• Sudden departure of Revenue Manager
• Experiencing a decline in demand due to the economic downturn

As a result of the economic crisis, the Thon Hotel Brussels City Centre, like others in the industry experienced a downturn in demand. In June 2008, the hotel lost a crew contract of approximately 80 rooms which impacted on the hotel’s market share. The Revenue Manager was able to recover some of the loss; however the effect of his sudden departure later that year reflected on subsequent performance figures. The hotel’s RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room) Index dropped from 91.0 in December 2008 to 66.3 by February 2009.

• Virtual Revenue Management Support
• Performance Analysis
• Process Audit

Thon Hotels contracted IDeaS from March 2009 to May 2009 to provide Virtual Revenue Management Support for the Thon Hotel Brussels City Centre. The objective of the assignment was to ensure that a high standard of revenue management processes and procedures were maintained, thus allowing the hotel the freedom to pursue the search for a qualified new permanent revenue manager. In addition, the revenue generating potential of the hotel needed to be optimized as effectively as possible within the timeframe of the assignment.

In the initial stage of assessment, the IDeaS Consultants conducted a thorough review and clean-up of existing tools and processes. Throughout the assignment, daily, weekly and monthly revenue meetings were conducted and situational analysis, strategies, tactics and action points were discussed with the hotel management team. These then resulted in the implementation of approved strategies by the IDeaS Consultant. During this time, the Consultant utilized the IDeaS Revenue Management System to recommend, analyze, review and implement the different revenue strategies.

• 39.7% increase in RevPAR
• Improved competitive set performance reports
• Improved rate shopping reports

As a result of the support provided by IDeaS, the Thon Hotel Brussels City Centre witnessed a significant increase in RevPAR. A comparison between the period of engagement and the three months prior to this, showed a marked improvement in RevPAR of 39.7%. The hotel also reaped additional intangible benefits such as enhanced revenue management understanding, training and best practice, as well as improved processes and procedures.