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Maximizing hotel revenue in a downturn

December 18, 2008 | Hospitality Industry

The decisions you make today in your revenue management strategies will shape the profitability of your business over the next one to three years, says John Parke, President & CEO of Leadership Synergies in a recent HSMAI webinar.

In a 90-minute webinar session, moderated by John Parke, President & CEO, Leadership Synergies, Inc. and joined by Dr. Bill Carroll, Senior Lecturer at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration; Bonnie Buckhiester, President & CEO of Buckhiester Management USA, Inc.; Dan Kowalewski, Vice President, Revenue Management Systems, Wyndham Hotel Group; and Tom Walker, Managing Director, Room Revenew, panelists discussed what it will take to survive in the current economy.

The hospitality industry is looking at some new realities:

- An excess supply – construction properties still in the pipeline plus lodging alternatives;

- Groups are cancelling or postponing to later dates, and both the corporate and group markets are negotiating more aggressively;

- Leisure customers are downgrading, upscale to mid-scale; reducing spending for vacation choices, and shopping around;

The webinar offered strategies, solutions, and advice that will help in the near- and long-term.  Panelists counseled attendees to:

- Protect the brand when discounting;

- Add value rather than discount if possible;

- Reward the loyal guest rather than all guests;

- Integrate marketing with yield to optimize promotion and marketing spend;

- Make the best from what you get through up-selling and merchandizing;

- Negotiate shorter corporate deals to provide flexibility in the recovery.

The panel also discussed customer centric fences and implications, the importance of collaborating on direct marketing efforts, and characteristics of “total revenue management.”

This webinar was part of the 4-webinar series, “Leading Through the Economic Crisis and Preparing for Recovery.” One or all of them can be purchased in the form of 3 online viewings or a CD to share with your colleagues at HSMAI

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