Rates rise 11% in Nassau Bahamas

Hotels in Nassau/Paradise Island saw their average daily room rates increase by 11 per cent during the 2010 second quarter, but the Bahamas Hotel Association (BHA) president warned not to read too much into those figures, pointing out that this had been matched by cost increases with the sector currently in the middle of its traditionally weakest period.
Robert Sands told Tribune Business that when it came to assessing Bahamian industry performance it was impossible to "look at just one side of the scale", pointing out that besides costs, indicators such as average occupancy and total revenues also needed to be factored in.

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McRib sandwiches coming back

Before traveling to visit his parents in Nebraska last winter, Jeremy Duensing consulted what he always checks before a trip: the "McRib Locator" website.
To his delight, he found a McDonald's restaurant near Omaha that, unlike most of the burger chain's 14,000 U.S. restaurants, had the McRib on its menu. He bought six of the pork sandwiches, ate one right away at the restaurant, and carried the rest home to Burnsville, Minn., in an ice-packed cooler.

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NEWH The Hospitality Industry Network Announces 2011 NEWH Leadership Conference, January 13-16, 2011

(Hospitality Business News) Orlando, Florida—NEWH The Hospitality Industry Network, the not-for-profit business networking and education organization in hospitality, will host its biennial NEWH Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida, January 13-16, 2011, at Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando®. Themed “Catch the Wave,” this international hospitality conference will focus on a positive message for leaders—how to capture new business, state-of-the-art hospitality developments and trends, and sustainable practices. For the first time, the NEWH Leadership Conference will colocate with NEWH Regional Trade Show Orlando, to also be held January 13 at Loews Royal Pacific Resort, offering conference attendees the opportunity to view products and services for hospitality design and operations, and network with international and Orlando-based attendees. Orlando is a market of globally renowned tourist destinations and more than 125,000 hotel rooms serving millions of domestic and international travelers each year.www.newh.org.

The NEWH Leadership Conference attracts hundreds of leading hospitality professionals from the U.S., Canada, and

the U.K. Attendees represent hospitality service professions including architecture, interior design, purchasing, supply,

contract manufacturing, development, and logistics, plus hotel and restaurant management, and brand leadership. The

conference aims to strengthen personal and professional leadership skills and industry knowledge among NEWH

leaders, members, and industry constituents by offering fresh business perspectives and strategies. Ultimately, the

conference serves to fulfill the NEWH mission of education, networking, and scholarship in hospitality.

“There will be brainstorming sessions, expert presentations, thoughtful discussions, mentoring, student and

professional recognition, exclusive industry knowledge, membership-building ideas, and plenty of opportunity for

strategic networking in a friendly relaxed business casual setting,” says Andy Schaidler, who serves as Director of

NEWH Leadership Conferences, a volunteer position. NEWH Leadership Conference keynote presentations and

education topics for 2011 include State of the Hospitality Industry, Sustainable Hospitality and Ecological Impact,

Social Media Networking/Marketing, Volunteerism and Leadership, plus an NEWH exclusive Owners Roundtable

sponsored by Hospitality Design Magazine on Friday January 14, 2011, featuring key executives from major

international hotel brands.

The conference opens on January 13, 2011, with NEWH Regional Trade Show, and continues with daily education,

networking, and hospitality events through January 16, 2011. The Saturday, January 15, 2011 NEWH Award of

Excellence dinner will honor individuals making significant contributions to the industry and to the organization.

Online registration for NEWH members and non-members is available at

San Diego County leads California in 3Q hotel foreclosures

SAN DIEGO ---- San Diego County led California in the number of hotels foreclosed in the third quarter with 13, followed by Riverside County with a dozen, according to a quarterly survey of distressed hotels in the state.
In California, the 2010 survey for the three-month period ended Sept. 30 showed 529 hotels in default or foreclosure, a 10.7 percent increase from the quarter ended June 30, and a 71.2 percent increase over the third quarter ended a year ago.
The survey was conducted by Irvine-based Atlas Hospitality, a brokerage that specializes in the sale of hotels.

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Terror threat to restaurants as Al Qaeda calls for attacks on government workers in D.C.

WASHINGTON - The terror group tied to the Ft. Hood killings and the Christmas Day undies airbomber urge wannabe American jihadis to open fire on crowded restaurants in the nation's capital to massacre U.S. government workers.
The advice appears in "Inspire," the latest issue of a slick propaganda publication by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Osama Bin Laden's franchise in Yemen.

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First ‘Hospitality Revenue Management Community’ in the UK officially launched by BAHA

(Hospitality Business News)

The evolving discipline of ‘Revenue Management’ and its proven effectiveness in the current difficult trading conditions is one of the most important developments in hospitality finance today. Last week BAHA – the UK’s leading educational organisation for professionals involved in financial management, revenue management and IT within the hospitality industry – officially launched the ‘BAHA Hospitality Revenue Management Community’ (HRMC) to provide a major forum for debate, education, and generally raising the profile of ‘Revenue Management’ within the UK hospitality profession.

Over 140 hospitality industry finance, revenue management and IT specialists gathered in London to attend last Thursday’s HRMC launch at the Holiday Inn London Kensington Forum Hotel and learn more about BAHA’s major new initiative; and have the added bonus of presentations from two distinguished guest speakers – Sarah Duignan, Director of Account Management at STR Global, on current Hotel Market trends and future projections, taken from the latest STR Global quarterly report and  Donna Taylor, Head of Accommodation at the London 2012 Olympic Organising Committee (LOCOG).

“The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is a huge opportunity for the hotel industry,” Donna Taylor told the BAHA HRMC launch audience. “LOCOG looks after what we call the Olympic family, which is made up of team officials, technical officials, National Olympic Committee executives and guests, international sporting federations, heads of Government or State and international media.  They will all need hotel accommodation and we have secured over 53,000 hotel rooms in London.  We are acquiring an efficient and effective central reservations system which will deliver a good end-to-end experience for all our clients to ensure they have an enjoyable stay in London.  We are working with Visit Britain and Visit London to maximise the Games experience.”

The newly created BAHA Hospitality Revenue Management Community will be headed up by a newly appointed HRMC Steering Committee – chaired by Heather Hart, Director, Rev Excel – and comprising leading practitioners in the field: BAHA Council Member Warren Mandelbaum, Revenue Management Specialist who was formerly Head of Revenue Management, Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants; Patricia Griffin, Regional Revenue Manager – Provincial, Travelodge; Jennifer Keen, Director, Total Revenue Solutions; Christopher Cooper, Head of Commercial at City Inn; Moz Shigdar, Group Revenue Manager, BDL Management;  Cheryl Hawksworth, Regional Sales Manager, IDeaS; Corinne Bellaby, Membership Secretary, AICR UK (The International Association for Deputy Managers and Front Office Managers of Luxury Hotels); Kate Varini, Senior Lecturer, Oxford Brookes University; and Debra Adams, Head of BAHA Education.

The BAHA HRMC and its Committee have been formed in response to industry demand and the growing importance of the developing practice of ‘Revenue Management’ within the UK hospitality industry. In straightforward terms, revenue management is a technique to optimise income revenue from a fixed, but perishable inventory. The challenge in hotels is to sell the right rooms to the right customer at the right time for the right price. The role of the revenue manager (RM) is evolving and developing. Basically the ‘RM’ is becoming more than being the link/middle-man, providing the relevant intelligence upon which intelligent decisions are made, between the finance and the sales and marketing departments – for instance, ‘RMs’ are also now becoming responsible for the accommodation revenue budget.

At the launch, Heather Hart and Jennifer Keen outlined the key aims of the BAHA HRMC:

·         To promote and develop practical applications in Revenue Management

·         To provide accredited educational programmes

·         To support all individuals engaged in the discipline of Revenue Management within the hospitality industry at any level

·         To become an industry voice for Revenue Management

·         To raise the profile, understanding and importance of Revenue Management

·         To create a community of knowledge, learning and experience

·         To establish a forum for debate, sharing, learning and progression

Heather Hart explained that the new BAHA HRMC Committee had been created to offer support and advice to any professionals who are in some way involved in the practice of Revenue Management within the hospitality industry. “We will help you answer any questions on Revenue Management you may have,” she said. “We’ll connect you with the right people to assist; we’ll provide circulation of industry data, articles and viewpoints; and we’ll provide the opportunities to meet with colleagues and contacts across the industry.” 

Commenting on the HRMC, BAHA Chief Executive Carl Weldon said: “We are delighted about the formation of the new BAHA HRMC and its managing Committee, which will be responsible for driving the Revenue Management agenda within BAHA.  At this early fragile stage in the nation’s economic recovery, the introduction of this major BAHA initiative is especially timely – driving a BAHA priority objective of providing a community for discussion and education about ‘Revenue Management’, whilst raising its profile, within the UK hospitality industry.

“BAHA will support Revenue Management through specific events and forums – devised and organised by the new HRMC Committee – where BAHA members and non-members alike can learn more through enhancing their knowledge and technique, with regard to all aspects of ‘best practice’ revenue management, whilst additionally benefiting from the knowledge shared. These events will also give our hospitality IT members and community generally, involved in developing the latest hospitality revenue management-related technology, the opportunity to come together with Revenue Managers (RMs) and industry leaders to discuss the implications of the latest techniques and required technological advances.

Indeed, BAHA will be dedicating a major expert session and a number of educational workshops to Revenue Management at the 5^th BAHA Annual Conference – to be held on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Sofitel Hotel, London Heathrow at Terminal 5. One of the highlights of the opening morning’s sessions will be ‘Revenue Management Question Time’ where the chairman’s hot seat will be taken by Michael Prager, Senior Vice President Sales Hilton Europe, Middle-East and Africa. He will present questions to a team of expert panellists – including: Heather Hart; Warren Mandelbaum; Moz Shigdar; Ciaran Fahy, Managing Director, The Cavendish London; and Fabian Specht, EMEA IDeaS.

It is BAHA’s aim to produce and promote introductory and other short courses and certification programmes for Revenue Management, while linking in with other educational sources. At the launch, a number of one- and two-day BAHA HRMC Training Modules, designed to build skills and confidence for Revenue Professionals,  were announced – including: ‘Introduction to Revenue Management’ (2-day); ‘Introduction to Leadership (2-days); ‘Food and Beverage Revenue Management’ (2-day); ‘Presentation Skills for RMs’ (1-day); ‘Excel for Revenue Managers’ (1-day); and ‘Coaching Skills’ (1-day).

BAHA currently provides the only industry specific hospitality finance education programme; and the Association has decided to produce – in association with a range of partners, including universities – a new second- and third -route through its Education and Training Programme, specifically for ‘RMs’. Recognising, as a matter of priority, the need to ensure that future hospitality ‘RMs’ possess the skills and knowledge to meet the demands of this key management function, BAHA is to offer an 18-month, three-stage part-time Revenue Management Education Programme, accredited by Oxford Brookes University – scheduled to commence in 2011. BAHA is presently in consultation with the hospitality profession and key UK revenue management organisations about the delivery and programme of funding for this initiative.

The aims of the Revenue Management Education programme are:

• To develop a career path for ‘RMs’ and Directors in the hospitality industry
• To formalise and develop the discipline of revenue management in the hospitality industry
• To develop sustainable long-term relationships between industry, academia and a relevant trade body to develop and disseminate ‘best practice’ in revenue management
• To create official certification levels by which employers can judge candidates applying for revenue management positions