SPECIAL REPORT : THE REVENUE MANAGER
WHAT
HOTELS
WANT
Each hotel company has essentially the same criteria to measure a revenue manager ’ s success — how the hotel ’ s RevPAR , total revenue and profitability compares to its competitive set . However , the career background hotel companies are looking for in successful candidates for revenue management positions are not so uniform .
While an educational background in hospitality management and especially yield management is a plus , the absence of this on a resumé will not hold back an applicant . “ There has been a shift over the years ,” says Craig Eister , vice president of revenue management at IHG . “ In the past , revenue managers were primarily promoted from front office or reservations departments . Now , it is more about their skill set , analytical abilities and potential .”
Indeed , hiring patterns for revenue managers have shifted to include many from outside the hospitality industry entirely , especially given the extensive training programs on revenue management the large hotel companies offer .
“ We have revenue managers coming from a whole myriad of sources ,” says Chris Silcock , global head of revenue management , Hilton Worldwide . “ We have some working through operations first . We also hire from schools around the country — not just hospitalityfocused schools , but also business schools . It used to be all people progressing through the hotel . Now , there is much more of that sourcing of talent from outside of hospitality that have strong data and analytical skills .” and occupancy data . The position has only become more challenging over the past decade as channel management has become more complex , and revenue managers are required to work more closely with hotel general managers and sales staff to bring in the best business . For aspiring and current revenue managers , this means more career opportunities and higher salaries .
In demand , on-site or off Larger hotel management companies are building teams of remote revenue managers , some divided into clusters in various cities while others are all located at the company headquarters or simply working from home .
“ Larger hotel companies are saying they are going to manage revenue management for their whole portfolio from their corporate headquarters . We see a lot more people working from home , overseeing a portfolio ,” Boone says .
Hilton Worldwide , McLean , Virginia , is currently hiring revenue managers for its two consolidated remote revenue management centers ahead of the opening of a third such center in China — the exact location in the country has yet to be determined . The two existing centers , in London and Dallas , currently conduct revenue management remotely for about 325 hotels , an increase from 100 hotels done remotely three years ago .
“ We ’ re always hiring in those centers ,” says Chris Silcock , global head of revenue management at Hilton
Worldwide . “ Our center in London manages predominantly full-service hotels . Dallas does a mix of full-service and focused-service .”
Hilton is also rolling out a pilot program at 20 U . S . properties offering a rate analytics program that can essentially run on autopilot . However , the company says the intention is not to replace humans with software . “ Our initial pilot is in our focused-service brands ,” Silcock says . “ It ’ s not really a cost play ; it ’ s an effectiveness play . It should not replace a revenue director . “ Transient business often arrives via reservations ,” Silcock adds . “ That business is much easier to pattern and trend , and come out with optimization . Group business is much more spotty and harder to predict . That ’ s where human intervention is critical .”
Accor , Courcourconnes , France , is also on a hiring spree for both onproperty and remote revenue managers . “ Accor has an ambitious expansion strategy to accompany our expansion to optimize our hotels ’ revenues , so we are hiring and implementing an active training and recruitment policy ,” says Frédéric Toitot , Accor ’ s director of RM Pass and Sales Pass programs .
Accor currently employs about 600 revenue managers on five continents , 80 % of whom are working in individual properties , with the remaining 20 % working remotely on a market , regional or country level . Since 2007 , the group has implemented a specialized revenue management training program called
‘‘
GREAT REVENUE MANAGERS work in black and white , while hotel managers and sales staff work in grey .”
– Janelle Cornett , corporate director of revenue management , Coastal Hotel Group
26 HOTELS March 2012 www . hotelsmag . com