Follow HSMAI in the social media

We all know the feeling of falling behind a bit, unable to keep abreast of the latest developments as they unfold. With the social media that really shouldn’t pose a real problem any more – plus: Where’s the harm in showing your support of an organisation to your liking?

HSMAI Europe offers the following outlets:

The HSMAI Fan page, with events, news, photos, discussions and video clips. Please note that the page opened on 28 October, which means there’s very little of either for the moment, but we would really appreciate your support – here.

We try to share interesting news and events on Twitter whenever we come across them. Besides, Twitter is an excellent channel for instant dialogue, and we try to follow followers back – to the best of our ability, which again helps us staying in the loop of things.  Please follow @HSMAIeurope here.

LinkedIn is the “professional” equivalent to Facebook, with a somewhat more trade and profession-oriented profile, perhaps also a little less social, in the private meaning of the word.  HSMAI Europe has a group on LinkedIn, open for members and other hospitality colleagues, where we welcome discussions, events and job tips, for instance. Welcome over!

Flickr is an excellent photo sharing resource, offering endless amounts of photographs, usually under Creative Commons licences, opening for free re-use, under certain conditions. Up until now we have to admit that we haven’t really been that good at sharing, but will try to improve. Either way, you may follow our photostream, if you like, and here’s where.

YouTube should need no further introduction, even though our industry has yet to use the service to its full potential, including HSMAI Europe. We have seen an increase in travel and hospitality companies using YouTube as a social – and free – distribution channel for TV ads, which has proven to be extremely successful in concert with other social media outlets, such as Facebook. Please join HSMAI Europe’s own YouTube channel here.

For the time being we do not update HSMAI.eu on a daily basis, but do on the other hand offer a daily update through The hospitality Daily (click green UPDATE button if it hasn’t updated since your last visit), based on links from a list of resources we follow on Twitter, which you may find handy. Please inform us of  Twitter profiles you think we should include.

Ireland, UK: Revenue Management Workshops En Route

HSMAI Europe will be co-hosting seminars on Revenue Management with HSMAI Ireland in Dublin and Belfast, as well as with BAHA in London between 29 November and 2 December, in what is dubbed an extraordinary opportunity now rolling out across Europe, the “introduction to the CRME (Certified Revenue Management Executive) programme, granting you the right to add CRME to your name and title, which carries with it the recognition and authority, as well as job opportunities, entailed”.

The programme is based on HSMAI Amaricas’ recently upgraded certification in Revenue Management, where “individuals working in revenue management in the travel and hospitality industry, upon meeting the minimum qualifications for participants, can take a 60-minute online examination offering a chance to confirm their knowledge, experience, and capabilities”.

The workshops will take place in Dublin (29 November), Belfast (30 November) and London (2 December) 2010.

Accomplished international resource

“We are extremely pleased to introduce our Irish and British colleagues to the workshops, led by Jeffrey Osborne CRME, who is an accomplished international resource and trainer with broad experience throughout European and North American markets,” says Ms Ingunn Hofseth, president and CEO of HSMAI Europe in a statement.

Jeffrey Osborne CRME, CEO of Intelligent Hotels, has been recognised worldwide for his cutting edge, results-driven approach to the design and implementation of systems that enable hotels to maximise profits through savvy revenue management. Using the expertise developed during a 25-year hospitality career, involving corporate, operational and revenue management positions, Osborne has successfully put his results-driven strategies to work for independent and branded hotels and resorts throughout Europe and the North American markets.

Two tailored seminars

There will be two separate seminars in all three venues. The first session, from 9 am to midday, is designed to help current revenue managers prepare for the examination required to become certified in Revenue Management under the current guidelines of HSMAI.

Session 2, from 1 pm to 4 pm, is directed towards experienced revenue managers and their leaders, to help them better understand what the process is all about, and what it implies for their business units.

Potential participants are welcome to join one seminar or the other – or both, taking place in these hotels:

Bewley’s Hotel, Ballsbridge in Dublin:

The Fitzwilliam Hotel in Belfast:

Hilton London Metropole in London:

Ambitious expansion plans

“We all share the expectation that the seminars may signify the onset of a productive HSMAI era in Ireland and the UK, but I would like to emphasise that it would have been hard to pull this off without the fabulous people in BAHA and HSMAI Chapter Ireland’s board of directors,” Ms Hofseth continues, adding:

“But let’s not forget the busy schedules in The Netherlands and Norway,” with reference to this agenda, including the HSMAI Europe conference in Lisbon 15 December, the HSMAI European Revenue Management conference in London 7 February 2011 and the HSMAI Europe Marketing conference in London 5 May, followed by the HSMAI European Travel Awards on the same evening – among numerous other events.

“There can be no doubt that we have an extremely interesting year ahead of us,” she says.

Nordic Scandic Expansion

Scandic is continuing to grow in the Nordic region, adding three new franchise hotels and renewing an existing franchise agreement. Three of the hotels are located in the city of Bergen in Norway and the fourth is in Arvika, Sweden.

“As part of our focus on developing and growing in the Nordic countries, we will be opening more new hotels in exciting locations over the next few years. We are extremely pleased that three new hotels in Norway and Sweden have chosen to join Scandic, cementing our reputation as the leading Nordic hotel chain,” states Anders Ehrling, President and CEO of Scandic.

Scandic Bergen City is renewing its franchise agreement. At the same time, two new hotels are being added in the thriving Norwegian city; Bergen Neptun (130 rooms) and Bergen Strand (98 rooms) will both become Scandic hotels around New Year.

In Arvika, Sweden, Scandic is entering into a franchise agreement with Oscar Statt, a central hotel with 88 rooms, a restaurant, bar, spa and conference facilities. The hotel will rebrand itself as a Scandic in 2011.

Photograph: The Bergen Neptun, Bergen, Norway

120,488 rooms in pipeline

The Europe hotel development pipeline comprises 705 hotels totalling 120,488 rooms, according to the September 2010 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report released this week. The region reported 310 projects in the In Construction phase with 56,582 rooms.

“The European pipeline is the smallest compared to the existing supply of all the global regions,” said Elizabeth Randall, managing director at STR Global. “We have seen an average of 1.2-percent increase of supply so far this year and the pipeline of 705 hotels makes up only 1.4 percent of the total supply. The maturity of the market and limited land availability are some of the reasons for the smaller pipeline. Despite this, we have seen a continued interest to add new supply in established markets like the United Kingdom and Germany, which have the most upcoming projects; followed by an emerging destination, Russia, which sees more development in secondary markets across the country.”

Among the region’s countries, the United Kingdom ended the month with the most rooms in the total active pipeline (28,734 rooms) and in the In Construction phase (10,656). Germany reported 16,672 rooms in the total active pipeline and 7,645 rooms in the In Construction phase, followed by Russia with 15,627 rooms in the total active pipeline and 6,981 rooms in the In Construction phase.

Among the key markets in the region, London, U.K., reported the largest amount of rooms in the total active pipeline with 9,755 rooms, followed by Berlin, Germany (4,469 rooms), and Moscow, Russia (3,997).

Of the seven Chain Scale segments, the Upscale segment accounted for the largest portion of the total active pipeline with 23.7 percent and 28,615 rooms. Three other segments each made up more than 15 percent of rooms in the total active pipeline: Midscale with Food and Beverage segment (16.2 percent with 19,464 rooms); the Unaffiliated segment (15.7 percent with 18,956 rooms); and the Upper Upscale segment (15.5 percent with 18,648 rooms).

Busy European Agenda

European HSMAI activities are certainly picking up, as shown in the below listing (date format DD.MM.YYYY + hrs). Please also visit the HSMAI Calendar for details, as they appear.

• 11.11.2010 08:00–10:30, Oslo: Breakfast meeting on PR and corporate communications
• 16.11.2010 08:00–16:20, Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel, Oslo: HSMAI GM Forum
• 22.11.2010 10:00–11:00, Online: Webinar for Norwegian HSMAI Meeting Exchange participants
• 26.11.2010 HSMAI The Netherlands: Year-End Meeting – Best Practices
• 29.11.2010 09:00–16:00, Dublin, Irland
  • 09:00–12:00: HSMAI Revenue Management Workshop
  • 13:00–16:00: HSMAI Revenue Management Workshop
• 30.11.2010 09:00–16:00, Belfast, Northern Ireland
  • 09:00–12:00: HSMAI Revenue Management Workshop
  • 13:00–16:00: HSMAI Revenue Management Workshop
• 01.12.2010 08:00–16:15, Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel, Oslo: HSMAI Conference
  • 08:00–09:00: Breakfast meeting on the Revenue Management Executive certification
  • 09:00–12:00: HSMAI Revenue Management Workshop
  • 13:00–16:00: HSMAI Revenue Management Workshop
• 02.12.2010 09:00–16:00, London, UK
  • 09:00–12:00: HSMAI Revenue Management Workshop
  • 13:00–16:00: HSMAI Revenue Management Workshop
• 15.12.2010 08:00–16:00, Lisbon, Portugal: HSMAI Europe Conference
• 05.01.2011 10:00–11:00, Online: Webinar for Norwegian HSMAI Meeting Exchange participants
• 12.01.2011 08:00–16:00, Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel, Oslo: HSMAI Norway Meeting Exchange
• 12.01.2011 19:00–23:30, Oslo: The HSMAI Norway Awards
• 17.01.2011 HSMAI The Netherlands, Amsterdam: New Year’s Reception
• 07.02.2011 08:00–16:00, London, UK, HSMAI Revenue Management Conference
• 10.02.2011 HSMAI The Netherlands, HSMAI Trend Seminar
• 10.03.2011 HSMAI The Netherlands, HSMAI Trend Seminar
• 31.03.2011 HSMAI The Netherlands, Jaarbeurs, Utrecht, Event 11
• 05.05.2011 08:00–16:00, Hilton Park Lane, London, UK, HSMAI Europe Marketing Conference
• 05.05.2011 19:00–23:30, Hilton Park Lane, London, UK, HSMAI European Travel Awards
• 19.05.2011 HSMAI The Netherlands, HSMAI Trend Seminar
• 23.06.2011 HSMAI The Netherlands, HSMAI Trend Seminar
• 08.09.2011 HSMAI The Netherlands, HSMAI Trend Seminar
• 13.10.2011 HSMAI The Netherlands, HSMAI Trend Seminar
• 25.11.2011 HSMAI The Netherlands, Year-End Meeting

All events given in local time. Please see the HSMAI Calendar for continuous updates.

Career Investment Scholarships

BAHA – the UK’s leading educational organisation for professionals involved in financial management, revenue management and IT within the hospitality industry – is inviting senior hospitality industry practitioners to nominate outstanding young employees – working in Finance, Revenue Management or IT – for a ‘BAHA Career Investment Scholarship’, designed to provide career development for upcoming young people currently working in the hospitality industry.

The new BAHA educational initiative involves the awarding of a total of five ‘Career Investment Scholarships’. The scholarships will afford the five lucky winners – who must be 25 years-old or under, and do not need to be BAHA members – an unique opportunity to learn from, be noticed and publicly recognised at, the forthcoming one-day BAHA Annual Conference and IT Exhibition, to be held on 25 November 2010 at the Sofitel Hotel, London Heathrow at Terminal 5.

Commenting on the new awards, BAHA Chief Executive Carl Weldon said: “The ‘BAHA Career Investment Scholarships’ offer the winning candidates an unrivalled chance to enhance their continuing professional development (CPD) at the Conference through attending a comprehensive programme of highly topical ‘best-practice’ educational workshops and presentations led by a distinguished array of speakers – all experts in their own fields – who will be addressing the most pressing current issues in hospitality finance, revenue management and IT.

“The prize for winning each of the five Scholarships comprises full-day attendance at the Conference and IT Exhibition; as well as a place that evening at the BAHA Conference Gala Dinner – one of the traditional social networking highlights of the hospitality industry year – where the candidates’ outstanding achievements will be officially and publicly recognised. And that’s not all – each scholarship recipient will be featured in BAHA’s monthly magazine ‘BAHA Times’!”

The criteria for application are that:

• Candidates must be 25 years-old or younger on 11 November 2010
• Candidates must be employed in a hospitality organisation and working in Finance, Revenue Management or IT
• Candidates must have been working in the hospitality industry for a minimum of 12 months
• Nominators must be senior members of staff and understand that there is only ONE application allowed per company/independently owned business
• Nominators must accompany their candidate’s application with a CV and letter outlining why the candidate should be considered.

To make the entry procedure as fair as possible, BAHA is asking all scholarship nominators to make their nominations online – for the nomination form, visit: www.bahaconference.co.uk. The closing date for entries is 4 November 2010, with judging taking place on 11 November. Further information can be obtained from BAHA head office on telephone: 01202 8894 30; or BAHA Chief Executive Carl Weldon on email: carl.weldon@baha-uk.org

About BAHA | BAHA is a non-profit educational organisation, formed in 1969 with the aim of bringing together those hospitality industry professionals involved in financial management, revenue management and IT. Since its inception, the membership has expanded to over 800 members and is recognised as the United Kingdom’s authoritative voice in the hospitality industry on financial management, technical accounting issues, taxation, and hotel valuation. BAHA is also the leading arena for debate on hotel systems and Revenue Management topics through their annual Conference and meetings programmes. BAHA provides the only industry specific Hospitality Finance qualification and is currently developing similar qualifications for Revenue Management and IT within Hospitality. For more information, visit www.baha.co.uk