The attendees represented 47 hotel brands and management companies, and 71% of the hotel attendees were in corporate or regional revenue management positions.

Themed “The Politics of Revenue Management,” the agenda delivered aggressive and forward-thinking ideas, issues and strategies on the topics of greatest concern to those involved in revenue management at both the property and corporate level.

“The conference exceeded our expectations in every way, from outstanding content and speakers to the tangible takeaways. It was a wonderful opportunity to discuss new thoughts and ideas on today’s hottest issues in revenue management,” stated Barbara Bowden, corporate director of revenue management, Peabody Hotels Group and chair of HSMAI’s Revenue Management Advisory Board.

“Revenue management is a dynamic and valuable discipline,” stated Trevor Stuart-Hill, vice president of revenue services for Destination Hotels & Resorts in his highly anticipated session on “Twenty Years of Revenue Management: Has It Worked?”

He said that growth in average rate correlates almost exactly to revenue growth over time, and that it is in average rate where, historically, the impact of revenue management can be most easily identified.

“We need to: manage up, recruit, both from within and outside, leverage technology and continually learn,” he noted. “For the future we need to shift the focus from reacting to existing demand to proactively managing ancillary, function space and outlet revenue streams and further inject ourselves into the sales, marketing and business processes at our respective organizations. We can, and should, become directors of enterprise-wide revenue optimization.”

“If you have ever sold out, whether or not you think you are practicing revenue management, you are,” claimed Tom Walker, vice president of business consulting at The Rainmaker Group, in his keynote address “Practical Considerations for a Comprehensive Approach to Revenue Management.”

“Revenue management is a way of doing business that permeates the organization,” noted Walker, advising to “understand demand, and demand beyond what you can accommodate,” and that “loyalty programs help you know your best customer and deliver quality service.”

Addressing how revenue management can enhance customer service, he said “forecasting helps save space for your most valuable customer and improved profitability funds improved product.”

Other key points:

• Revenue management is leveraging constrained resources
• Revenue management can’t be a black box: it can’t be magic
• Customer segmentation is a revenue management function as each segment has a different price point

A major milestone for the revenue management discipline was the release of the new, comprehensive publication by HSMAI: Defining Revenue Management: Top Line to Bottom Line. Authors Kathleen Cullen and Caryl Helsel, along with Tim Wiersma, chair of the Publications sub-committee, presented highlights of their findings and research, followed by a Q&A with the audience. Copies of the HSMAI Foundation-published Special Report were distributed for the first time at the conference, and are available free to HSMAI members (one per member) or $79 for non-members from www.hsmai.org.

The concurrent break-out sessions included:

• “Pricing Consideration for Group Sales Business” with Barbara Bowden, corporate director of revenue management, Peabody Hotels Group
• “Bringing More Than ‘The Numbers’” by Shawn McAteer, senior director of field sales & marketing for Embassy Suites/Hilton
• “Who Do You Report To and Where Did You Come From?” The State of the Revenue Management Profession in 2006 presented by Jeff Beck, Ph.D., of The School of Hospitality Business at Michigan State University and Susan Gregory, Ph.D., professor and head of the hospitality program at Eastern Michigan University. Beck and Gregory reviewed the initial findings of a study on this subject, which included identification of the top five skills that revenue management professionals felt helped them succeed.

The top five are:

1. Team-based interpersonal skills
2. Technical skills
3. Internet and group management skills
4. Personal communication skills
5. Understanding of trends in strategic pricing

Complete findings will be detailed in an upcoming article in the HSMAI Marketing Review.

Other highlights of the event were a welcome and introduction of HSMAI’s Special Interest Groups by Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHA, president and CEO of HSMAI; “The Politics of Revenue Management,” an overview presented by HSMAI Revenue Management Special Interest Group (SIG) Advisor Doug Kennedy; and an update on HSMAI’s Revenue Management SIG from Barbara Bowden; a Partner Showcase and cocktail reception.

Among those who attended were industry professionals from leading organizations including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Best Western International, Benchmark Hospitality, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International, Peabody Hotel Group and Hyatt Hotels & Resort, as well as a large number of individual hotels and resorts.

Timed in conjunction with HITEC 2006, the conference was presented by HSMAI’s Revenue Management Advisory Board.

Sponsors of the conference were: Amadeus, SECURE-RES, IDeaS, The Elise Group, Hotel Information Systems, PROS, TIG Global, AltiusPar, Aspire, EZ Revenue Management Solutions, Maxim Revenue Management Solutions, Opera Revenue Management, TravelCLICK, and HSMAI University. For more information on future partnership opportunities, contact Melanie Penoyar, director of development, at (703) 610-9024 or mpenoyar@hsmai.org.