Brandt Hospitality Group Getting Great Results From Accounting Software Partner
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Paramount Lodging Advisors Successfully Completes Another Texas Transaction with the Sale of the Courtyard by Marriott in Beaumont, TX
Paramount Lodging Advisors | October 31, 2018
Beaumont, TX - Paramount Lodging Advisors (PLA) has successfully executed the transaction of the Courtyard by Marriott in Beaumont, TX. Managing Director Kami Burnette and Managing Director Adam Montufar represented the seller in the sale. The 78-room upscale hotel is ideally located on Interstate 10 in Beaumont. This transaction represented the buyer's objective to capitalize on increasing revenues generated from the oil-driven market. Upon completion of the property improvement plan (PIP), the buyer should be well-positioned to penetrate the market. "The shale boom has generated a surge in Texas oil exports and its impact on employmen...
Revinate Announces Partnership With Duetto
Duetto | October 30, 2018
Joint Solution Powers Dynamic Pre-Arrival Emails That Drive Upgrade Revenue San Francisco, Oct. 30, 2018 — Revinate, the software as a service (SaaS) company that helps hotels transform guest data into revenue, today announced a partnership with Duetto, hospitality's only Revenue Strategy Platform, to enhance the power of its guest marketing solution. Now, joint customers will be able to use Duetto's platform and its Open Pricing application GameChanger to dynamically price upsells and upgrades driven through Revinate Marketing. The real-time pricing solution will enable personalized offers to maximize conversion and revenue. "Due...
Fairmas boosts global presence through hotel data integration with OTA Insight
Fairmas GmbH | October 30, 2018
Leading hotel technology specialists partner to increase business intelligence benefits BERLIN, LONDON - Fairmas GmbH, the long-established hotel specialist for software solutions in the areas of financial planning, controlling, management reporting and benchmarking headquartered in Berlin, and OTA Insight, creator of the hospitality industry's leading cloud-based business intelligence (BI) solutions specialising in pricing and distribution strategy, announce their partnership to integrate their systems to increase the benefits for their mutual customers. The collaboration on data integration allows joint customers to view their own ho...
Hospitality Financial Leadership: Trading Places
David Lund | October 29, 2018
Circa 2009. Late September. I'm the regional controller for five hotels. Sitting at my desk minding my own business, doing my own work when the phone rings. It's an old friend, one-time assistant, and now the regional controller based at a hotel in another city. He explained the desire to move back to where I was but was not having much luck finding a job. His homesick wife really wanted their children educated at home. We chatted for a few moments and caught up on different topics. Then he said, "Hey, David, how about we trade jobs?" "Can we do that?" I asked. Then I thought, "Wow, it's 28 years after the high school summer I planned t...
Three Ways Hoteliers Are Kicking Silos of Technology for Good (Finally)
Klaus Kohlmayr | October 26, 2018
By Klaus Kohlmayr Stop me if you've heard this before: In the age of OTAs and industry disruption, effectively managing a complex channel and distribution strategy is critical to a hotelier's bottom line. Yet archaic technology and a "this is how we've always done it" mindset are holding us back. Oh, you've heard it? Me too. For years, actually. So why are we still here? And more importantly, what are we doing to change? Because it feels like we're stuck in the same old rut. A few hoteliers seem to have figured it out. They've realized that an integrated distribution strategy, along with its intertwined relationship to sales, loyalty an...
Economically Speaking: Must All Good Things Come to an End?
DRB Development Solutions | October 26, 2018
By Donald R. Boyken, FRICS, FAACE, CCP Each year, The Hotel Lodging Conference invites leading economists to offer their predictions for the Hotel industry. This year, there was more belief in their predictions than in prior years. I say belief because judging by their presentations it was clear they included their political preference as part of their forecasting. The conclusion/question: How long could the good times roll? The pessimistic and optimistic outlooks agree – Something will happen to the economy in the next two years. However, the degree of impact was tainted by their political outlook. Readers of this article underst...
HFTP Purchases Rights to the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI)
HFTP | October 26, 2018
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) has purchased the copyright to the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI), a resource the association has been connected to since its origins. Widely used internationally, the primary purpose of the USALI is to offer operating statements formatted to provide hotel owners, managers and other interested parties with operational information pertinent to the lodging industry. The USALI was first published in 1926 and is currently in its 11th edition. The copyright was previously owned by the Hotel Association of New York City. The resource is published by th...
Spirides Arranges $7.8 Million Hotel Construction Loan for New Holiday Inn Express in Rock Hill, SC
Spirides Hospitality Finance Company | October 26, 2018
TAMPA, FL—Spirides Hospitality Finance Company has successfully arranged, and its client has closed a $7.8 million construction and term first priority mortgage loan from a southeast U.S. headquartered bank to finance the development of a new Holiday Inn Express in Rock Hill, South Carolina. This soon to be built Holiday Inn Express will feature 92 guest rooms and suites in a 5-story building situated on 1.4 acres of land. It will be located at 680 Tinsley Way, just off of Interstate 77 at the Dave Lyle Boulevard exit, in the City of Rock Hill, York County, SC, which is part of the Charlotte, NC metropolitan area. The hotel will be locat...
Revenue Management of the Future Will Require a Human, a Computer and a Dog: The Role of Humans in the Future of Revenue Management
Klaus Kohlmayr | October 25, 2018
By Klaus Kohlmayr "Everything we love about civilization is a product of intelligence, so amplifying our human intelligence with artificial intelligence has the potential of helping civilization flourish like never before-as long as we manage to keep the technology beneficial." – Max Tegmark, President of the Future of Life Institute "In the organization of the future, there's a human, a computer and a dog…" – Dave Roberts, SVP Revenue Strategy and Solutions at Marriott International. In recent years, the technology adoption curve has increased steeply-the amount of data being generated is expe...
SiteMinder Partners With Hotel Management System Pioneer AutoClerk
SiteMinder | October 24, 2018
Dallas, USA – More than 1,500 hotels across North America now have the opportunity to enrich their distribution and revenue management strategy, thanks to a new partnership between two hospitality technology leaders – SiteMinder and AutoClerk. SiteMinder, the global hotel industry's leading guest acquisition platform, and AutoClerk, one of country's most enduring property management system (PMS) companies, have developed a sophisticated interface between their two platforms that will help mutual hotel customers enhance the online distribution of their rooms and thereby grow their revenue. AutoClerk's president, Gary Gibb, ex...
The Innovative Hotels That Are Making Travel Better in 2019
Alan Young | October 18, 2018
By Alan Young Witnessing the gradual advancement and disruption of technology and services is an exciting, and sometimes industry-altering concept, as our world continues to evolve at a seemingly rapid pace to meet modern demands. Generations today know (and love) the likes of Netflix and Crave TV, for example, but many of us also remember the popularity of Blockbuster video — a formerly successful business model which now, doesn't even exist. And those of us who used to cling enthusiastically to our flip phones whilst playing 'Brick Breaker', likely upgraded to iPhones with their robust connectivity capabilities and e...
The Peabody Memphis Installs Aptech PVNG Cloud Accounting to Simplify Processes
Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. | October 17, 2018
PVNG Hotel Accounting Software is Easy to Learn and Use; Fast Response Time Gets Jobs Done Quickly PITTSBURGH, October 17, 2018 – Aptech Computer Systems announced that The Peabody Memphis upgraded its back office financial system to cloud-based PVNG Enterprise Accounting to simplify accounting operations and safeguard data in the cloud. The landmark 464-room Memphis luxury hotel was named the 2018 'Best Historic Hotel' in USA TODAY's 10Best Readers' Choice Awards. Aptech is the leading provider of hospitality business intelligence, budgeting and forecasting, and enterprise hotel accounting software systems. Click here for more o...
Two Roads Hospitality Appoints Martin Smith as Managing Director of El San Juan Hotel in Puerto Rico
El San Juan Hotel | October 16, 2018
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (October 16, 2018) – El San Juan Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton is excited to announce the appointment of Martin Smith as Managing Director of El San Juan Hotel, a premier luxury lifestyle hotel in Puerto Rico. As the new Managing Director, Smith will bring over 25 years of experience in the hospitality and tourism industry to the landmark 388-room property. Prior to joining the El San Juan Hotel team, Smith was CEO and Managing Director of the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort and Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. In this executive position, Smith oversaw all aspects of that property, including its positio...
Hotel Budget Season: Design Your Most Profitable Channel Mix Strategy in 2019
Kristi White | October 16, 2018
By Kristi White, VP, Sales Engineering at The Rainmaker Group Travel customers have an unprecedented number of options to shop and book hotels, with new competitors constantly jumping into the distribution channel pool. Determining what inventory to sell through which channels has become a critical component in operating a profitable hotel. The industry is seeing online travel agencies (OTAs) with market values higher than many hotel brands and commissions rising at twice the rate of revenue growth.1 Despite these intimidating numbers, intermediary distribution channels should not be looked upon with enmity, but rather as key players in...
Hospitality Financial Leadership – Understanding RevPAR and RevPAR Index
David Lund | October 15, 2018
RevPAR and RevPAR index are different and I'm going to explain them both in this article. Let's start with RevPAR It is the cornerstone of the hotel world and rightfully so. It is the product of occupancy and rate smashed together. The acronym stands for "revenue per available room." In a simple example: If my hotel was 60 percent occupied last night and my average rate was $100, my RevPAR would be $60 (100 x .6). The other way to calculate this would be to take the total rooms in my hotel—in this example it is 500—and divide that by the total room revenue last night. At 60 percent that means I had 300 rooms occupied and I w...
GCC Hotel Development Cost Trends
HVS | October 11, 2018
Analyzing historical trends, the key reason behind escalating costs per key continues to be low in efficiency and utilization of space. Price per sqm of total built up area remains largely the same and therefore it is crucial that any design optimizes the turnover per sqm of built areas. HVS provides an indicative reasonable range of BUA per asset type. Hotel Development Cost Source: HVS Research With the exception of Budget & Midscale Hotels which focus on efficient & flexible design, development cost per key for all other hotel classes have increased between 10%-20% since 2013, resulting in lower project returns. We consider ...
The Future of Revenue Management Is Not What It Used to Be
Dr.Gabor Forgacs | October 11, 2018
By Dr.Gabor Forgacs Not too long ago we thought the future of Revenue Management would be more data; faster processing capability; more revenue streams optimized; and more properties managed by one revenue professional. Now that the second decade of the 21st century is nearing its final year we can see that the "more" and "faster" will give way to something slightly different. How We Got Here The revenue profession in the hotel industry has grown up: there are revenue analysts, revenue managers, directors of revenue, even vice presidents and other executives – it is fair to say the revenue profession is emerging as a champion of p...
Avison Young Hospitality Group Discusses Recent Contracts
Avison Young | October 11, 2018
ATLANTA – October 11, 2018 – Avison Young Hospitality Group announced today that it has contracted on 12 separate hotel sales over the past several weeks. The properties include three full-service Marriott hotels. The sales also include seven select service hotels that include, three Marriott-branded assets, three Hilton-branded assets, and one Hyatt-branded asset. In addition, the firm has contracted for a historic hotel on the New England coast and a resort hotel and golf course in the north central US. In addition to the recently contracted hotels, the firm is running a call for offer process on 15 other assets within the...
Hotels to Face New Accounting Regulations That Could Impact Bottom Line
Clark Nuber | October 10, 2018
(Bellevue, Wash., October 10, 2018): Hotels, motels and inns should prepare now for changing accounting regulations that will impact how they recognize revenue. "These new Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) may significantly impact the bottom line of hospitality businesses," said Julie Eisenhauer, a CPA and shareholder of Clark Nuber, PS, in Bellevue, Wash. "Although the new rules won't take effect for private companies until 2019 and 2020, businesses would be wise to start planning for them now." One significant change involves customer loyalty programs, which allow customers to acquire additional accommodations or service...
Avison Young Hospitality Group Debt, Equity and Structured Finance Team Announces Closings
Avison Young | October 10, 2018
ATLANTA – October 10, 2018 – Avison Young Hospitality Group announced today that its capital markets team recently closed seven new hotel debt transactions totaling $148,250,000. The Debt, Joint Venture and Structured Capital team is led by Justin Piasecki and John Bralower from the New York Avison Young offices. "There has been a big void in the hospitality finance space over the past few years due to tight banking regulations," said principal Justin Piasecki. "We made a strategic decision to make sure that we know who all of the first mortgage financing, Mezzanine/Preferred Equity groups are who are focused on the hotel se...
The Future of Private Equity and Private Markets
Stuart Pallister | October 9, 2018
By Stuart Pallister Ecole hôteliere de Lausanne, a leading hospitality school, recently staged the 2nd annual private markets research conference. Private equity was a major focus this year particularly as the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund had recently decided against investing in this area. Private equity, or unlisted equity investment, has had an impact on a wide range of industries, including hospitality. A few years ago, Blackstone's $26 billion Hilton deal was hailed as the best leveraged buyout ever. According to a Bloomberg View columnist, the most profitable equity deal in history was 'badly timed but brilliantly execute...
Why You Need to Take a Holistic Approach to Hotel Budgeting
Kristi White | October 9, 2018
By Kristi White As summer's warm breezes and lush, green growth transform into the vibrant colors and crisp air of the fall season, another familiar season arrives in its wake: the often dreaded but always necessary Hotel Budget Season. To develop an accurate and functional budget for 2019, hoteliers must take a holistic approach to the process. This involves starting with a big-picture view that includes your top company initiatives, along with a drill-down into the data to identify significant, sustainable cost-reduction opportunities in conjunction with hotel-wide profit optimization strategies. This is all then compiled into a neat ...
Okada Manila Selects Rainmaker Solution Suite to Drive Guest Bookings, Outperform Competitors and Increase Profitability
Rainmaker | October 9, 2018
Luxury Property Chooses Rainmaker's Industry-Leading Revenue Optimization Suite ALPHARETTA, GA. — October 9, 2018 — The Rainmaker Group (Rainmaker), a leading provider of cloud-based hospitality revenue management software, today announced that Okada Manila has selected a comprehensive solution suite, including guestrev®, grouprev®, revcaster® and revintel®, to optimize hotel revenue and drive competitive advantage at the 993-room world-class luxury property. The agreement marks Rainmaker's expansion in the Asia-Pacific hospitality market. Okada Manila, the largest casino resort in the Philippines, is a popul...
Why More Consolidation Is on the Cards for Hotels
Real Views | October 8, 2018
From mega-mergers to niche acquisitions, consolidation is recalibrating the balance of power in the hotel industry as established operators get bigger and smaller brands seek new ways to differentiate themselves. Today's hotel operators are increasingly looking to diversify their offerings with a range of different concepts, for example serviced apartments or boutique chains alongside their established brands, as well as branching out into new countries. New live-work-play concepts are emerging as "a kick against the idea of the traditional hotel", Tony Ryan, managing director of global mergers & acquisitions at JLL says, pointing t...
