Everything office-related is oriented towards boosting productivity – from chairs, office desks and the choice of colors to rec rooms. Every passionate professional should aim at maxing out their productivity, and these valuable tips will help you achieve the ultimate goal of becoming a lean, mean success machine.
Starting a business may seem like something so far-fetched at the moment the idea strikes, that it may sound almost impossible. However, every successful company, from your local successful vendor to Apple has a humble story about a spark that ignited a franchise behind it. Owning a construction business is no exception; it takes guts and a note of fearlessness to get things running, but also a ton of work - from dealing with promotion and marketing, to figuring out how to cover the costs of your new startup. Planning ahead, commitment, passion and focus are the pillars of a successful construction business. Commit and start planning ahead right now!
It is a fact that over the last years, we have seen a growing need for traditional revenue management (RM) to evolve from having sole emphasis in maximising revenue mainly from rooms, towards adopting a more holistic view and focusing on achieving profit maximisation across the whole organisation. The latest developments in technology and added pressure in the market have advanced RM to acquire a strategic and proactive planning role with emphasis in maximising all components of the customer journey, instead of being utilised as a short-term reactive solution. This gave birth to the idea of Total Revenue Management which should be implemented as a business philosophy and strategy as its principles take into account the entire operation. Total Revenue Management, (TRM), comprises both strategical and tactical procedures and aims to identify & optimise the customer journey. For this customer-focused role to be effective it is imperative to understand consumer behaviour and patterns before, during purchase as well as throughout the product utilisation in order to accurately identify and map demand forces with profit potential. TRM has remarkable potential and the main benefit of its application as a business strategy, is the formation of a mutual and clear vision that enables everyone to work towards adopting the right attitude and commercial approach while expanding knowledge and insights on factors that influence profit. Installing a Revenue culture, right from the start, is of outmost importance for successfully deploying TRM. A Revenue culture implies that all stakeholders have a common vision of what needs to be achieved, why, and how. By having a clear understanding of what the organisation stands for and the strategies & tactics used to reach set targets, it is easier to define standards of performance and establish expectations. Whilst not everyone will ultimately be responsible for achieving what is required, it is essential that relevant stakeholders will participate in the discussions and everyone is aware of decisions taken. This will improve cross-departmental communication, while having an overall view of the business will motivate and incite involvement that will give the team a sense of ownership. The implementation of a rigorous training program is mandatory to shape and instil the right mentality and guarantee a long term success. This will create an environment that celebrates opportunities, transparency and diversity. Moreover, the role of a Revenue Manager and its position in the organisational structure will need to be re-examined and expanded to include additional responsibilities. Beyond the analytical skills, the modern RM will also need to possess character traits such as impeccable communication, influential and leadership skills. As requirements will include focus on overall profitability, current metrics will need to be re-evaluated to reflect that. While RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) will still play an important role, TrevPAR (Total Revenue Per Available Room) will need to be established to measure overall performance, while GOPPAR (Gross Operating Profit Per Available Room) should be adopted to measure profit. Calculating GOPPAR could prove challenging as different organisations place different cost elements before or after GOP. Therefore, a universal re-positioning in financial statements will be required for the adoption of this fundamental metric. Furthermore, to increase benefits from a TRM system, it is vital to optimise the buying process and measure total spend, consider different type of customers, their purchasing power, needs and habits. For optimum results the process of segmenting customers will need to take into account the contribution of each segment in all revenue streams as well as the cost of sale. This will provide a detailed view and understanding of who the customers are while having the knowledge of which segment is more profitable, will offer a clear insight and enable the development of the Optimum Business mix. In fact, while examining only rooms may classify a segment secondary due to less booked revenue, the contribution in ancillary products combined with how they book can make it more profitable. To facilitate the above a seamless system that enables cross-departmental sharing of data will be a key element. While the benefits of technology are undeniable, the variety of systems used in different departments may present a challenge for implementing a TRM process. System integration is required to ensure that cross departmental data processing necessities are met and total spend can be accurately mapped. A seamless system will ensure constant communication between all outlets and provide with accurate, timely and complete information for successful optimisation while enabling and supporting better management forecasts. Additionally, to proactively RM the business not only by price point but also by cost of acquisition & contribution by revenue source, it is essential to understand the unconstrained market demand. Forecasting is an essential business-planning tool that allows a view of how business is likely to perform in the future and it determines the fine-tuning of long term strategies and the deployment of short term tactics. It is one of the building blocks of Revenue Management and offers a way to plot business activities so that future demand will be met. It involves the analysis of past booking and spending patterns combined with the current and future trading in order to project a detailed outlook and in a TRM system this needs to be performed not only by market segment but also by revenue stream. Moreover, knowledge of the market and the forces that drive competition is necessary as forecasts should not only be based upon what is happening within the establishment, but needs to include external factors that can influence demand as well as the perceived value of the product. Obviously, a forecast is only as reliable as the information on which it is based and therefore a well-designed system will incorporate all the required procedures to guarantee the quality of data collection. The accuracy of forecasts will determine key decisions on strategies to adopt for revenue maximisation throughout the organisation, while the ability to anticipate demand patterns and preference requirements will facilitate the design and availability of services and products. Optimisation, another key element, compliments the forecast outcome and is the ongoing process of controlling product availability and price to ensure revenue and profit growth. In a constantly changing market place, having a thorough understanding of booking patterns, lead times and cost of distribution will enable managing demand not only by price but also by cost of acquisition & contribution by revenue centre. With demand fluctuating, optimisation aims to highlight deviations from the strategies in place and suggests corrective measures. It takes into consideration the profit elements that influence performance in all revenue streams in order to decide potential reformulation of adopted strategies. Having the right revenue culture makes optimisation easier to implement as there will be times where a sacrifice in price will need to be made for a product in one department in order to secure a piece of business that has significant profit value in another. Looking at business displacement plays an important part in the optimisation process when deciding which pieces of business to consider or decline. The process of calculating displacement will need to include cost of sale, overall revenue contribution, contribution margins for different revenue centres, past performance over considered dates as well as forecast and external factors that might be influencing demand. When considering pricing it is important to keep in mind the perceived value for money and have a thorough view of the value themarket places on the product. To achieve this, it is essential to incorporate ranking and review scores in different sources as it can be a critical decision factor for potential customers. Even though the components emphasised in this article are by no means a definitive list for a TRM system they highlight some key focus areas. And while there are still challenges in the adoption of such a business practice it is an exciting time for Revenue management. Technological advances have led to systems with enormous potential for handling the complexities of managing revenue streams due to their abilities in advanced problem solving, reasoning and perception. This will elevate the role of RM and empower it to reach its full potential whilst allowing the whole organisation to benefit from its concepts. Written by: Nicholas Tsabourakis / Managing Director at Bespoke Revenue Managemnt Katia Savoca / Revenue & Capacity Manager at Europcar
The reverberation from the sharp declines in mainland China visitor arrivals post-2014 echoed into the first quarter of 2016, negatively impacting hotel markets across the region, especially in Hong Kong and Macau. Given that both cities are less than an hour away from mainland China, they suffered from the new restrictions placed on Chinese citizens. For Hong Kong, this included a limit to one visit per week from neighbouring Shenzhen, and for Macau, a stricter control over gaming activities to reduce corruption. However, the market appears to have bottomed out and growth is beginning to stabilize.Hong KongA series of political incidents during 2014 to 2015 caused a slump in Chinese tourist arrivals, leading to a difficult recovery period for the tourism industry, which, until then, had all its eggs in one basket. However, since the first quarter of 2016, Hong Kong is gradually picking up its visitor arrivals pace, albeit not at the levels witnessed in 2014. In the second quarter of 2017, total visitor arrivals to Hong Kong registered 13.6 million, a 1% year-on-year (YoY) increase. The top six feeder markets demonstrated positive YoY changes, except Taiwan with a YoY decline of 1.1%.Mainland China continues to be the largest feeder market recording 10 million arrivals with a 0.8% increase compared with the same period last year. This represents a 74.2% overall share of visitor arrivals. An emerging trend among Chinese travellers can be seen through their travel choices which, while fuelling growth, may also be a potential limitation. Given increasing disposable income levels and a desire for more diverse travel experiences, mainland Chinese are becoming more adventurous with their travel choices. Over the past years, this directly benefited the growth of their arrivals in rival destinations such as Japan and South Korea and markets further afield, after having visited the more familiar environment of Hong Kong. With the growth of infrastructure in second- and third-tier cities and better high-speed rail links in mainland China, Hong Kong is hosting new groups of Chinese travellers from these areas. Therefore, the number of travellers coming from mainland China is stabilizing, however not reaching back to the peak in 2014 with 12 million travellers.Among the major feeder markets, the Philippines registered the highest YoY increase of 15.8% with 250,000 arrivals, a 34,000 increase from the same period last year. Accounted for 1.9% and 2.5% of the market share, Japan and South Korea both recorded a remarkable 11.9% and 7.0% YoY increase, respectively, with 263,000 and 337,000 arrivals. Meanwhile, USA recorded a positive but relatively lower increase as well through a 1.3% YoY with 316,000 arrivals. However contrary to the trend seen, India faced a drastic 17.3% YoY drop with a total of 27,000 decrease of travellers to 129,000. A major reason for this decline can be explained by the visa restriction proposed by the Hong Kong immigration authorities, making it difficult for Indians to visit without reviews and approvals. Originally intended to prevent an abuse of the asylum system, this proposal had since discouraged a great number of Indian tourists and businessmen from coming to Hong Kong. Additionally, Indian banknotes demonetisation implemented in November 2016 to reduce corruption had trimmed many Indian travellers' budgets. Overall, after years of recovering, the market is slowly catching up at a steady pace; demonstrating a rebound from the bottom.
The inaugural 2017 South East Asia Hotel Investors' Summit, held June 13-14 in Bangkok, brought together a strong showing of hotel owners, investors, developers and consultants from throughout the region under one roof. Key industry executives served on lively panel discussions addressing a variety of trending topics such as the Millennial generation, non-traditional hotel types and the impact of technology on the industry to name just a few.
Right now, we are all still talking about the rapid growth of China and to a lesser extend India, Russia and Brazil under the collective banner of BRIC. Their evolution into capitalistic territories has presented countless lucrative prospects for hospitality organizations both big and small. But there should be a fifth name in this acronym which is often overshadowed despite what's happening on the ground and despite it being the fourth most populous country in the world.
As more and more Chinese tourists go abroad on holiday, China's budget hotel chains are expanding overseas to serve the country's growing numbers of international travelers. According to a recent article in the Financial Times, low-cost hotels such as 7Days Inn and GreenTree Inn have already opened hotels in Austria, the U.S., Thailand and Vietnam, and are looking to expand further in Germany and Italy, following Anbang's purchase of the high-end Waldorf Astoria in New York for nearly $2 billion in 2014.
Destinations, hotels and tourism businesses should seize the opportunities of digital democracy created by the semantic search revolution that has only just begun. WHEN Google switched its algorithm to semantic search in 2013 it began to clear away dodgy SEO practices and leveled the playing field for small operators and destinations. It made it easier for small businesses to create an honest strategy to rank well online in Google and the search engines.
On the eve of the 2nd edition of Tourism, Hotel Investment & Networking Conference (THINC) Sri Lanka, hosted by HVS, this article explores the historical performance and outlook for three key hotel markets, namely Colombo, Katunayake, and Negombo, which are preceded by a snapshot of key macroeconomic and tourism statistics in the country. We also delve into prevalent travel trends and the challenges presented by the hospitality industry in these areas.Macroeconomic SnapshotThe Sri Lankan economy continues to inspire a fair degree of confidence, fortified by the gradual improvement in the external sector, with growing exports and remittances, and tourist arrivals reaching a record high in 2016. The 2017 budget points towards the persistence of the government's efforts to establish the country as a regional logistics and trading hub with better synergy with global markets as well as further openness towards foreign investments, particularly in tourism, apparel and information technology. Sri Lanka's annual GDP growth is estimated at 4.6% in 2016, as seen in Figure 1, and is anticipated to increase at an average annual rate of 5.2% between 2017-21, per the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), primarily led by private consumption and the inflow of remittances, as well as public investment in infrastructure. Historically, the Services sector has continued to contribute over 60% to the GDP (Figure 2), driven by the strength of the apparel, tourism and information technology industries. Figure 1: Sectoral Growth Rates (2013-2017)*EIU Estimates ** EIU ForecastsSource: The Economist Intelligence UnitFigure 2: Sectoral Contribution to GDP (2013-2017)*EIU Estimates ** EIU ForecastsSource: The Economist Intelligence UnitThe Sri Lankan rupee continues to experience downward volatility vis-à-vis the US dollar, averaging at LKR149/US$ in 2016 and this trend is expected to continue over the next five years, given the substantial trade deficit and inflation differential with the United States. Inflation, as measured by the Colombo consumer price index (CCPI), has averaged 4.5% in the past five years.To sustain the Services driven economy and develop the nation as an integral trading hub, the Sri Lankan government has undertaken ambitious programmes to modernise the island's roads, railways, ports and air transportation. Coupled with improvements in the power and telecom sectors, the infrastructure developments in the Northern and Eastern provinces as well as around Colombo will ensure long term economic growth.While the Colombo South Port Expansion project and the Hambantota Port development are already underway, the government is also focusing on creating a sustainable road network with projects such as the Outer Circular Highway, Colombo-Kandy Highway and the Southern Expressway. Additionally, the Terminal 1 at Bandaranaike International Airport is likely to be expanded by 2019 to accommodate 15 million passengers annually from the existing capacity of six million, further to which construction of the second terminal with the same capacity will commence. Tourism & VisitationTourism is the third largest source of foreign exchange earnings in Sri Lanka, accounting for 10.2% of the total in 2015. Total contribution of the Travel & Tourism industry to the country's GDP was 10.6% in 2015, and is forecasted to increase by 4.5% in 2016, per the World Travel & Tourism Council's Economic Impact 2016 report. Furthermore, Sri Lanka crossed the two million mark in tourist arrivals, recording a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 20% over the past five years. Figure 3 presents the figures for tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka for the past ten years. Figure 3: Sri Lanka Tourist Arrivals (2007-2016)Source: Sri Lanka Tourism Development AuthorityNot only have the tourist arrivals to the country witnessed exponential growth, earnings from tourism have also witnessed a CAGR of 31% over the past five years, totalling US$3,026.5 million between January and November 2016, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.Further to presenting the overall economic and tourism overview, we proceed to evaluate the operating performance over the past three financial years and provide an outlook for the branded hotel sector in Colombo, Katunayake and Negombo. We have considered the major international and domestic supply as the basis for the following analysis of these hotel markets, and excluded the smaller boutique or unbranded properties and one to two-star rated hotels. Moreover, the figures provided for the financial year 2016/17 are estimated based on interactions with the hotels' management and actual operating performance reported till December 2016. We have not accounted for hotels that have been operational for less than six months in 2016/17.ColomboThe commercial capital of the island, Colombo is connected by the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway (E03) to the Bandaranaike International airport to the north. The city is well connected to other integral destinations such as Negombo, the Southwest Coast, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Dambulla, and Anuradhapura by a network of highways. The data set presented for the Colombo hotel market comprises approximately 3,200 rooms.Demand Segmentation
The survey, representing 1,517 hotels in various cities across different star categories in India, presents key statistics for the industry. It provides information about financial performance, marketing media usage patterns, guest segmentation, etc.
I was recently interviewed by GlobeSt.com to discuss Chinese investment in the United States, including why the US is an attractive market for Chinese dollars, how it helps the US economy, and what it means for the Chinese market. Some selected excerpts from our conversation are below.
Hotel companies like Marriott International and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) are increasingly shifting their focus to Chinese travelers due to a surge in China's travel market, according to a recent article by Business Vancouver. This shift in focus has resulted in major expansions in China, with some international hotel chains even launching brands tailored to Chinese guests. Our research shows China overtook the United States as the number one business travel market in the world in 2016, with spend forecasted to grow 10.1 percent to $320.7 billion USD.
Korea is a popular tourist destination for Japanese and Chinese visitors, which both combined account for almost 60% of total international visitors in 2015. The geographic proximity and attractive tourism offerings cater to short getaway visits, particularly the capital city Seoul.
HVS is pleased to share the analysis and insights of the 2016 Hotel Development Cost Survey – India. The development cost is an important aspect of a hotel project that determines its viability. HVS, over the years, has helped investors estimate the overall cost of developing a hospitality project as part of the multiple feasibility studies we have performed for varied asset types across all positioning. This survey endeavours to enhance the knowledge and understanding of industry stakeholders on the subject based on actual development costs of recently opened hotels in India.
In the summer of 2015 the owners of a Japanese theme park called Huis Ten Bosch opened the first ever robot hotel. The reason to build a high-tech hotel is simple, according to Kataro Takada, head of corporate planning at Huis Ten Bosch: "Japanese society is aging rapidly. All over the world, this is an issue, but the issue is more pressing in Japan. It has led to a worrying lack of workers in the hotel industry. If we don't come up with solutions, the future of the hotel industry is at risk." This is particularly true for Japan, considering the number of tourists has doubled from 2015 to 2016.
The most recent Chinese literature about rural resident's subjective well-being focused on the population of children and senior residents (e.g., Han, 2016; Kuang et al., 2016). These two groups received particular attention because the current urbanization progress in China pushes large numbers of young labor away from their rural hometowns to work, many of them are parents.
High-tech development zones, areas representing the cutting edge of the high-tech industry, have been a driver of the economy and a window to the outside world for many cities in mainland China. Since 1991, the State Council has approved 105 national High-tech Zones in total, most of which cater to the heavy industries. However, with the continual development of China and the appearance of China's current 'L' economy, these High-tech Zones begin a transformation process and seed new industrial clusters, with an increasing share of producer service and financial services. For example, in the Bejing Zhongguancun Science Parkthe added value of the producer service industry in 2015 was doublethat in 2005, accounting for almost 50% of GDP in Beijing Zhongguancun Science Park. Producer services normally includes financial services, information services, technology services, commercial services and distribution services.
Indonesia Hotel Watch 2016 is a comprehensive report discussing trends and opportunities in twelve major hotel markets in Indonesia: Bali, Bandung, Bintan, Bogor, Jakarta, Lombok, Makassar, Medan, Palembang, Semarang, Surabaya, Yogyakarta.
With a fast changing economic environment and society coming to terms with the 'new normal' in China, the modular building system might become one possible remedy to bring momentum to hotel development in China, particularly in remote areas.
With a fast changing economic environment and society coming to terms with the 'new normal' in China, hotel developers are seeking for more carefully planned and executed projects, based on a sound economic footing to ensure sustainable operations. Under such circumstances the modular building system might become one possible remedy to bring momentum to hotel development in China, particularly in remote areas. This publication provides a brief introduction of China's modular building construction for the hotel industry. Why modular building? Modular building is a process in which a building is constructed off-site, under controlled conditions in a factory, delivering the consistent quality designed to the same codes and standards as conventionally built hotel units. The controlled environemnt and 'massproduction' allows for a significantly expedited construction timeline, saving as much as half the construction time. Companies like CIMC-MBS and Deepblue Smart House are the trailbalzers for modular construction in China and has provided numerous modular building solutions for different projects around the world, including residences, student accommodation, camp accommodation, hotels, beach houses, overwater bungalow etc.