This is another topic I’ve wanted to write about for some time. I remember reading about this mission some years ago, and today it’s become a reality.

Earlier this year, InterContinental Hotels Group, (IHG for short who owns Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and InterContinental among other brands) became the first hotel company to receive an LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) volume precertification established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).

Honestly, they could change their name to “Innovation Hotels Group”, which is a more accurate reflection.

See – In 2008 IHG launched the Innovation Hotel, an idea of what future hotels might look like if they used green technologies. Today, that idea has spread throughout the hotels in the chain who have registered for Green Engage. When the program is complete, all 4500 Hotels in the chain could save $300 million in reduced energy costs annually.

The company currently has around 1000 hotels that participate in the Green Engage program, which helps each hotel measure, manage and report their environmental impact. (You can find a current list of hotels here.) More hotels will become certified in the Green Engage program this year.

Hotels input their site data into Green Engage. Then, the system automatically generates reports and benchmarks against similar hotels across the world. Green Engage then advises both new-build and existing hotels on the specific actions they need to take to reduce their impact, depending on their climatic location. It’s not only a very bold program, but one that can make a huge impact. IHG is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, with 650,000 guest rooms in 100 countries.

I first heard about Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design back in 2007, at the YTB National Convention. The plan was to make the YTB Home Office LEED compliant. That too was a bold plan, and we all loved the initiative, including the surrounding area which hopped on board with future plans of their own in the community. Unfortunately, YTB was doing too well at the time, and it freaked some people out. According to ignorance – Direct Sales Companies can’t do what we do without something being wrong with them. MLM is a bad place to be, especially when you’re successful and don’t conform to irrational people who for one reason or another not only detest our model, but have to shove their beliefs down everyone’s throat.

Instead, our success was attacked by a supplier who dropped us, viscous hate blogs and boards popped up smearing the company. And the best part – California pilfered $875 thousand in a bogus lawsuit they could never prove – but ended up getting a financial windfall in a settlement. (While the collective victims it claimed to protect got 0.005% of what the suit was filed for.)

Nope. Legal fees and pure ignorance in this case put the kibosh on YTB and environmental leadership because jerks will be jerks with their own fantasy that YTB and people like me are the bad guys.

Anywho…

I love innovative and bold companies like IHG and YTB. Not only is IHG (and YTB at before the attacks) able to show that responsible tourism can be done well, and with a profit – but they show a corporate conscious that unfortunately is rare. Although, I see more companies like IHG getting on board. And others should. Consumer research confirms that people are more interested in sustainability issues than ever before.

So, the next time you’re looking to book a hotel, try IHG’s portfolio of hotel brands including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.

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I’ve enjoyed the last couple of days watching the critics swarm around the virtual water coolers on the internet just licking their chops for the third quarter numbers to come out. I checked one of my favorite places and laughed at how anxious they were. It reminded me of a bunch of addicts waiting for some dealer to show up so they could get their fix. It’s been more than 19 years since my last drink or drug, but I still remember waiting with anxious anticipation for THAT car being the guy with my next score.

Imagine their surprise when the dealer ends up being an undercover Cop to bust them.

On what charge you say? Being F.O.S. (Think about it.)

The speculation of course was that YTB has been bleeding money, and Management doesn’t know how to manage the money they have. When news broke earlier in the week over the pending sale of the old Home Office building it was because YTB was in a cash crunch. It had nothing to do with the fact we have a gorgeous new 130,000 square-foot complex to move into. No, we needed the money because our critics were absolutely sure that there would be yet another huge loss for YTB.

Why? Because recruiting is down, and the focus of course (actually “phobia” is a much better choice of words) has always been about the recruiting. Their theory is that if you can cut the recruiting off at the knees you cut the life blood of the pariah that consumes and controls your life.

How I would have loved to see the looks on the faces when critics opened the YTB 10-Q and saw a profit for Q3 of $287,999.

Surprise!

So what went wrong? How could the critics have been so far off base? (Again)

Simple. They don’t have the first clue how a Network Marketing business actually operates and stays solvent. (I’ll even go as far as stating ANY business for that matter.) This quarterly provides proof that it’s not about “recruiting” and the Kool-aid they’ve been drinking is spiked with nothing but rumors, lies and myths.

None of these characters have any actually experience in Network Marketing, and the knowledge they acquire to form their beliefs and opinions isn’t even “book learning” for the most part. Many of the beliefs are formed from the very massage boards and blogs they participate in. The blind leading the blind so to speak, so it’s not at all surprising that everyone ended up looking like dolts.

I don’t know, nor do I care if they’ll ever grasp that the money made in selling travel agencies goes directly out to the field. Every penny of the $449.95 from the sale of a travel agency is tied to the representatives who sold it. If you like that idea, you can join the ranks of YourTravelBiz.com for free by the way. And “free” negates the California complaint according to the letter of the law. But that’s yet another surprise we have for our critics.

The number critics were looking for certainly showed up with a mere 114,614 active RTA’s at the end of the quarter, a decrease of 13% from the previous quarter. Sales of travel agencies were cut more than half, down from 38k in Q3 of 2007 to 15k the current quarter.

So how in the world could YTB show anything other than massive bleeding and negative numbers?

Here’s a quick breakdown of the numbers.

• Online travel store sales increased $1,205,560 or 10.8%
• Monthly renewal fees increased $576,579 or 3.3%
• Travel commissions and services increased $2,478,103 or 44.8%
• Training programs and marketing materials revenue decreased ($1,843,333) or 40.8%
• Other income increased in the third quarter by $590,203 or 52.7%

Net revenues totaled $42,876,354 and $39,869,242 in the third quarter of 2008 and 2007, respectively, a slight increase of 7.5%.

Expenses also increased considerably year over year with the following breakdown.

• Depreciation and amortization increased of 123.0% or $374,274.
• Marketing and selling expenses increased by $825,865 or 152.0%
• General and administrative expenses increased 50.7% or $6,242,058.

So let’s me see if we have this right? We had a decrease in RTA’s, increased expenditures, but increased revenue for a quarterly profit of $288K?

Yep. The numbers don’t lie, that’s exactly what happened and our critics are busy scratching their heads wondering what happened.

What’s so much fun to watch is that after Q2 reports came out, and predictions of up to $6 million in losses bit them in the gluteus maximus, we were told to wait until Q3. Excuses started to emerge just like they are now. The spin and claims now are that none of the additional slander and junk they’ve been spinning has had time to take full effect. The California suit had just been announced, and ambulance chasers decided to get into the action as well to spread fear about the end of YTB mid quarter. Now that those allegations have come up lame these very same people who simply ignored the egg on their face last quarter are looking once again into the unknown. Believe it or not, we’re all supposed to wait until the Annual Report for them to show us they’re right and we’re wrong. How fun it is watching them weasel their way out of yet another speculative blunder.

For the record, I don’t know why they do it. It’s almost as if they like looking like clowns. I think a more accurate description would be that their entire existence revolves around proving their superior knowledge and understanding about any subject of conversation. It could be taxes, travel, ethics, stocks, laws, compliance, you name it. If it’s being discussed around the virtual water coolers on the internet, they always appear to be the guy or gal who’s “in the know”.

And a simple word of caution when it comes to correcting any of them. Don’t. You’ll be called every name in the book, as they attempt to shame you into submission among the other participants. Looking at this intelligently or rationally will have you scorned until you either give up or conform to their way of thinking. My best advice is to just smile and nod in a positive manor and when you turn your back you can then roll your eyes, or smirk and chuckle to yourself how insecure and desperate they are.

So we’ll just have to wait, AGAIN, for the promise of our critics showing us that this model just doesn’t work. It’s flawed because all the money is made recruiting people. When the recruiting dries up like it has, we’re promised that the house of cards we’ve built will come crashing down.

Do you really want to worry about such nonsense and spin? Or would you rather look at the fact that YTB turned a profit under the combined adversity of mud slinging and economic conditions?

The choice is yours.

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An operation considered to be one of the fastest-growing Internet-based travel companies is planning to move into its $2 million headquarters in Wood River by the end of the month.

YTB International Inc., at 1 Country Club View Drive in Edwardsville, will move into its new corporate headquarters in the former Kmart building on Edwardsville Road in Wood River on Dec. 26.

“We’re really excited about it,” said Andrew F. Cauthen, president and chief operations officer of the company.

The company, which is publicly traded and operates three divisions – YourTravelBiz.com, REZconnect Technologies Inc. and YTB Travel Network – announced in July that it had purchased the 120,000-square-foot building and 13-acre site with plans to renovate them.

The announcement was made shortly after another development group said it planned to demolish the building along Illinois Route 143 to make way for a $10 million to $12 million automobile dealership complex that would have included Federico Chrysler-Dodge Inc. and Jack Schmitt of Alton Inc. (Alton Centers Nissan)

The dealerships still plan to build on land west of the property at the intersection of Route 143 and Lakin Boulevard.

Cauthen said one of the reasons the company chose Wood River is that it simply outgrew its site in Edwardsville. He said the company liked the location and could renovate the former retail site for about $40 per square foot, which is significantly less than the $200 per square foot it would cost for a new building.

Work has been under way for the past several months. The company hired C.O.R.E., a project management firm, to oversee the work being done in the former restaurant of the building.

“We have a business to run and needed someone we could trust to oversee the project,” Cauthen said.

He said the renovation is being done in three phases. Current renovation is considered Phase 2.

Phase 3 of the project will include building a state-of-the-art 500-seat theater and dining room in part of the 100,000-square-foot site, and Phase 4 will be transforming the remaining portion of the building.

“We cannot wait until it’s done,” Cauthen said.

The building should be completed in 2008, he said.

“Right now, it still doesn’t look that different from the outside, but within the next year, it will,” he said.

Cauthen said the company plans to spend an additional $10 million in renovations.

The company projects that by June 2009, it will employ nearly 600 people or more and earn $338 million in annual revenue.

J. Lloyd “Coach” Tomer, founder of the company and chairman of the board, said he is excited about moving into the company’s new digs. He said he is especially looking forward to being a part of the Wood River community.

Tomer, along with his son, Scott, and friend, J. Kim Sorenson, started the company in Alton.

In June 2001, six employees started working for the company in the former First National Bank building at Third and Belle streets. By July 2005, the company had outgrown its space and moved to Edwardsville.

“We had 39 employees when we moved,” Tomer said.

During the past 18 months, the company has hired 100 people, and once it moves to Wood River, it plans to hire more.

Wood River Mayor Fred Ufert said he is excited about the company’s move, which he said adds to the growth and development that is rapidly taking place in the city.

“Having a corporate headquarters in town will be a good thing for the community,” Ufert said.

He said he hopes the company’s anticipated growth will bring more development to the area.

Tomer agreed. He said that besides office personnel, 60,000 referring travel agents are part of the business, and they visit the company’s headquarters by the hundreds at a time.

The business basically allows people to start their own Internet travel business. Those who become referring travel agents earn a commission every time someone books a trip from their site.

YTB runs the booking engine. The company merged with a New Jersey company, REZconnect, several years ago to get the technology that links Web customers in real time, allowing them to make travel reservations.

YTB develops, sells and supports the online travel Web sites of referring travel agents. The initial start-up cost for a referring travel agent is $450 and a $50 monthly maintenance fee.

Customers who log on to any YTB site have the ability to make reservations on more than 424 airlines, at more than 35,000 hotels and with most major car rental companies, cruise lines and tour package operators.

Tomer said all offices would be moving to Wood River. He said one of the reasons he is excited about the move is that city officials have welcomed the company with open arms.

Ufert said he hopes that with YTB’s move to the city, it will continue to bring more businesses.

“It’s been a good year for development in Wood River, and we only hope we can continue that,” he said.

Tomer said about 60,000 people will tour the home office next year and are likely to spend more than $6 million on hotels and $3 million on meals and entertainment.

“That doesn’t count our employees who leave the office for lunch, either,” he said.

Tomer said he hopes his business is able to help the city bring additional businesses to town.

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