CRME Webinar 1 June

HSMAI’s European members have called for an international Revenue Management Executive certification –also in Europe. We are, of course, only too happy to comply!

You and/or your colleagues may now be the first in Europe to qualify for this certification. In order to make the certification as easy and swift as possible, we have set up a one-hour webinar Tuesday 1 June, costing USD 99 for HSMAI Europe members (members of national European chapters are automatically members of HSMAI Europe) and USD 159 for non-members.

Join us for a one-hour Webinar at 15:00 (UK, Ireland and Portugal time) Tuesday 1 June, presented by Jeff Osborne (CRME), founder and CEO of Intelligent Hotels, Inc (15:00  in the UK is at 14:00 UTC, equal to 16:00  in the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Poland, France, Italy, Germany and so forth, and 17:00 in Finland and the Baltic countries).

To sign up:

For further details, please see this page.

In addition, we have several other offers in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, we wish you a fabulous weekend.

Sincerely,
Ingunn Hofseth
President & CEO, HSMAI Europe

Certified Revenue Management Exec (CRME) designation within reach for Europe

Jeffrey Osborne, CEO of Intelligent Hotels, Inc (formerly OZone Strategic Marketing, LLC) today announced that the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) European office has selected Intelligent Hotels and their extensive Revenue Management Training Group in a multi-year partnership to the lead role in preparing the next generation of Certified European Revenue Management Executives (CRME).

Ingunn Hofseth, President of HSMAI Europe chaired the selection committee. “We had a desire to partner with a firm that not only had relevant and successful European Industry experience, but one who possessed unique and effective training skills that will bring about the best and drive our membership’s #1 Priority – Professional Development,” Ms Hofseth declared, continuing:

“In choosing Intelligent Hotels we not only get dynamic training programmes in front of our members over the coming years, but we will also launch electronic media that will be self-paced and accessible 24/7 through links on our European website. Our membership is quite regionally diverse, and spans several time zones and the programmes that Intelligent Hotels will develop for our membership will prepare them for the Internationally recognised CRME certification exam.”

For over a decade, Osborne’s global team has been working in tandem with hotels enhancing each property’s position within their competitive market.  They have successfully developed strong sales, distribution, and channel management strategies and tactics for all sales categories in many key markets world-wide.  “We did not just hang out our shingle last week, like many entrepreneurs of the day. We have had a laser sharp focus on developing revenue management programmes specifically designed to grow revenues in any market in any economy for hotels around the globe for over ten years,” Mr Osborne says, adding:

“Whether we are providing our unique Interim Revenue Management Solutions programme, or utilising our full-time team of experts, we customise and create key revenue growth methodologies and comprehensive training programmes to allow our partners to generate superior financial performance.”

About Jeffrey Osborne: Jeffrey Osborne brings an in-depth, practical knowledge in revenue management, marketing, and operations gained over the past 20 years to his current role as CEO of Intelligent Hotels. Having held leadership positions in corporate offices as well as on property throughout the US, Canada, and Europe, Osborne has been recognised world-wide for his cutting edge approach to developing systems that work effectively in the operating environment of any hotel.

His extensive background includes executive positions within TravelCLICK as VP of Information Product Sales, where he introduced and took to market, the Data Products that have revolutionised competitive intelligence for revenue management professionals. Osborne has also held senior corporate positions developing and implementing Yield Management programmes for all hotels within the Disneyland Paris Resort Group, Loews Hotels, and many others.

About Intelligent Hotels, Inc. (formerly OZone Strategic Marketing, LLC): Headquartered in Stamford, CT, USA, Intelligent Hotels, has been developing and implementing cutting-edge revenue growth strategies for the hospitality industry since 1999.  Intelligent Hotels has driven above market RevPAR growth and RoI for its client base of more than 35 hotels representing approximately 12,000 rooms in just the past four years alone. Past clients include luxury properties around the Globe in the portfolios of Leading Hotels and Resorts, Preferred H&R, Small Luxury H&R, Relais & Chateaux, Desires H&R, Viceroy H&R, Marriott, Hilton, Capella and Solis H&R, Loews, Le Meridien, and Millennium/Copthorne.  Intelligent Hotels also has extensive experience with limited and select service hotels within Choice, Holiday Inns, Ramada, Interstate and the Marriott Brands, as well as Mexico’s Leading Luxury Brands within the Grupo Posadas portfolio. In addition owner/investor groups, such as The Blackstone Group, Sceptre Hospitality, HotelAVE (Asset Value Enhancement) and The West Paces Hotel Group, have counted Intelligent Hotels as a partner in the past.

You could be a Certified Revenue Management Exec

This week’s conferences in Oslo and Stockholm featured an introduction to Revenue management confirmed the need for an international certification within that field – regardless your chain affiliation or nationality. The programme, originally developed in the U.S., is currently adapted and tailored for European needs, to be launched on this website in a couple of weeks.

The global financial recession has brought about challenges we need to address, as tourism and business travels alike have taken a downturn, calling for increased focus on maximising business opportunities and revenue management.

We also need to take a closer look at marketing, and to establish how to get the most out of each penny spent, thereby improving margins. Interestingly, we see how the two Special Interest Groups Revenue management and Travel Internet marketing overlap in that respect, which is why we’ve decided to launch the two first. But we acknowledge national differences, introducing both national and pan European SIG’s.

However, we go even farther:

With seminars and the Certified Revenue Management Executive programme we wish to enable our members to optimise income for just their businesses, and it really doesn’t matter where you are, as webinars will be used extensively, both in this particular area of interest and others. What better way to maximise income, than to save both time and money?

All webinars will be held in English and in a number of European languages.

Thanks a lot to all those who have contributed to a memorable and instructive week – and to HSMAI Global’s president and CEO Bob Gilbert, who toured the Norwegian and Swedish capitals with us this week.

A peaceful and enjoyable weekend to one and all!

Ingunn Hofseth
President and CEO
HSMAI Europe

European SIG’s en route

A conference was held in Oslo this week, focusing on Special Interest Groups and Revenue management, also featuring two sessions on Travel Internet marketing, Resort marketing, an environmentally sustainable hospitality industry, and theme-based adventures. The conference drew an interested crowd from all parts of the industry, eager to set up SIG’s, initially within the fields of Revenue management and Travel Internet marketing.

“I’m thrilled that HSMAI Global’s president and CEO Bob Gilbert took the time to attend, both in Oslo and Stockholm,” HSMAI Europe’s president and CEO Ingunn Hofseth says, adding “There’s little doubt that Revenue management SIG’s are in demand, as we saw in Oslo on Wednesday”.

Huge U.S. success

Marion Hughes, vice president for business development in Intelligent Hotels, gave a lecture – and supervised workshops – on revenue management, supported by HSMAI Global’s president and CEO Robert A. Gilbert, who shared the American experiences with an interested audience, focusing on the financial situation and the importance of establishing acceptance for the ROI (return on investment) pertaining to marketing expenses. He also pointed out that revenue management and travel Internet marketing are closely linked, and, as such, quite often overlap, in terms of special interests and their groups.

“The SIG concept has been very well received in the Americas region,” Bob told us. “This has been a huge value proposition, with somewhere in-between 700 and 1200 members per special interest group, and you know, HSMAI members are free to opt into all SIG’s for free. Turns out that lots of people want to learn, and we’re only happy to comply”.

“Crucial to the SIG concept are the various groups’ advisory boards, consisting of leading professionals within their respective fields of expertise,” he says. “And the user evaluations have been nothing short of fantastic. We have sponsored whitepapers, strategy conferences, web-based toolboxes and work on numerous platforms, both through the Internet and in more conventional settings”.

Much to gain on unfiltered customer response

When it comes to social media and opening up for member and user dialogue, the HSMAI boss is surprisingly open-minded:

“From a hospitality perspective, I think we’ve only benefited from the unfiltered feedback these new media offer. Whether a company decides to act on that response or not, is entirely up to them, but it provides a whole new set of opportunities. Also, it’s changed the paradigm of marketing completely, although, granted you have to give up some of the control, but gain so much more,” he says.

“We shouldn’t fear criticism. Criticism is good. And you know, sometimes, issuing an apology, if criticism is due, can earn you lots and lots of customer trust”.

When asked about the chief challenges facing the hospitality industry today, Mr. Gilbert replies unhesitatingly:

“The threat of new standards on all levels of travel and hospitality, especially in the corporate market. Travel and conference expenditures have been kept at a minimum throughout the global recession. We see this in all regions of the world, and I think we need to address that challenge, the sooner the better. If the industry allows that level to establish itself as the new normal, we’re all in deep trouble,” the global president and CEO concludes.

European Revenue Management Executive certification on the way

The author of this article also gave a lecture on travel Internet marketing, for an equally interested audience, eager to make use of the opportunities offered through blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube – and the plethora of social media outlets available today.

“I’m happy to say that a special interest group for travel Internet marketing is en route already,” says Ingunn Hofseth, who, by the way, has become quite the Internet socialite herself over the last couple of months. “But that’s not all,” she says. “In a matter of weeks we’re ready to launch a European certification programme on Revenue management, entitling the graduates to use the CRME (Certified Revenue Management Executive) designation, which has proved a great success in the Americas region, and which fills a void in the European hospitality industry’s follow-up studies,” Ingunn concludes, promising more news on the matter in two weeks.

Top photo: Norwegian HSMAI members from all parts of the industry listened carefully as Marion Hughes and Bob Gilberts shared their experiences with Revenue management in Oslo on Wednesday 18 November. Mobile photo: Jarle Petterson