> When someone says "price gouging", you imagine a vendor raising the price dramatically when they see that someone is in urgent need of something and in no position to negotiate. For instance, if a gas station owner raises the price to $50 a gallon when they see someone limping up with a gas can, and then lowering it again when they leave.
It seems like your example basically fits the real world one to a T. The investors are coming into town with their "empty gas cans" (i.e. need for a place to sleep) and the prices are jacked up accordingly until they leave town.
> This simply does not apply to an investor conference. There is plenty of advanced notice for people to plan accordingly (perhaps even -- gasp -- invest in more hotels if they are raking in so much dough).
Are you daft? Yeah, all the investors need to do is build a hotel in advance of the meeting! Or they could try alternative options, such as sleeping on the street, or in an airport.
"Or they could try alternative options, such as sleeping on the street, or in an airport."
Or not go to the conference. It's a business transaction: if the total price of the conference, including travel, is worth it, then go and be happy to reap the rewards. If it's not, then don't go, and they are no worse off. That calculation can be made before any other commitment is on the line, and certainly before they actually arrive in Omaha.
The motorist probably made a mistake or miscalculation that left him too far from a gas station, which he didn't have any idea would happen when he woke up that morning. He had to make a choice of which direction to walk and he was in for a couple miles of walking, so he could not easily see the price (much less comparison shop) until he had already walked a long distance.
The scenarios are as different as night and day. A high price is not "gouging" (by any reasonable definition) unless there are some other factors involved.
I'm simply stunned that we are even discussing the idea that hotels are somehow exploiting travelling investors by raising the price by a known amount during known times.
It seems like your example basically fits the real world one to a T. The investors are coming into town with their "empty gas cans" (i.e. need for a place to sleep) and the prices are jacked up accordingly until they leave town.
> This simply does not apply to an investor conference. There is plenty of advanced notice for people to plan accordingly (perhaps even -- gasp -- invest in more hotels if they are raking in so much dough).
Are you daft? Yeah, all the investors need to do is build a hotel in advance of the meeting! Or they could try alternative options, such as sleeping on the street, or in an airport.