Problem
Convinced that sales and profit were being left on the table due to lower than desired occupancy rates, Hilton Hotels turned to CEP to conduct a strategic assessment. In its analysis, CEP determined that there was no standard for revenue management and that Hilton’s Directors of Revenue Management (DRMs) needed more than just a training program.
“CEP helped us realize that we needed to develop best practices as well as a training program for DRMs,” said the director of Hilton’s revenue management training program.
CEP Solution
To increase occupancy and revenue, CEP created Revenue Management University (RMU), a self-paced and customizable training program for hotels of differing size, type and geographic locations. One of the challenges CEP faced in creating the program for Hilton was designing courseware flexible enough to handle the differing needs of the Hilton brands, which range from vacation-oriented resort hotels to those catering to business travelers staying only one night. CEP overcame the challenge by designing a course with specific offerings for each type of hotel that was structured to address individual DRMs needs.
Results
The result of the new program is a more productive DRM. “DRMs don’t spend time doing ineffective analyses,” the director said. “They target opportunities more quickly and are more proactive in their selling strategies.”
The improvements to the DMR training were demonstrated after Hilton’s purchase of the Doubletree hotel chain. Once a trained DRM was placed in each of the newly acquired Doubletree Hotels, the brand grew from 94.1 percent on the industry’s revenue-per-available-room index to 99 percent. Drastic improvements were also evident across the Hilton family as revenue increased more than 60 percent after the first year of DRM training.
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