland until her passing in 2008, said the family’s conservative practices allowed the business to acquire savings and little debt since the hotel’s founding in 1972.

In a period of financial turbulence, when hotels have been struggling with poor business and room rates have dropped by 15-20 percent in the last year, these savings are now making growth and renovation possible at the hotel, while some competitors are retrenching, he said.

More so, The Beverly Garland’s growth plans have found synchronicity with the new direction of the Holiday Inn chain, he added.

Despite the tough economy, Holiday Inn is in the midst of the biggest relaunch in hospitality history updating its 3,200 hotels around the world in an attempt to create a more contemporary brand image.

The “relaunch” which aims to improve quality and drive consistency, requires hotels to add modern design touches to their lobby and use a scent machine that infuses all hotels with the same familiar smell. It also calls for new bed linens, pillows, curtains, shower heads, shower rods and bath soaps, among other improvements that can represent a total investment of $150,000 to $250,000 per property, most of which must be paid by the owners.

Up to standards

“We’ve always exceeded the Holiday Inn standards and now we’re finding that the standards that they’re bringing on are standards we already wanted to implement so their trend is going along the lines of ours,” said General Manager Bert Seneca.

The direction the Holiday Inn brand continues to follow in the future will be critical in determining whether the Beverly Garland continues to be part of the chain.

“We have a contract with Holiday Inn until 2013 and there will be a point in the next couple of years when we’ll need to sit down and determine whether we extend the contract or do we break away?,” said Seneca.

“They’re turning 90 degree turns every week it seems so the question is, in four years what are they going to look like and are we appropriate for the chain or not,” Crank added.

For now, The Beverly Garland will continue to enhance and upgrade its facilities and services to capture more business, capitalizing on its location near Universal Studios, said Seneca.

Since 2007 the hotel has seen a 300 percent improvement in its guest satisfaction scores, he said, and the renovations have allowed the hotel to capture market share among corporate clients looking to cut costs in the difficult economy but who still demand quality.

As proof that the strategy is working the hotel recently secured an account from a corporate client that guarantees 2,000 room nights annually, he said.

“It’s a substantial account which we secured because of the investments that have taken place; it’s positioned the hotel in a way that I can have the confidence to go after those businesses and deliver what’s expected,” Seneca said.

Still family

And while the hotel is determined to enhance services that cater to business travelers such as faster wireless Internet and a business center, the property also lends itself to simultaneously cater to family vacationers by offering such amenities as kid’s suites, tennis courts and a new pool where in the summer the hotel plans to start offering dive-in movies.

The hotel, which sits on seven acres that Garland’s husband purchased from Hollywood icon Gene Autry, is looking to enhance a boutique resort feel said Crank, who plans to invest another $1 million in renovations in 2010.

“A huge amount [of the property] is underutilized so we have a lot of opportunity to grow,” he said.

“We could build another tower with another hundred rooms, or we could build a spa, we’re very much looking into offering a really neat day spa concept. We’re also looking at creating a wedding concept here, and building out of the lobby to be even more usable to our banquets and weddings. There’s a lot of exciting things we can do.”

Currently the hotel is testing out new rooms with modern designs that include hard surface flooring and walk-in showers, before possibly launching a full-fledged modernization. Three meeting rooms at the hotel will receive a complete makeover beginning in March, allowing the hotel to attract a new level of small business meetings with 200-300 attendees.

The future plans of the hotel also include ‘going green’ according to Crank who is currently studying several proposals for solar panel installations on the hotel roofs, and also include changing the vegetation of the premises to require less water.