Accommodation: Profitability of Accommodation Business Brussels INCON University 20 - 21 January 2006 Accommodation: Profitability of Accommodation Business Presented by Monique Vannus Accommodation Supervisor Tour Hosts Pty Limited Sydney, Australia

Who is Tour Hosts? Conference & Exhibition Division Manager Managing Director Personal Assistant Special Projects Conference Management Teams Corporate & Special Events Department Sponsorship & Exhibition Destination Accommodation Delegate Services IT Support Conference Interpreter General Manager UK/Europe Office USA Office UK/Europe Sales Office USA Sales Office

The Accommodation Department Department Manager Provide support and guidance to Department, responsible for department development, staff and budget

Major Hotel Chains in Australia Accor Hotels and Resorts (Novotel, Ibis) Starwood Hotels and Resorts (Westin, Four Points, Sheraton) Intercontinental Hotels Group (Crowne Plaza, Intercontinental) Hilton Hotels Raffles Hotels and Resorts Stamford Hotels and Resorts Radisson Hotels and Resorts Four Seasons Hotels Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts

Preferred Hotel Agreements Tour Hosts have preferred agreements set up with the major hotel chains within Sydney and Australia. These agreements outline standard terms and conditions with favourable policies and performance based incentives.

Preferred Agreements Standard terms and conditions Lenient cancellation policy inline with trend of late booking Initial rooming list at 30 days, final rooming list at 15 days Allotment of accommodation rooms held until 15 days Room block reviews at 90 and 60 days Performance based incentives Commission overrides Additional free of charge rooms Additional complimentary upgrades

Two Important Factors TRUST Build your reputation by consistently materialising room blocks and forecasting accurate room blocks TIME Saving time to focus on increasing profit

Benefits of Preferred Agreements Minimising time spent on each event Saves time on negotiation of terms and conditions for each event More time to focus on accommodation sales Only send 2 rooming lists per event - more time on managing room blocks to ensure materialisation. Maximising revenue Additional revenue earned through performance incentives. Commission overrides and complimentary rooms. In 2004/2005 this additional revenue equalled 13% of total accommodation revenue

Official Hotel Official Hotel was introduced by Tour Hosts in 2001. In 2001 the entitlements were limited to an override of commission of 2.5% plus an additional 2 FOC rooms above standard policy. By 2005 additional entitlements were negotiated to benefit the hotel, the client, the delegate and Tour Hosts.

Benefit examples Delegate Benefit Discount Food & Beverage Discount Health and Beauty treatments Feeling of community Committee Benefit FOC signage (FOC = Free of charge) FOC room drop to delegate FOC boardroom Additional upgrades

Benefit examples continued Benefits to the Official Hotel Official Hotels = 42% of rooms of total room block Larger room blocks Additional advertising in brochure and website E-blast promoting the Official Hotel sent to delegate Strong materialisation Tour Hosts Benefits Additional commission overrides - profit Additional FOC rooms - profit Discounted meeting rooms - profit Tour/hospitality desk - profit Discount staff accommodation rates - profit

The Importance of Materialisation Track record of consistent materialisation enables hotels to provide additional benefits ( credibility and trust) Increased materialisation = increased power and respect More accurate budget forecasting

Tour Hosts Track Record Total of 2094 rooms with 82% materialisation

Tour Hosts Track Record cont. Total of 7127 rooms with 78% materialisation

Materialisation Summary National Events Original Forecasts: 2562 Actual Room Block: 2094 82% materialisation International Events Original Forecasts: 9101 Actual Room Block: 7127 78% materialisation Average materialisation across all events 80%