Novi hotel u Doboju

Novi Hotel Park 4* je pozicioniran u najljepšem dijelu Doboja, pored centralnog gradskog parka i predstavlja savršen izbor za goste koji posjećuju grad zbog posla i/ili odmora. Sa 113 soba i apartmana, hotel Park izlazi u susret potrebama svakog gosta, bilo da je u pitanju kraći ili duži boravak. Hotel posjeduje 450m² konferencijskog prostora koji je sastoji od 5 multifunkcionalnih sala, pogodnih za različite tipove konferencija, događaja, seminara i sastanaka. Dodatne sadržaje hotela čine a la carte restoran i bar za opuštanje, sa otvorenom terasom i prijatnim pogledom na park, kao i jedinstveni wellness sa unutrašnjim bazenom, saunom, parnim kupatilom, masažama i savremeno opremljenim fitnes centrom.

Bojan Popivoda

Direktor za razvoj projekata

Savath Hospitality Management

Primer projekta održivog turizma

Budući sportsko-rekreativni centar na izletišu Pašina česma kod Leskovca najzahtevniji je turistički projekat koji se trenutno realizuje u Srbiji, s obzirom na to da se kompleks prostire na čak 86 hektara. Osim impozantne površine zemljišta, planirane sadržaje – hotele, wellness centar, stadion, sportske terene, ergelu, zoološki vrt, ekopark – potrebno je uklopiti u jedinstvenu celinu, prilagođenu savremenom konceptu održivog turizma. Arapska kompanija "Emirates Power Contracting & General Maintenance" počela je pripremu terena. Na izradi projekta, angažovana je kompanija "Energosistem Čogurić" iz Leskovca, u saradnji sa konsultantskom kućom "Savath Hospitality Management" iz Beograda. Detalji arhitekture se još razrađuju, ali jedno je sigurno – kompleks će biti energetski-efikasan, što znači da će se izrazito voditi računa o načinu izgradnje i upotrebi alternativnih vidova energije, što je oblast u kojoj "Energosistem Čogurić" ima značajnog iskustva. Grejanje i hlađenje biće omogućeno pomoću energije zemlje i toplotnih pumpi, a osim toga, kao izvor će se koristiti i solarna energija. Razvoj hotelskog kompleksa poveren je firmi "Savath Hospitality Management", koja ima zadatak da tokom projektovanja pomogne arhitektama da budući hotelski sadržaji budu prilagođeni optimalnom korišćenju, u skladu sa operativnim standardima i planiranom kategorizacijom. Kako za "eKapiju" objašnjava Bojan Popivoda, direktor za razvoj projekata u kompaniji "Savath", hotelski kompleks sastojaće se iz tri dela, jedne lamele sa sobama kategorije tri zvezdice, druge u kategoriji 5 zvezdica, a njih će spajati centralni zajednički deo gde će osim recepcije, biti smešten wellness centar sa zatvorenim bazenom, kongresne sale i kuhinja u kojoj će se spremati obroci za dva restorana. - U prvoj fazi predviđena je izgradnja hotela sa tri zvezdice, koji će imati tri sprata sa ukupno 60 izuzetno komfornih soba, restoran i ostale prateće sadržaje. U centralnom delu su sadržaji koji će biti u službi oba krila, ali će moći i samostalno da funkcionišu. Ulazni lobi koji je zajednički za oba hotela biće veoma specifičnog dizajna i odisaće atmosferom Orjenta. Wellness centar će imati oko 700 m2, a zajedno sa zatvorenim bazenom preko 2.000 m2. Osim sadržaja Spa zone, tu će se naći i teretana, prostor za fitness kao i lekarska ordinacija. Na prvom spratu, na raspolaganju je oko 500 m2 kongresnog prostora. Uz hotel sa tri zvezdice biće izgrađena multifunkcionalna sportska dvorana, koja će imati dva ulaza – iz hotela i spoljni – objašnjava sagovornik "eKapije". U drugoj fazi gradiće se hotel u kategoriji 5 zvezdica, iste spratnosti, sa 70-80 soba, kao i dodatni sadržaji koji su uobičajeni u objektu najviše klase. Predviđeni kapacitet hotelskog kompleksa je oko 250 gostiju. Inicijalno, investitori iz Ujedinjenih arapskih emirata, planirali su da objekat bude u funkciji priprema njihovih sportista, a zadatak kompanije Savath je da razradi kompleks kako bi on bio interesantan i drugim segmentima turista tokom cele godine. - Hotelski sadržaji, velnes, sportski tereni, jahanje, zoološki vrt, šetnja, uživanje u prirodi, odlična su prilika i za segmente porodičnog i kongresnog turizma. Osim toga, budući kompleks je idealna polazna tačka za obilazak južne Srbije. Okolina Leskovca je izuzetno interesantna – na primer, u okviru jednodnevnih izleta može se obići arheološko nalazište Caričin grad kod Lebana, Vlasinsko jezero, Sićevačka i Grdelička klisura, Đavolja Varoš, više značajnih srednjovekovnih manastira i crkava, planine, pećine i lovišta - navodi Popivoda. Održivi turizam U ekoparku koji će biti smešten u hrastovoj i bukovoj šumi osim pešačkih i trim staza, proplanaka za sunčanje, biće izgrađeni i vodeni tokovi koje će se snabdevati sa centralnog veštačkog jezera. Tu će biti smešten i zoološki vrt sa oko 100 vrsta prevashodno životinja koje su karakteristične za naše podneblje. Pošto je u planu i uzgajanje organskih zasada, proizvodi iz ekoparka koristiće se u restoranima u okviru kompleksa. Životinjski biološki otpad koristiće se kao organsko đubrivo, a investitori već pregovaraju sa jednom stranom firmom oko mogućnosti otkupa ove vrste otpada radi proizvodnje biogoriva. - Racionalno korišćenje svih resursa u kompleksu, kao i pozitivan uticaj na lokalnu zajednicu koji ovaj projekat višestruko ostvaruje, osnovni su preduslovi održivog turizma - navodi Popivoda. Halal Na meniju restorana naćiće se tradicionalna srpska hrana, organski proizvodi, ali i jela spremljena po Halal standardu. U projektovanju čitavog kompleksa izuzetno se vodilo račina i o tradiciji i običajima islamskog sveta iz koga potiču investitori. Tako će i sobe biti prilagođene, postojaće prostorije za molitvu, a i enterijer će podsećati na Orjent. Zbog toga je i pitanje o pravljenju ergele suvišno, jer se zna koliko su Arapi ljubitelji konja.

Turističko-sportski kompleks "Pašina česma'' - Leskovac

Na lokaciji izletišta ’’Pašina česma’’, koje se nalazi u neposrednoj blizini Leskovca, investitor iz Ujedinjenih Arapskih Emirata, kompanija "Emirates Power Contracting & General Maintenance" započela je realizaciju interesantnog projekta, u vidu izgradnje jedinstvenog turističko-sportskog kompleksa, koji će se prostirati na zemljištu površine 86 hektara.

Za izradu projekta angažovana je kompanija ’’Energosistem Čogurić’’ iz Leskovca, koja je zadužena i za projekt menadžment. Projektnim timom rukovodi arhitekta Josif Milenković, u saradnji sa konsultantskom kućom ’’Savath Hospitality Management’’ iz Beograda, koja je odgovorna za razvoj hotelskih kapaciteta.

Prema projektu, kompleks obuhvata sledeće sadržaje:

1. Centralni objekat u okviru koga će se nalaziti: 

- Hotel sa 60 soba, kategorije 3*;

- Ekskluzivni hotel sa 70 soba, kategorije 5*;

- Wellness & Spa centar sa zatvorenim bazenom olimpijskih dimenzija, površine 2000 kvm;

- Konferencijski prostor površine 500 kvm;

- Dva restorana sa nacionalnom i arapsko-orjentalnom kuhinjom;

- Suvenirnica, prodavnica, butik sportske opreme i lekarska ordinacija.

2. Sportska dvorana,

3. Fudbalski teren sa tribinama i pomoćno igralište,

4. Otvoreni bazeni i tereni za tenis, košarku, odbojku i mali fudbal,

5. Ergela konja sa stazom za jahanje,

6. Zoološki vrt u kome će se naći oko stotinak životinjskih vrsta, karakterističnih za naše podneblje,

7. Eko-park.

U okviru kompleksa, nalaziće se veštačko jezero kao i brojne staze za šetnju i trčanje, koje će prolaziti kroz raskošnu hrastovu i bukovu šumu koja karakteriše izletište ‘’Pašina česma’’.

Osnovna zamisao investitora bila je da na ‘’Pašinoj česmi’’ izgrade kvalitetan centar za pripreme sportista, prvenstveno iz arapskih zemalja. Međutim, sigurno je da prirodno okruženje u kome se kompleks nalazi, savremen i komforan smeštaj, atraktivni wellness sadržaji i kongresni centar, predstavljaju značajan potencijal za privlačenje i ostalih tržišnih segmenata kao što su porodice, MICE turisti i ljubitelji prirode.

U prvoj fazi, koja je u toku, biće izgrađen centralni objekat sa hotelom 3*, wellness centar, sale za konferencije i sportska dvorana.

Planirani rok završetka ove faze projekta je prva polovina sledeće godine.  

ORGANIZACIONA ŠEMA HOTELA

Autor: Thomas Pavlović
General Manager
Savath Hospitality Management

Hotelska organizacija, pre svega, zavisi od veličine objekta
i njegovih karakteristika. Podsetićemo se da hotele delimo

na male, srednje i velike, u skladu sa brojem raspoloživih

soba. Mali hoteli imaju od osam do deset soba, srednji do 200, a

veliki hoteli više od 200 soba. Danas postoje i hoteli sa više od

1.000 soba, takoreći giganti, ali i oni se tretiraju kao veliki. U skladu

s tim, organizaciona šema određenog hotela zavisiće prvenstveno

od njegove veličine, a zatim i od prodajnih mesta, odnosno outleta

na osnovu kojih hotel posluje: broja restorana, barova, veličine konferencijskog

prostora, specifičnosti dodatnog prostora poput sajamskih

hala, kongresnih dvorana itd. To su elementi koji uslovljavaju

internu organizaciju hotela, pri čemu se oni, u zavisnosti od veličine,

odnosno usluga, mogu razlikovati jedni od drugih. Međutim, u svakom

hotelu postoje univerzalni organizacioni segmenti. To su odeljen ja  poput 

Room Division, Administration & Generally  i

Repair&Maintenance. Ta odeljenja možemo videti u svakom hotelu

bio on mali, srednji ili veliki. Sobe su osnovni proizvod hotela, odeljenje

administracije bavi se finansijama, knjigovodstvom, nabavkom

itd., a tehnička služba sitnim popravkama, održavanjem tehničkih

sistema i uopšte celog hotela. To su odeljenja koja ćete uvek i svuda

sresti jer bez njih hotel ne može da funkcioniše. Ona su organizovana

u skladu sa veličinom hotela, a broj zaposlenih prilagođen je obimu

posla. U zavisnosti od veličine hotela, pomenuta odeljenja granaju

se u mnogo manjih segmenata koji poštuju specifičnosti sopstvene

organizacije.

Hotel koji svrstavamo u kategoriju velikih hotela ima pet ključnih

segmenata ili sektora koji se kasnije granaju u svoje podsektore. To

su Rooms Division, Food&Beverage, Administration&General,

Repair&Maintenance i Sales&Marketing. Iz tih sektora kasnije se

grana cela paleta odeljenja. To znači da u jednom velikom hotelu

imate visoki menadžment koji se sastoji od pet ljudi koji vode sektore

i veći broj šefova odeljenja (Heads of Department) koji rukovode

pojedinačnim poslovima.

Organizaciona šema, kao i podela dužnosti po odeljenjima i sektorima,

uređuje se nekim uvreženim pravilima koja su se iskristalisala

u praksi i definisana su prirodom samog posla. Međutim, koliko

god odeljenja i ljudi koji u njima rade bili specijalizovani, odeljenja i

sektori u velikoj meri zavise jedni od drugih i saradnja među njima

mora biti konstantna. Raspodela posla utvrđena je prirodom samog

poslovanja, a određene procedure i pojedinačne obaveze mogu se

definisati i internim aktom, takozvanim opisom posla (job description),

počevši od direktora sektora pa do stjuarda.

Za svakodnevno besprekorno funkcionisanje velikog hotelskog

sistema neophodna je dobro razrađena interna komunikacija koja

se odvija na nekoliko različitih nivoa i načina (pismeno ili usmeno).

Najčešći oblik interne komunikacije jeste jutarnji sastanak (morning

briefing) koji se održava svakog jutra, posle takozvanog jutarnjeg

naleta, tj. doručka i odjave gostiju koji napuštaju hotel. Takav jutarnji

sastanak traje od 15 do 30 minuta i na njemu se sumiraju rezultati

proteklog dana i daje pregled zbivanja za taj dan. Postoji i

nedeljni sastanak svih šefova odeljenja koji traje od 60 do 90 minuta

i obuhvata konkretne teme, pogotovo onda kad se razmatraju

pitanja koja se tiču nekoliko odeljenja, zajedničkih odgovornosti,

velikih manifestacija itd. Na nedeljnom nivou održavaju se i sastanci

sektora i odeljenja na kojima se organizuje njihov interni rad. Ti

sastanci uvek se svode na rekapitulaciju proteklog perioda i na pripremu

onoga što predstoji. Postoje i veliki sastanci koji se održavaju

jednom ili dva puta godišnje (general staff meeting) i na kojima se

okuplja kompletan personal. Koncepcija tih sastanaka direktno zavisi

od budžeta koji je predviđen za njihovu realizaciju, ali su uglavnom

usmereni na rekapitulaciju rezultata, predstavljanje novih planova,

pripremu reorganizacije ili novih etapa u poslovanju. Ti

sastanci mogu biti veoma raznoliki, u zavisnosti od samih

kompanija.

S obzirom na složenu organizaciju jednog velikog hotela, broj

zaposlenih predstavlja strateško pitanje. S vremenom su uspostavljeni

relativno čvrsti standardi, pa se broj zaposlenih bazira na već utvrđenim

koeficijentima. To znači da postoje neki svetski parametri koji

se vezuju za kvalitet usluga i kategoriju hotela (odnosno za broj zvezdica

koji hotel ima). Garni hoteli (hoteli koji nude samo prenoćište,

bez doručka) imaju koeficijent 0,25, poslovni hoteli (tri ili četiri zvezdice)

od 0,6 do 0,75, a hoteli sa pet zvezdica od 0,75 do 1,2, što

opet zavisi od veličine hotela, usluga koje nudi itd.

Koeficijenti predstavljaju broj zaposlenih po sobi. Treba imati na

umu da je tu reč o ljudima stalno zaposlenim u hotelu, ali da svaki

hotel neke usluge iznajmljuje (outsourcing), tj. angažuje ljude sa strane

koji nisu na njegovom platnom spisku. Danas se outsourcing primenjuje

mnogo više nego ranije. Ta praksa uvedena je pre dve

decenije sa outsourcingom sobarica, usluga pranja i peglanja, obezbeđenja,

wellness&spa, poslastičarnice i pekare. Pre dve decenije,

jedan hotel imao je sve to u sopstvenoj režiji. Danas se ti elementi

retko sreću u hotelskom direktnom poslovanju, a angažuju se spolja,

što je uticalo na koeficijent. Logično je da je u prošlosti koeficijent

bio znatno veći.

Postavlja se pitanje koji je sektor najkomplikovaniji za rukovođenje

i gde vrebaju zamke u post opening fazi rada hotela. Treba reći da

je u radu hotela nepravda da Rooms Division zapošljava manje radnika,

a pravi daleko veću profitabilnost, ima vrlo jednostavan spektar

robe, odnosno proizvoda koje troši u svom radu (sapuni, šamponi,

papir...). S druge strane imamo izuzetno personalno zahtevan

sektor Food&Beverage, za čije je funkcionisanje potrebna vrlo ozbiljna

kalkulacija robe koja je izuzetno šarolika (a la carte, različiti banketi,

dekoracije...). Zato je oduvek u F&B-u postojao veći izazov i bilo

je teže praviti profit nego u Rooms Divisionu. Pri tom ne smemo da

zaboravimo da se zasebno vodi profitabilnost svakog sektora.

Međutim, neretko je potrebna njihova tesna međusobna saradnja,

jer ukoliko se organizuje veliki banket ili seminar za mnogo ljudi,

onda se podrazumeva da su u organizaciju uključeni i F&B i sobe.

Tada nudite veliki paket, pa jedan sektor ne može da bude profitabilan

bez onog drugog.

U ovom broju predstavili smo grubi pregled organizacione postavke

hotela, a u sledećim ćemo objasniti funkcionisanje i organizaciju

pojedinačnih sektora i odeljenja kako bismo pokazali koliko je kompleksan

rad jednog hotela i koliko su specifične obaveze pojedinih

odeljenja, koja su u svom radu suštinski isprepletana i vrlo zavisna

jedna od drugih.

Top 10 Mistakes When Opening A Hotel

Autor teksta:
Klaus R. Rauter, Managing DirectorMai-BS (Thailand)
Hotel Consultant and Training Company

I am writing down these “top 10” mistakes in a hope that this list might help some developers and owners.
As we are hotel consultants, we sincerely believe that a consultant must be the most honest, transparent, straight-forward and therefore most trustworthy person close to the owners and investors.
A consultant’s intention should NEVER be to keep hotel owners and investors ‘in the dark’! A true consultant must educate advice and provide samples of good and bad practices. A hotel consultant must also be a good teacher – not a lecturer! We must guide and use all channels of communication to pass on knowledge to others. We choose to write articles in a hope that it helps and inspires others.
Mistake No 1 - Vision and Mission.
Honestly, it is hard to understand that so many hotels and resorts open their doors without a proper written vision and mission statement. OR, the vision and mission is most of the times not clear at all, or only clear in the mind of the owners. On top of that, nobody communicates the vision and mission to managers and employees. How the employees will know what is expected and understand the ‘big picture’? As mentioned in one of our earlier articles, this silly mistake ensures that the business ends up following the habits of senior managers and owners and not the organizational vision and mission.
Mistake No 2 - Sales and Marketing? – No need now!
“I have many friends and they are well connected. I and my relatives are well known people who are VIP. We will all ensure that we will have many guests using the hotel and our facilities!”
Yes, don’t be shocked! - The above sayings are what I did hear from several hotel owners. Those VIP hotel guests did come, yes, but they never paid their bills as they almost always expected to be invited since they are good friend of the owners. The result of non-existing Sales and Marketing is very costly.
Mistake No 3 - Hiring of Departmental Managers.
Surprisingly, some new hotels and resorts do hire their Hotel Manager and Department Head Team just weeks before the opening and strongly believe that this will be fine. After all, they are manager, expensive and should be able to get it right in a few days…… some owners think!
To my knowledge and from my experience, this is mostly done to save some hotel pre-opening costs as the needed money has been already lost during the construction process because of bad planning and ongoing adjustments to drawings and the building.
At one occasion I have seen that the whole management team for a 150 room hotel here in Thailand to be hired just 2 weeks before the opening. The owner kindly fired the team after 2 months as in his opinion, the team was not able to implement proper systems and service standards fast enough. Some of the best employees did resign as well, as the pressure working without a proper pre-opening was too much. I say it again, if you don’t work professionally, your most capable employees will leave you first!
Mistake No 4 - Purchasing.
The purchasing process for equipment, utensils and amenities is all done by the owner without any hotel manager and departmental manager comments, input and specifications. Once the manager and departmental leaders joined the hotel for the opening, there was no budget left for any additional purchases, as most of what owners choose are to serve their own preference and style, but not functional or practical to the workers and guest use. So, the hotel or resort did end up with equipment and utensils which are not always usable, have wrong specifications, over-specs or under-specs.
Again, the owners or senior managers never stopped wondering why professional people left the company and why the quality of products and service are not up to any standard!
Mistake No 5 - Employee Restaurant and Facilities
Strangely, employees, employee facilities and welfare seem to be the least and least important thing on owners and developers minds. I know one hotel where the owner had even meetings with the employees, right after the opening, lecturing them how good the hotel will be, explaining how professional and generous the owners are as they did buy only the best qualities and products for the guests.
He said he is not stingy and use only the best and most comfortable furniture, amenities, cars, etc. The owner also asked staff to work harder and be more committed to have a good hotel forgetting that all employees worked 2 months without a day off! The employees listen and wondered what he is talking about while sitting on a dusty concrete floor inside a badly ventilated and non-air conditioned concrete shell of room, eating from a Styrofoam food box with plastic cutlery and without any proper uniforms and only one rest-room for 100 employees. I am sure I don’t have to write down here what those employees did think and even say to each other about this owner after the meeting was over.
Mistake No 6 - Training
So far I found only 3 independent hotel owners and investors who actually provided proper facilities and time to have proper staff orientations and training for employees before opening the business.
Although EVERY single hotel developer said in the beginning that they fully agree and fully understand that training is very important and that they fully understand that people need to be trained before opening the hotel, the fact is that only the true professional owners did what they say.
Most of the time, employees did not go through any orientation program or basic training. And then, on the first day of operation the managers and owners complain the staff directly that they know nothing about the hotel, that they don’t follow hotel systems, that they don’t provide good service etc.
Mistake No 7 - Human Resource
In my humble opinion, any hotel that opening / running their property without a proper HR person, HR manual and HR systems are operationally committing suicide!!!
I have seen businesses where the majority of staff has been hired without having a written employee benefit list, written rules and regulations, written basic systems etc. Employees have been verbally promised different benefits by different managers etc. The result was simply a disaster!
And then, once the management started to implement some standardized benefits for each level of employees and some standard rules and regulations, the Human Resource nightmares become did become reality as many employees complained that they only joined this particular hotel because of benefits verbally promised by managers. Not everyone promised the same…..
Mistake No 8 - Back of the House Design
Seldom is this area given good attention. In most cases, back-of –house areas have been assigned based on vacant areas. I wonder so much why proper storage, proper offices with strategic locations, proper restrooms, proper walkways etc. are almost never important to developers and owners. It is hard, and sometimes almost impossible to explain how the hospitality industry could make money from providing a good and smooth service and for this, within a rough back-of-house workflow. It is not only the waiter and the front office staff who provide a service! EVERYONE in the hotel provides a service and ALL Departments and employees work somehow inter-connected.
Mistake No 9 - Back of the House areas
Why some people believe that that staff dormitories not need proper restrooms, showers and a common room?
Why some people believe that employees don’t need proper food and variety of food?
Why some people believe that employees will not have cars and bikes which need to be parked somewhere?
Why some people believe that a proper Training Room is a waste of space?
Why some people believe that employees don’t need comfort?
Mistake No 10 - Good managers and staff are easy to find!!!!!
Those are some nice actual sentences from owners and developers to think about:
Spa Therapist not need training, just hire some sexy girls and let them massage the guests.
My gardener at my home can make up Bed’s; please consider him as Housekeeping Manager.
Don’t worry about Accouting and Purchasing; I have someone who works for me since 10 years and he is very good with figures. Right now he controls all my drivers in the transportation company.
I found a good Human Resource Manager for our 5-star hotel. She is the wife of the local police Chief. Nobody will dare to complain.
My Son will be the General Manager; he just graduated and is very knowledgeable!
Just go to the local market, there are 100 of local people who would be happy to work at our hotel even below minimum wage!
Mistake No 11 - Hotel Opening Support from owners or developers other companies.
Yes, many business owners forgot to focus on some if not all of the above mentioned points and now they are very nervous and scared about the operation of the hotel. So, they ask some family members and employees from other owned businesses which are most of the time not from the hospitality and service industry, to come and help to do the following:
- Sales and Marketing,
- Purchasing,
- Finance Department,
- Human Resources,
“I, my family and staff from the factory only like to help! You should not complaint, be happy about it!”
I am sure you noticed that I did end up with a “TOP 11” and not “TOP 10” list! Who cares! J
As a matter of fact, it should be a “TOP 100” list as there are so many areas and subjects to discuss about.

Avoid a lose-lose pricing position

By Cathy EnzHotelNewsNow.com columnist

Playing the pricing game can be a challenging task. According to game theory, originally developed in the 1940s by two Nobel Prize winning academics, success depends on knowing how to play the right game. One key to success in any game is to look forward and then reason backward to figure out the best action to take today, considering what your competition might do tomorrow. This perspective requires you, as a strategic thinker, to get in the head of your competitors and consider how they’re likely to play the game. Let’s look at a simple hotel-pricing game.
Assume we have two 100-room, limited-service hotels in direct competition, each with 3,000 rooms available for sale in the month of April (100 rooms X 30 days = 3,000 rooms available). The managers of the two hotels are trying to determine whether discounting will result in more net operating income for the hotel. The ADR for this segment was US$86.09, and the occupancy was 57.9 percent during the week of 22 March 2009, according to the STR Weekly Hotel Review.
Suppose each hotel has current ADR of US$86 and occupancy of 58 percent. Let’s also assume the hotels are in close proximity and have the same amenities. Additionally, they both have operating costs of US$40 per occupied room (this includes distributed and undistributed operating costs based on the 2008 STR Host survey). If each hotel is priced at its current ADR of US$86, given the US$40 operating costs and occupancies of 58 percent, each hotel would have a net operating income of US$80,040 [(US$86 – US$40) X (3,000 x 0.58)] in April.
Discounting by one competitor (win-lose)
The manager of Hotel A wants to lower prices to gain occupancy and is considering dropping rate to US$80 for the next month. If Hotel B keeps its rate the same, let’s assume Hotel A, the discounter, gains an additional 300 occupied rooms—240 rooms stolen from Hotel B and 60 rooms from new customers attracted by the lower rate. Hotel A now has occupancy of 68 percent, while Hotel B has occupancy of 56 percent. In this scenario, Hotel A has net operating income of US$81,600 [(80-40) x (3,000 X .68)]. The net operating income for Hotel B dropped to US$69,000 [(86-40) x (3,000 X .56)]. Although Hotel A has benefited from this discounting strategy for the month of April, it’s likely the manager of Hotel B also will drop price to gain occupancy and reduce the loss of income.
Both hotels discount (lose – lose)
Hotel B has lost occupancy and net operating income because of its competitor’s moves, and the most logical move is for the manager of Hotel B to drop price also. Looking at this likely move, if both hotels decide to discount their rates to stimulate demand by each dropping their price to US$80, the stealing of occupancy is a wash, and both hotels might gain 60 occupied rooms from new customers attracted by the lower rates. In this scenario, both hotels will have lower net operating income than had they maintained rate integrity. Net operating income for both hotels is now US$72,000 [(80-40) X (3,000 x .60)], assuming the market share steal is a wash, and they each raise occupancies to 60 percent because of more demand from new customers.
In game theory, we can create a payoff matrix (see below) that provides the net operating income (hence payoffs) for each hotel. The payoff for Hotel A is in the northeast corner of each box, and the payoff for Hotel B is in the southwest corner of the box. If we compare the payoff pairs, we begin to understand the dilemmas operators face when discounting relative to their comparative sets.

Net operating income payoff matrix for price discounting

the net operating income in the payoff matrix shows, Hotel A can obtain a temporary benefit from discounting so long as Hotel B keeps its price high. If Hotel B matches the cuts of Hotel A, then both hotels will lose profit (US$8,040) establishing a new lower price point for both competitors. The unfortunate consequence of this price war is that both competitors lose. If both had maintained rate integrity, they both would have higher income. The effort to discount is most likely to result in a response from the hotel faced with a win-lose situation, resulting in everyone losing. This is a classic prisoner’s dilemma. While both hotels do poorly when they price at US$80, it’s easy to see how this decision is the most rational when faced with a competitor that lowers their price and grabs occupancy.
This simple example derived from game theory using payoff matrices helps illustrate that hoteliers in difficult times must be careful to not create win-lose competitive situations that provide temporary advantage but then lead to the only logical course of action for a competitor—a reduction in their rate, resulting in a lose-lose outcome.

Fundamentals of YIELD Management

Anyone who has booked a flight is familiar with yield management. In fact, yield management was conceived by American Airlines in the late 1970’s as a result of deregulation. American Airlines saved an estimated $1.4 billion and earned a profit of $893 million from 1989-1992 by using yield management techniques. By analyzing past trends and the competitive landscape, the airline industry strives to keep its planes as fully occupied as possible, thus increasing or reducing fares based on the day of the week and time of the year. The goal is to not only maximize revenue during periods of high demand, but also to ensure the greatest amount of revenue is realized during non-peak times, thereby greatly increasing overall profit. Because of this
technique, yield management can actually alter the behavior of consumers. For example, vacation travelers that are not necessarily time sensitive will alter their travel plans and fly on days of the week that are less expensive.

The illustration shows the concept of yield management for an
airplane.

While selling each seat for the maximum amount (A) would generate the most revenue, the reality is that only 25 of the seats will be purchased at that price (B). Using yield management by offering early or bulk purchasers discounts on full fares will result in greatly increased revenue (C) even if every seat isn’t sold (D).

The hotel industry also sets a good example of how successful yield management is exercised. For instance, resort hotels may set their rates at a premium during peak seasons and offer attractive reduced rates at non-peak times. A downtown hotel that focuses on business travel may actually offer specially discounted packages over the weekend to increase non-business related occupancy.

There is a clear set of attributes that determine how successful yield management will work in any particular industry.

The criteria for an industry considering yield management are:
− Perishable Inventory
− Variable Demand, Fixed Capacity
− Sales via Reservations
− Multi-Pricing Capability
− Low Variable Costs
− Pricing is a Powerful Driver

Perishable Inventory
One of the criteria for implementing yield management is that the inventory of the item being sold or service being performed is perishable.

Variable Demand, Fixed Capacity
Yield management is effective in industries that have a combination of variable demand. For example, peak periods of activity such as weekends vs. weekdays, and fixed capacity, which means the inventory available for sale at any one time is constant.
Most spas have some sort of fluctuating demand, whether they are in a seasonal resort or day spa, and nearly all spas have a fixed number of rooms. The combination of these two factors can be greatly influenced by a yield management strategy.

Sales via Reservations
Industries enhanced by yield management strategies conduct the majority of their business through advanced reservations.

Multi-Pricing Capacity
Another aspect to consider is ability to segment customer base. This means different types of guests are willing to pay different prices at different times. For example, a resort hotel may offer preferential pricing to local residents during nonpeak periods.

Low Variable Costs
So an increase in utilization, even at lower rates, will have a positive affect on overall margins because of the low variable costs and generally high gross margin per service.



Pricing is a Powerful Driver
The last attribute to evaluate is whether or not price will influence purchasing behavior. Because price can increase purchasing, strategies can be developed that offer price reductions in non-peak periods, thereby influencing overall revenue.

YIELD MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
This section will describe the various ways a hotel operation can implement yield management techniques, including the issues that must be considered and how they can impact the success of a specific strategy.

Dynamic Pricing
Dynamic pricing is the technique of altering the price based on capacity, time or both, similar to the model employed by hotels and airlines. For example, an airline will typically offer a percentage of its fares for a reduced rate. Once those lower fares are purchased, only higher rates will be available until the plane is completely sold out. During a specific time-frame, such as the holiday or high traffic season, the rules can be constrained. No low fares are offered because the demand for seats during that time period, guarantees all inventory will consumed at a premium price.
In a hotel, services can be offered at a reduced price point during non-peak times to encourage an increase in volume. This can be done by creating a menu with price ranges for the services versus set prices. The lowest price would be applied during nonpeak times, while the highest price would be for peak periods. While on the surface this sounds intuitive, it can be a very complex balance between price reductions and what the subsequent increase in volume needs to be to positively impact the overall margins.
Let’s take a simple example of a room that costs $100 with a margin of 25%. If we were to lower the price by $20 during non-peak hours, and assume that the 25% margin does not scale down proportionately with the price (since the bulk of variable cost associated with a service is salary), a hotel would have to sell 5 rooms at the reduced price to match the margin of a single room performed at full price. One alternative to a reduction model would be to increase the price of room during peak periods and keep the ‘standard’ price available at all other times.
For services with higher margins, the impact of a price reduction is less severe to the overall profit. As such, those services can be discounted to stimulate activity in non-peak periods with greater success.
The key to this approach is a thorough understanding of the margins on services and the impact pricing changes will make on the total number of services sold. Without this clear understanding, it is possible for a hotel to increase revenue but decrease overall profit.

Dynamic Availability
Increased profitability can also be achieved by managing the mix of services sold. By altering the types of services offered during peak periods, a hotel overall margin can greatly increase without a significant change in revenue or overall capacity. If a hotel is at capacity on weekends, one alternative for increasing profit would be to offer higher margin services during those times. This technique is known as dynamic availability and is an effective approach to selling higher margin rather than lower margin services during peak periods.
This technique is somewhat similar to how airlines limit certain fares during peak periods. They understand high demand will consume their capacity without having to reduce pricing significantly.