Vocabulary notes

convenience – удобство

to increase – возрастать, увеличивать

significantly – значительно

expenses – расходы

to pursue – использовать, следовать курсу

to drive down – снижать

to by-pass – обходить

to emerge – появляться

travelocity – скорость путешествия

to purchase – покупать

to involve – участвовать

to accelerate – ускорять

to prove – доказывать, подтверждать

to offer – предлагать

frequent-flyer mile – частые авиа маршруты

to book – заказывать

precise – точный

airline forecasting – заказ на авиабилеты

bigger – покупщик, заказчик

cuberfares – высокая авиа плата

yield – доход, результат

low-performing – малоэффективный

Comprehension and Discussion Questions

1. What is the role of the Internet for increasing consumer choice and reservations?

2. Can the airlines significantly cut their distribution costs selling tickets on-line?

3. What strategies are used by airlines to drive their distribution costs down?

4. Which is cheaper: a paper ticket or an electronic one?

5. Would you like to reserve tickets through an agent or to get an electronic ticket?

6. In what way can airlines generate additional revenues?

7. Is it convenient for a leisure traveler to reserve an electronic ticket for the upcoming weekend?

Text V. Business and the environment: less is more – manufacturers are trying to cut their use of packaging materials

In the early 1980s, when Procter & Gamble first test-marketed a highly concentrated laundry product, few people would buy it. Shoppers were put off by what they perceived to be less fabric softener or washing liquid at a premium price. Few of them seemed to care very much that so-called “ultra” products could slash the amount of packaging finding its way into landfills.

But it was hard to keep a good idea down. P & G and other big consumer products manufacturers are now profiting from a shift in consumer sentiment. By 1993, “ultra” – or concentrated – products were capturing about 70 per cent of the laundry market, according to Green Market Alert, a trade newsletter.

“Consumers once believed more is more, now they think otherwise,” says Jacqueline Ottman, a New York environmental consultant.

Concentrates are perhaps the most conspicuous success in the campaign by US companies over the past decade to minimize the undesirable effects of their packaging, most often by cutting the amount of material that requires disposal.

“Source reduction” is the buzzword phrase used in the field to describe a movement that embraces package redesign, “light-weighting”, and greater use of refillable containers and concentrates. It overlaps with efforts to promote recycling, which slows down demand for virgin materials.

Over the past four years, P & G has cut its use of packaging materials overall by 23 per cent, including a 42 per cent reduction in paperboard. It has also lifted the level of recycle materials in its packaging to 37 per cent, from 23 per cent in 1989-90.

“There is now a critical mass of recycled materials available to meet our needs and those of our competitors,” says Scott Sterwart, a spokesman for P & G.