HSMAI Ireland Chapter hear Revenue Management boosting tips

DUBLIN, Ireland—The Irish hotel market has been one of the most challenged in Europe, with heavy discounting being the order of the day. To help recalibrate the industry to be more focussed on delivering a revenue maximised approach, top US expert Jeffrey Osborne CRME led a one day seminar in Bewley’s Hotel, Dublin 4 last Monday.

The seminar was part of a four-city-tour by Jeffrey, who also presented in Belfast, Oslo and London (of which the latter takes place today), and the delegates in attendance were treated to numerous practical examples and tips from a speaker with a wealth of inside knowledge in Revenue Management tips. Text continued below photograph.

Osborne stressed to the attendance the need to adopt a more strategic perspective on price setting and one that was rooted in a better insight into the buying patterns of different hospitality segments. There was a very positive feedback from delegates to the presentation and also keen interest in the roll-out of the Certified Revenue Management Executive programme to Europe. In fact it is anticipated that the first Irish CRMEs will be graduating very shortly!

A globally renowned resource

Mr. Osborne CRME, founder and CEO of Intelligent Hotels, Inc., 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, Jeffrey Osborne has successfully put his results-driven strategies to work for independent and branded hotels and resorts throughout North America and overseas.

Top photo: Mr. Jeffrey Osborne CRME giving a lecture on Revenue Management in Dublin.

Middle photo: This article’s author, Mr. Alex Gibson, Director of the Board, HSMAI Ireland, and Mr. Jeffrey Osborne CRME, CEO of Intelligent Hotels, Inc. at the Revenue Management Workshop in Dublin 29 November 2010.

Bottom photo: The attendants at the Dublin Revenue Management Workshop took a keen interest in the roll-out of the Certified Revenue Management Executive programme to Europe.

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.

HSMAI Partners With d2o

HSMAI Europe has signed a sponsor agreement with the renowned PMI company d2o (Performance Management Intelligence), who has been extremely successful in the international hospitality industry over the last couple of years, chiefly among the larger chains, but also with independent operations.

The HSMAI sponsorships work as a two-way arrangement, mutually benefiting both parties, both financially and professionally, and we believe that d2o have a lot to contribute with regards to the latter, but are convinced that we can provide them with a great deal of industry related feedback, as well as exposure.

The next issue of the HSMAI Europe quarterly, HSMAI Gazette (click here to read the first issue), features an in-depth interview with d2o’s CEO Mr. Young N. Nguyen (above), but until that, we strongly recommend a look at this article. Please visit the company’s website for further details.

There are other partnerships in the pipeline, too, to be announced in due time.

London Business School

The Norwegian HSMAI GM Forum for hotel managers, assisting managers and chain managements is to be held in Oslo on 16 November, with London Business School’s Michael Nowlis as keynote, followed by the Norwegian HSMAI Hospitality and Travel Industry Day on 1 December.

Revenue Management seminars are scheduled for a number of European cities, starting in Dublin. HSMAI Europe’s first Portuguese conference is to take place in Lisbon on Tuesday 7 December. Two days later, Thursday 9 December, it is time for the first HSMAI European Advisory Board meeting in London, setting out to plan next year’s HSMAI European Travel Awards on 5 May, also taking place in London, with a two-hours lecture by Mr. Nowlis, who will act as moderator for the rest of the meeting, making plans for the HSMAI activities in Europe.

The 18^th Norwegian HSMAI Meeting Exchange is held in Oslo on 12 January, at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel. The HSMAI Meeting Exchange is the largest meeting place for buyers and sellers of conference and meeting services. That same night HSMAI’s Norwegian Awards is held at another Oslo venue.

International Expert

Mr. Michael Nowlis may seem a recurring name during the autumn term, and rightfully so. Mr. Nowlis is an American, residing in Paris for a number of years. He headed the Cornell Essec in Paris, and fronted the international hotel organisation, too. We have had the good fortune to use him as lecturer at several earlier occasions, to which members have responded extremely well.

For the last four years Michael has been directing the Senior Executive Programme at London Business School.  LBS has been in the news a lot since it was named the top business school in the world by the Financial Times earlier this year.  He directs their flagship executive education programme for C-suite enterprise leaders at major global corporations.  Harvard is the only other business school that has a programme at this level.

He also continues his consulting and seminar activities.

We would like to use this opportunity to welcome new members from all over Europe, hoping that together we will prosper and thrive as a result of new knowledge, brought about by the industry’s top notch experts.

Sincerely,
Ingunn Hofseth
President & CEO, HSMAI Europe

Top photo: Mr. Young N. Nguyen, d2o’s CEO.

Belfast’s RevPAR strong

LONDON — Data from STR Global, the leading provider of market information to the world’s hotel industry, shows the decline of the Belfast hotel market being offset by surprisingly competitive recent revenue per available room. The year-over-year percentage change in RevPAR for the 14 hotels sampled by STR Global in Belfast—which includes a mix of independent, domestic and international branded properties—has been in accelerated decline since September 2008.

Read more at HotelNewsNow.com