The Analytic Hospitality Executive

APPENDIX 2Case Study from IDeaS: Meetings and Events Revenue Management

Kate Keisling, Product Manager, New Business Development for IDeaS—A SAS Company, provided the following perspective on analytical opportunities in meetings and events.

INTRODUCTION

Industry experts have been talking for years about optimizing function space. In rooms, we settled on a core set of metrics we all agree are the best tools for measuring success, and these are widely reported. Basic metrics like occupancy, revenue per available room (RevPAR), and average daily rate (ADR) are widely accepted across the hotel industry. Somehow, we haven’t done the same with function space. These room metrics provide the base for so much of our decision making. Other sources of income, specifically food and beverage, can make up nearly equal portions of a hotel’s revenue budget and are not represented in these metrics.

The other complicating factor is the sheer volume of data in areas like food and beverage. Without tools to manage the size and complexity of the data in food and beverage, many hoteliers make meeting and event decisions based primarily on rooms and topline revenue factors. While this can provide limited success, it doesn’t provide the whole picture. Food and beverage can also represent one of the most significant cost areas in the budget. To get the most out of meetings and events business, sellers and managers need to understand profitability.

As you take steps to improve your results from meetings ...