SHR Soundbites

Nadine Böttcher, Head of Product Innovation, with OTA Insight, joins Jason Emanis, from Sweden. Nadine talks about the data revenue managers should be looking at—upper funnel, that is, when guest are starting to look for a destination and compare rates. This data is helping revenue managers track recovery and better understand who their guests are. She references the current dynamic in Europe with the opening of borders, where hotels are booking new guests simply because their destination is open for travel. Then there's domestic, international, business leisure. All types of guests now have a digital footprint hoteliers can learn from. More episodes at https://shr.global/soundbites.

Scott Neslage, Director of Revenue Management, for The Indigo Road Hospitality Group, joins Jason Emanis, from his soon-to-open, mountain lodge, the Skyline Lodge, in Highlands, North Carolina. Scott talks about his start in hospitality at Starbucks, his move into revenue management of restaurants, and now, hotels. Scott goes on to explain how the hotels that are investing in new technology within the context of Total Revenue Management, are more apt to succeed. More episodes at https://shr.global/soundbites.

Nicole Adair, Product Manager and Director of Revenue Management for Hire, with SHR, joins Jason Emanis, from her office in Dallas, Texas. She talks about how it's more important than ever for a hotel to be segmenting their booking business... -the huge shift from OTA to direct caused by the 'billboard effect' amid the pandemic, -the need to focus on using segmentation data to inform their strategy, i.e., -booking window, -when the guest is booking, -where the booking is coming from, -cancellation rate by channel, -cost of channel that might lead to shift or restrict certain channels, etc.

Thibault Catala, Founder & Managing Director, Catala Consulting, joins Jason Emanis, from his home in London, England. Thibault is a revenue management consultant with clients in Europe and the U.S. He talks about shifting from revenue manager to profitability manager, how creative hotels are while in survival mode, how 'old thinking' is slowing some hotels' recovery, the embracing of Total Revenue Management, and when a hotel should look at using a revenue management system.

Jeff Kulek, Area VP and GM, for The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills, joins me from California. Jeff talks about his 226-room, all-suite hotel in one the US's site seeing meccas, their room package offerings, including longer-stay packages, and more.

Dermot Herlihy, Commercial Director at Corinthia Palace Malta, joins Jason Emanis, from his office in Attard, Malta. Dermot talks about how his role has changed, his focus on auxiliary revenue, how their using technology, even LinkedIn, a change in amenities given the effects of the pandemic, and and their move back into leisure from their recent focus on corporate.

Linda Gulrajani, Vice President of Revenue Strategy and Distribution with Marcus Hotels & Resorts, joins Jason Emanis, from her office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Linda talks about her closures and re-opens, how she dealt with no revenue to manage during the pandemic, how she worked to keep her core revenue team in place, how departmental collaboration increased, how pricing her resort saw an increase while other markets in heavily restricted cities/states had to be more aggressive. With no more weekday business traveler, and more people in the rooms during the week, her hotel had to adjust. While forecasting her hotels is a guess, she focuses on the next 30-60 days. She diligently looks at the last couple of weeks' pickup as well, how it's growing week over week, and watching group business pick up.

Gissell Moranta, Vice President of Sales & Marketing with Atrium Hospitality, joins Jason Emanis, from her home office in Dallas, Texas. Gissell brings a positive attitude to hospitality's rough going over the past year, adjusting to wearing many hats, marketing her meeting-space heavy hotels, becoming more effective with the beginnings of group and catering leads, and more.

James Barton, Global Head of Business Transformation, with Merlin Entertainment/LEGOLAND Resorts, joins Jason, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. James talks about the 9 LEGOLAND parks, the ones in development (Korea, China, New York), his journey since the first LEGOLAND opening, what his role entails (keeping finger on the pulse, new tech to help drive more revenue and add value to customers), the technology aiding amid the pandemic, like voice AI—everything is about driving contactless engagement.

Jerod Jackson, Vice President of Revenue Management, with ZMC Hotels, joins Jason from Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. Jerod talks about the growth period for hoteliers amid the pandemic, how ZMC immediately started making changes, everyone put on 12 more hats, doing a little more, with a little less, working smarter and more efficiently, moving away from brand-supported revenue services opting for in-house, looking at automating their reporting processes, and knocking on 2019's doorstep with regards to occupancy, rates, revenue, etc.