Seeing as much of the world as possible is on most people's bucket list. It's a return on the investment that is your life, but being able to get your head around the costs involved can be a whole other story. There are exchange rates, transport to-and-from where you're headed, plus getting around wherever you're going, to consider. But when you think about how important comfort, security and safety are when you have your valuables in your back pack, and how you need a good night's sleep to get the most from your days, then this portion of your budget may start to make a little more sense. And if you're travelling on business? All of the above - as much if not more so!

Choosing your accommodation for leisure or business almost always comes down to location. Can you afford to lose precious time in your day commuting into and out of the hub of where you're staying? Take Cape Town for example; you may choose to stay in Muizenberg, but if you want to get the most of the Mother City's attractions or need to get economic value from your day doing business in the city, you need a quality, trusted, top hotel in a competitive location.

Feel like you're buying the whole room?

Think about the costs involved in order for a tourist-attractive hotel in a hub like Cape Town to deliver a world-class service to its guests.

If it's necessary to look world-class and deliver world-class, it needs to be world-class. South-african-hotels.com notes that this requires qualified employees, adequate cleaning facilities for rooms and linen, a qualified team of chefs and a fully equipped kitchen for catering, and fine furnishings in rooms, meeting rooms and hallways that contribute to a memorable and highly-rated experience. At some point you need to charge guests, so you need credit card facilities for payments that come with their own set of bank charges; and before all of that, you need Capital Investment.

This will probably be in the form of a loan from a bank with their own set of considerable monthly repayments and interest factors.

And then there's another petrol increase!

As individuals and as organisations, we're all susceptible to how a petrol price increase sends the rest of our bills into a state of serious concern due to the relative knock-on effect. Think about how that can affect a hotel business whose billings are based on a) capacity, and b) the cost of consumables, services and overheads before it can invoice a guest for anything. And when there's a hiccup with Eskom or a price increase from same, the costs have to be challenged - or absorbed - in order for the business model to continue to survive.

As a service industry offering, it is important for hotels to be consistent in their offering. So for the hotel and tourism industry, this means benchmarking the offering with international standards while meeting monthly financial targets throughout the year - even in the off-season months - but while being competitive at the same time. The challenge then is for these hotels to cut costs and save money behind the scenes - in areas that do not directly affect the guest's experience but so that the establishment remains competitive. This helps to leverage return business which translates from happy clients and which, in turn, makes your business happy too.

There's a lot to consider when choosing a hotel. Is it a fly-by-night establishment where you can't leave your passport in the room, or is it one with a great reputation based on good reviews and that comes at a competitive price, and in a good location?

What you have to ask yourself is how you balance quality and costs. There are establishments that will meet you on both of these but how and where you choose to allocate your budget comes down to your unique set of leisure and/or business needs. Expenses are not about an irresponsible allocation of funds but rather a responsible allocation of funds wherer you can see and measure your Return on Investment (ROI) for what you put in.

Whether it's for business or pleasure, be sure that where you decide to put your hard-earned money is an establishment that respects and understands the value of hard-earned money.

Read more about what South African Hotels here: http://www.south-african-hotels.com/blog/2013/05/hotels-and-their-challenge.html

South African Tourism Company

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