360 Inn Pricing Philosophy

Today i would like to talk about pricing for services offered by 360 Inn. As many of you know, we provide camping , trekking and other adventures in Kodaikanal. Most customers find our pricing reasonable while a few others negotiate with us.

Some customers see camping as a truly invigorating experience while a few others see it as a cheaper alternative to resorts. I thought i will clarify the amount of work that goes into delivering the camping experience we offer at 360 Inn.

First of all, camping for us is not just picking a random site and halting for the night. We typically discuss with customers their preferences over a few calls and get all details regarding the type of terrain they want for trekking (distance, hilly, steep) , the camping areas they prefer (waterfall, river) and the activities they want to engage in at the campsite. Once we get these details, we get our team in Kodaikanal to work on the details. We dont rely on any of the agents in Kodai city as most of them have no idea about real trekking routes and are typically cheats (they take tourists through a road trek rather than the forests). Our team does not have IITs or IIMs working on a plan but a group of villagers who are basically illiterates but who are experts in trekking routes in the Kodai forests. Unfortunately, these guys are exploited and have no source of income other than agriculture. Based on customer preferences they head out into the jungles to check out various terrains that meet customer requirements. In some cases, these guys walk about 22kms in a day to identify terrains. Lets say i get about 10 routes , i look at a few and finalize one of them for the customer. And what do i pay these domain experts? I either give them a tip or make sure they get a minimum rate for a customer trek, something that they truly deserve. And more often than not they take my word for the rewards that i promise to offer them.

We typically take a day to get back to customers (after getting their trip requirements) to ensure we can offer the best price(with some discounts for groupsize as well) . This leaves us with no scope for further negotiation. When we price for our services, we factor in all cost components such as guide cost, transport, Forest permit fee, campsite lease( many campsites that we finalize belong to villagers who lease it to us on a daily basis) and a few other fees (including a service fee) to go and stay deep into the forests which is again a very common requirement from our customers. Moreover we are the only firm that can get you to stay deep in the forests as we have very good contacts in Kodaikanal. Please note that most of our costs are fixed and if you are looking for cost benefits you must have a groupsize of 4-10

Over the last few years we have been gradually building an eco-system of people at 360 Inn who can offer you a great vacation in Kodai. I realize the potential of these villagers and am frankly amazed by their knowledge of the jungles. More importantly, i know that they can add an element of thrill to your vacations. But this requires us to acknowledge their skills and efforts and compensate them appropriately as done in the West where these kind of skills are highly valued. I must admit iam just a middleman here who is floored by their skills and would like to build a successful firm leveraging their expertise while at the same time ensuring that they have a good source of income.

For that to happen, you , as a customer, must value us not as a 'run of the mill' vacation operator who offers mass discounts but as a professional organization that works hard as a team to make sure every customer requirement is met. And at the end of the day if your requirements are met and these domain experts dont get paid what they deserve we might not be in a position to offer you the kind of services that we can offer today.

Having said all of the above, we at 360 Inn dont believe in negotiation because we charge a very reasonable price and employ highly skilled people who can guide you through an adventurous, insightful and enjoyable vacation in Kodaikanal.

Who are we, you might wonder? A while back we were disillusioned customers who were let down time and again by money hungry travel agents who offered the regular tourist stuff without any value addition which was the launchpad for 360Inn. We can only hope that you will agree with our philosophy !

thanks
shyam