Day 1 - Tuesday 19th May

09:15 Keynote

Pro-active Revenue Management! Taking back our product and price point with a consumer centric approach

• If we re-evaluate the fundamental principles of Revenue Management (RM), lets examine how much we are really following them
• Have we as revenue managers 'sold the shop' and given the power away to others - do the major corporate accounts and 3rd Party internet providers dictate too much?
• Hear what your RM objectives for 2009 should be: taking control of price points and selling direct; ensuring control of all channels; creating a robust pricing policy for your product; putting in place a sturdy channel conversion plan
• How to get back to basics and build the sales proposition around the customer - make them the package builder, reservation agent, customer profile agent and focus on giving the customer what they want

09:45 - 10:30 What are the best ways to forecast in an economic downturn?

• Are you finding that all forecasting tools are failing or have failed and that things are changing so rapidly that it is difficult to know what to do?
• Find out what practical steps you can take when historical data loses its value and you are relying on spotting short-term trends and pricing accordingly
• Booking windows have shrunk across the board - what can you do to forecast in a reduced booking window environment?
• Find out why splitting, segmenting and pricing leads to better revenue management decisions and helps combat the very difficult forecasting conditions

14:00 - 15:30 When should you be a price leader and when a price follower?

• Few revenue managers would openly admit 'following' price but many do - is this ever a good idea?
• What determines if you should be a price leader - your market position, your market share or the specific market conditions?
• Is it possible to segment your customers by pricing and booking habits?
• When does bench-marking your price against your competitors become following their pricing strategies?
• Should the luxury and business class brands set price and the rest or their respective markets follow?

16:00 - 17:30 Complexity or Simplicty? - what strategy should you adopt in the complex multi-channel environment and how a consumer centric approach may be the best solution

• Is rate parity wishful thinking in the hugely complex multi distribution channel environment?
• Is it realistic for revenue managers to be set targets for increasing numbers of distributin channels or are a myriad of tiny channels causing confusion, inefficiency and an overly complex RM environment?
• Should you be striving for simplicity, or is this just not possible with complex global distribution and connectivity?
• Is dynamic and flexible pricing exacerbating the problem and is it worth the time and resources to pursue flexible and dynamic pricing to the umpteenth degree?
• Is focusing on the consumer the key? How 'consumer centric' RM can help to achieve efficiency through simplicty

17:30 - 18:00 Managing for profit in a crisis

• This will be case-study driven with illuminating statistics and client examples
• In times of crisis cost management is not sufficient, managing the top line (revenue=volume x price) is even more important
• To manage the top line effectively a systematic pricing process is required
• Revenue management together with sales and marketing have the ultimate ability (and opportunity) to successfully access the number one revenue / profit lever which is pricing

Day 2 - Wednesday 20th May

09:00 - 10:30 Brand Integrity / Price integrity: how do you avoid the ignorance driven price war?

• Should you be looking at occupancy or price and what experiments can help test and drive occupancy?
• Can you maintain brand integrity but still hit segments of your market with special targeted 'price deals'
• Even some big brand have admitted to considering opaque deals as a pathway in tough times - is this really a good option and are you sacrificing brand integrity by doing this?
• How do you hold on to your regular clients and maintain price integrity and credibility in a price war?
• There is a very real temptation in period of low demand to slash rates but what are the consquences - two months of price reductions can lead to

14:30 - 16:00 Renegotiate rates or get maximum exposure? What value do 3rd parties give in periods of weak demand and how can you maximise their value?

• Find out if you are asking the right questions when you strike deals with 3rd parties - understand the questions that will give you better results
• Customers become more price sensitive in times of economic uncertainty - is this driving sales away from direct distribution to 3rd party sites?
• Is a recession a good time to examine your contracts and renegotiate unfavourable rates or should you be working more closely with 3rd Parties to maximise exposure or your product?
• How should your policy towards 3rd parties be tempered by the specific market including point of purchase and destination?
• Should you be more heavily reliant on 3rd parties in markets that are new to you and strive for greater direct distribution in your core markets?
• Is it actually a misconception that selling direct is free - in fact 3rd party costs are variable rather than the fixed costs associated with your direct channel

16:30-17:30 Revenue Management Talk-Back

After two information packed days there will be things that you disagreed on, want to clarify further or even put forward topics that you feel haven't been adequately examined. This is your chance to raise those issues, either by introducing them yourself or,if you aren't the public speaking type, passing questions for the moderator to raise. An excellent and popular wash-up session that adds real value to round off two quality information gathering days.