1pm - 5pm Pre-Conference Day: Tuesday, September 15

OpenTravel Pre-Conference Workshop (at The Westin, Chicago)

5pm - 7pmPre-Conference Drinks Reception

9am - 7.30pm Day One: Wednesday, September 16

Moderators:

• Steve Pinchuk, SVP Resort Profibility, Westgate Resorts
• Tom Walker, Managing Director, Room Revenew

9.00 - 10.30 Session 1: Presentations and Panel

Adapt & Update Your Revenue Management & Pricing Strategy to Profit in the Current Economic Climate

It's essential to protect profitability and generate ancillary revenues during the recession - and that means you need to adapt your strategies on an ongoing basis. Just dropping rates is no good. You need to communicate the value of your product more than ever, whilst appealing to different segments and stealing market share wherever you can. Your customers, meanwhile, are demanding the best value from every dollar they spend, and are willing to take bigger risks. In this session you'll get tips on analyzing your performance, measuring your success and achieving your goals in this difficult time.

• In an economic downturn should you chase profit or revenue?
• Lessons from history: How does this recession differ from previous periods of downturn?
• What signs will herald the end of the recession and which markets are leading indicators?
• How can hotels and airlines exploit opportunities and actually thrive right now?
• How can you appeal to different segments and steal market share?
• Which channels will profit from changes in consumer behavior brought on by the recession?
• Providing value to your customers: How can you build value into your marketing campaigns - and deliver an emotional appeal to your customers?
• How do you need to change your revenue management processes during this recession?
• What channels or demand segments are performing better than average? What does this imply about your current sales targets and pricing?
• How can you use RM data to determine which marketing programs are generating incremental revenue - and claim maximum profit from the most successful campaigns?

• Dr. Peter Belobaba, Principal Research Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• Sharon Duffy, VP Revenue Management, Hilton Hotels Corporation
• Jeff Roy, Director - Air Revenue Management, Collette Vacations
• Doug Hesley, Corporate Director, Norwegian Cruise Lines

10.30 - 11.00 Networking Coffee Break

11.00 - 11.30 Keynote Presentation:

Growing Market Share vs Growing Profits: Which Strategy is Best for the Current Climate?

• What are the pros and cons of these two strategies?
• Are these two strategies mutually exclusive?
• Should you reduce rates to steal market share? What is the danger here?
• Once you have reduced your rate to steal market share, how do you build forecasts that examine profitability?
• Other than discounting, how else can you steal market share?
• What things can you do to drive up RevPAR? How do you gain new exposure that separates you from your competitors?

• Jim Rozell, Revenue Optimization Leader, Carlson Hotel Company

11.30 - 1.00 Session 2: Presentations and Panel

Increase Profits by Optimizing the Synergy Between Distribution & Revenue Management

• How is the distribution landscape changing - and how are the changes affecting revenue management and pricing?
• How do you create seamless interaction between distribution, CRM and revenue management data?
• What's the most lucrative way to manage channels when demand is low?
• How can you keep track of every channel?
• What data is essential to make profitable revenue management and pricing decisions?
• How is innovation in distribution methods impacting RM and pricing?
• How can you review third-party distribution agreements to retain control of rates and availability?
• Reservations costs, rates and availability: How do you balance the numbers for maximum profitability?
• Effective channel management: What are the secrets of limiting revenue leakage and maintaining rate integrity?

• Chinmai Sharma, VP Revenue Management, Wyndham Group
• Chris Anderson, Assistant Professor, Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration
• Beverly Ramsook, VP Revenue Management & Distribution, Denihan Hospitality Group - Affinia Hotels

1.00 - 2.10 Roundtable Lunch Break

2.10 - 3.50 Session 3: Presentations and Panel

Expert Advice on Setting the Right Prices for the Right Customer at the Right Time: Should You Respond to the Elasticity of Demand by Reducing Prices?

To discount or not to discount? It's an increasingly contentious issue as companies struggle to compete. What's more, the decisions you make today will affect your profitability for years to come. So cutting prices may delay your ability to benefit when the economy does bounce back. Should you cut your rates? What are the alternatives? And how much damage could you do?

• How do you segment customers by price sensitivity and gauge the likely effect discounting will have on their current and future purchases?
• How do your customers perceive discounts and promotions?
• What are the alternatives to discounting?
• How can you protect your brand and provide value-added components instead of discounting?
• Should you reduce rates to steal market share? How could this affect your profitability?
• What are the advantages of lowering your rates?
• Exactly how hard is it to increase prices after a downturn?
• How can you integrate marketing with yield to optimize promotion and marketing spend?
• Of all the online agencies, Priceline and Hotwire are reporting the highest profits:
  • How come opaque channels are so popular with customers in the current climate?
  • How can you use opaque channels as an alternative to discounting, while still maintaining rate integrity?
• Fare families, like those used by Air Canada, offer customers a multiple of differentiated products, each with different price points:
  • How can you replace traditional notions of fares with fare families to increase conversion and improve profitability?
  • Is there something inherently advantageous in the fare family structure?
  • If so, how do you need to change your RM strategy?
  • How should you look at demand when people can book in multiple fare classes?

• Julia Szudarek, VP Revenue Management, Orbitz Worldwide
• Melissa Skluzacek, Director of Revenue Management, Midwest Airlines
• Kristi White, Director of Revenue Optimization, TravelCLICK
• Matt Busch, Director of Pricing Strategy, InterContinental Hotels Group

3.50 - 4.20 Networking Coffee Break

4.20 - 5.20 Session 4: Presentation and Panel

Forecasting: Integrating the Effects of Distribution and Pricing to Achieve Higher Revenues

Bad news for Revenue Managers: The economic slowdown has rendered forecasts based on historical data pretty useless. So what do you do now to make smarter pricing decisions, identify ways to maximize profit and apply pricing restrictions? Knowing when customers buy your products is a crucial factor in savvy RM right now, and this session shows you how to generate accurate forecasts that use the correct blend of historical data and latest trends.

• Demand forecasting: How do you identify demand by segment and time, and marry the findings to your RM and pricing strategy?
• Forecasts: To what extent can you rely on technology - and how much is down to the human touch?
• How can you know if your forecasts are going to be inaccurate - and what should you do to protect revenues?
• If traditional RM systems produce inaccurate forecasts, what other methods can you use to track demand?
• How will cancellations and no-shows impact your forecasts?
• How much data do you need to forecast accurately? Do you really need a full year? How can you create a “booking pattern” database?
• Can you use algorithms to process your historical demographic data to produce accurate forecasts?
• How can you use technology to gain a greater understanding of competitor prices?
• Will it pay to put your competitors' pricing at the heart of your forecasting strategy?
• What's the best way to work with the marketing team and use your forecasts to identify need periods and opportunities?

• Greg Weiss, VP Revenue Management, Joie de Vivre Hospitality

5.20 - 7.30 Networking Drinks Party

8am - 3.30pm Day Two: Thursday, September 17

8.00-8.50 Cornell University Breakfast - Open to All

Q&A Breakfast with Chris K. Anderson, Ph.D.

Cornell University Office of Executive Education invites attendees of EyeforTravel's Revenue Management and Pricing conference to a Q&A breakfast with Chris Anderson, Ph.D. Chris is an Assistant professor at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration and will also be speaking on Wednesday. Thursday's breakfast will allow for more in-depth discussion surrounding revenue management within the hospitality industry.

9.00 - 9.30 Keynote Presentation:

The Evolution of Revenue Management: Where Have We Been and Where are We Going?

• Over the past 25 years, the term “Revenue Management” has become closely associated with pricing in the airline business. How did airlines “invent” this science and progress it to where it is today?
• What roles did Information Technology and Operations Research play in bringing RM to the current state of the art?
• What are the major shortcomings of the current state of revenue management?
• And what does the future hold for us?

• Scott Nason, VP Revenue Management, American Airlines (retired)

9.30 - 10.45 Session 5: Presentations and Panel

Maximize Profits by Selling Ancillary Products & Services

When US airlines posted enormous losses last year, they began looking at all parts of their operations to generate cash... now United Airlines expects to make $1.2 billion this year through fees and charges. What's more, airlines have been surprised by the lack of customer backlash, so this is becoming the norm. So is generating ancillary revenue a better alternative to discounts?

• Which ancillary revenue products and services will deliver maximum profitability for your particular business?
• Hotels: How do you identify the most profitable guests and include non-room revenue in your strategy?
• How do you effectively manage your ancillary revenue partnerships - and overcome technological challenges?
• What are the secrets of creating a program that's consistent with your brand and avoids alienating customers?
• How should you profile your customers to target them with the most relevant ancillary revenue offerings?
• How can hotels, casinos and other suppliers jump onto this lucrative, airline-led bandwagon?
• Total Revenue Management: How do you maximize revenue across all revenue streams?
• Maximum profitability: How do you analyze ancillary revenue behavior by customer segment and use your RM system to squeeze out extra dollars?

• Dr. Bill Brunger, SVP Network, Continental Airlines (retired)
• Tim Coleman, Revenue Operations, Nor 1 Inc.

10.45 - 11.15 Networking Coffee Break

11.15 - 12.45 Session 6: Presentations and Panel

Customer-Centric RM & Pricing Strategy: Why it Pays You to Target Specific Customer Segments & Nurture Loyalty:

In a recession, retaining loyal customers is priority No. 1. Today's travel leaders are those who not only understand their customers, but are also rolling out customer-centric pricing strategies that reflect this knowledge (not all customers are cutting their travel budgets right now) and putting the right options in front of them at the right time:

• How are Revenue Managers responsible for loyal customers? How can you avoid doing harm?
• How much will it cost you to improve synergy between your CRM and RM data - and how big is the potential reward
• How do you address a customer's willingness to pay?
• What's the most profitable way to segment your customer data and target specific groups?
• Should you segment customers differently in a recession?
• Airlines are charging lowest-fare customers fees for checking baggage, whereas high-fare customers are exempt. Which segments should receive consistent pricing and which should experience elasticity?
• How do you overcome the challenge of aligning CRM and Revenue Management departments?
• What does your guest look like? What does your guest value? What do you have that is of value to a specific guest?
• Opaque channels are becoming more popular with rate-hungry consumers. Does brand loyalty inevitably diminish in a recession? And what can you do to maintain customer loyalty?

• Mark Molinari, Executive Director of Revenue Management, Strategic Marketing, The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino
• Juston Parker, CEO, Parker Hospitality
• Tammy Farley, Principal, The Rainmaker Group
• Hariharan Subramanian, Director, Sabre

12.45 - 1.45 Roundtable Lunch Break

1.45 - 2.30 Session 7: Presentations and Panel

Spotlight on Revenue Management for Small & Independent Hotels

• How do you overcome the unique challenges posed by small and independent hotels?
• Should you look to reservations managers as potential revenue managers?
• What revenue management technology is suitable and affordable for your business?
• How can hotels price competitively to gain exposure and revenue while maintaining rate integrity?
• How can small and independent hotels build guest loyalty with a rational pricing strategy?
• How do you increase revenues when you've got high occupancy rates?
• How do you raise your appeal to higher-rated segments?

• Scott Bacon, Senior Revenue Account Manager, Preferred Hotel Group
• Sameer Mehra, Regional VP - Revenue Management and Distribution, Highgate Hotels

2.30 - 3.00 Networking Coffee Break

3.00 - 3.30 Keynote Presentation:

Finding, Training & Retaining Talented Revenue Managers

This is NOT the time for your Revenue Management department to hunker down and survive. On the contrary, it's a great opportunity to add value to your organization and thrive! But with more pressure than ever on Revenue Managers to keep a company profitable, where do you find the best people, train them, and keep them loyal?

• How do you prevent your best people from being stolen?
• What skills are imperative - are they instinctive or can they be taught?
• How do you keep up with the latest trends and ensure your staff are well educated in the face of cost-cutting?
• How can you use technology to enable your team to devote more time to marketing and sales?
• How can you decentralize RM so your people can make faster decisions?

• Greg Cross, Revenue Management Consultant & former SVP Revenue Management, Hilton Hotels Corporation