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CCRA Check-In is distributed
bi-monthly to all of our hotel partners worldwide.
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29219 Canwood St.,
Suite 115
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
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Phone: 818.575.4300
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Fax: 818.889.4547
www.ccra.com
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Director of Supplier Strategies
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Bill Lawrence
Director of Supplier Strategies
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Samuel Jinich
Programmer/Analyst,
RFP Services
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Marketing Coordinator
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CCRA Travel
Agency Partners
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2010 Sales Kit
Don't Take Our Word For It: |
"Our partnership with CCRA is essential to an overall increase in occupancy and revenue. Their professionalism is paramount to our success."
Linda Schilling
Director of Travel Industry Sales
Noble House Hotels and Resorts |
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"The CCRA marketing department is a huge help to us and easy to work with. As a result of their experience with our marketing, Harrah’s is looking forward to
2009 with CCRA!"
Brooke Johnson
Sales Manager
Harrah’s Las Vegas
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"CCRA offers a multitude of affordable opportunities. I continue to support CCRA marketing because of their large distribution channel. The ROI is realistic and achievable. They are cutting-edge in terms of marketing tool development!"
Colleen Kempf
National Director,
Travel Industry Sales
Omni Hotels
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"CCRA provides one of the widest and most economical platforms available to get our messages across to the global travel agency community. We value the relationship and appreciate the positive results
of their efforts."
David Kreindel
National Sales Director
Choice Hotels International
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You Still Have Time to Put Your 2010 Rates in Front of
23,000 Travel Agencies and Over 50,000 Individual Agents!
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Message from Mai
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Dear Hoteliers,
The New Year is already not so “new.” Soon we will be preparing for the end of the first quarter. Hotels that are starting to see a recovery from a dismal 2009 are the hotels that have taken effective action to put heads back in beds. At CCRA, we see ourselves as your partner in these efforts.
When we say that CCRA is a travel consortia, what we are saying is that CCRA is a company that supports both travel agents and travel suppliers. We act as an intermediary, negotiating rates and promotions from suppliers and marketing that information to travel agents. Our commitment is to helping both agents and suppliers be more successful.
Over the past several issues of Check-in, our goal has been to help our hotels work smarter, not just harder. Our interview with Don Farrell, the founder of Signature, gave some very specific ideas about stealing market share. Bill Todd, formerly VP of sales at Choice Hotels has written several articles about selling – and about having fun while you do it.
In this month’s issue, our director of marketing talks about how to think about reporting and some things to keep in mind about the reports you subscribe to - and in future issues we will talk about how to take the information from your reports and, literally, turn that data into dollars.
CCRA also continues to aggressively market you, our travel partners, to the thousands of agents who participate in our negotiated rate program through the GDS or use our proprietary reservation system, CCRATravel.com.
At CCRA, we recognize that your success is our success. Together we will make 2010 a comeback year for our industry.
Sincerely,
Mai Meyaart
Vice President and Managing Director
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Sales Goals, The MapQuest of Business Success
Written By: Bill Todd
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 The dean and senior statesman of American sales trainers is Zig Ziglar. He reports that only three percent of people in the USA set business goals, and they are among the wealthiest people in the nation! The ability to set sales and revenue goals, and committing to a set of action steps for their accomplishment, is the master skill of any travel professional.
Setting sales goals is among the single most important skill that you can perfect. Goal-setting will do more to help you achieve the things you want from your property than will anything else you’ve been exposed to.
Famous business author Brian Tracy says, "Setting well-defined goals enables you to channel your efforts and focus your energy toward something that’s important to you. Goal-setting gives you a target to aim at and enables you to develop the self-discipline to continue working toward your target rather than becoming distracted and going off in other directions.
When it comes to setting goals, far too frequently travel entrepreneurs inadvertently only pay lip service to it. When it comes to setting goals, they plan on doing it, they just never get around to dedicating the time required to accomplish this essential task.
Successful salespeople also realize that of all the goals they will set, the revenue goal takes priority. Why? It’s the one goal that if you don’t achieve it, you just might not be around to talk about all the others you did hit. Your sales goal should have monthly, quarterly and annual targets. Every person who works for you should clearly understand each goal. More importantly, it is incumbent upon you to make sure they understand the exact role they play in achieving that goal. Each revenue goal must be challenging yet realistic.
The second most important task in setting goals is consistently celebrating when any goal is achieved. The habit of celebrating success, no matter how small, is a key component to long-term business success. Business psychologists tell us that the best way to ensure that our employees repeat the behavior that leads to success is to positively recognize and acknowledge it.
About Bill
Bill Todd is one of the travel industry’s most sought-after sales and marketing speakers and coaches. He is the co-author of the book Speaking of Success which also features best-selling authors Stephen R. Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), Ken Blanchard (One Minute Manager) and Jack Canfield (The Secret and Chicken Soup for the Soul). BTodd@BTodd.com | www.BTodd.com | 301.633.5856
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How Much Information Do You Really Need?
Written By: Mary Wiley
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 Finding just the right amount of data is a little like Goldie Locks trying to find the right amount of porridge.
Too much data and you risk suffering overload. Since it’s hard to single out what’s important from a report with 7 tabs, and spreadsheets you can’t see on a single screen – it can become increasingly confusing to even look through the reports as they begin to pile up month-upon-month.
Too little data and you don’t have enough information to spot trends that could really help, or really harm, your hotel. These reports have no impact on your operation, so you stop wasting time reviewing them.
The right amount of data then, is the amount that helps you make wise decisions about what needs to be done to put more heads in beds. Easy to define, but how will you “know it when you see it?”
Here’s a little secret: only you can define what data is important to your operation.
At this point I am going to stop using the term “data” (which is just numbers) and switch to the term “information” which is what you have when data is put into a context where you can make decisions.
Report designers like to use the term “actionable.” Good information is actionable – it shows you where changes need to be made and even points to what shape those changes should take.
If a piece of information doesn’t help you to be smarter about marketing or operating your hotel, it isn’t important. It might be interesting; it might even be astonishing - but it isn’t important.
In sales, the best reports allow you to drill down to the detail about actual client behavior. It’s not enough just to look at your top 20 producers for the quarter and say, “yeah, those are my clients.” You need to track clients over time.
What’s going on this January with the top 20 clients from a year ago? If one of your top bookers has fallen off the map, you need to take action to find out what went wrong. If a client you’ve never heard of suddenly appears in the top 20, you want to learn more about them, because you want to find more clients like them.
Knowing how you perform against your competitive set is critical to understanding the impact of pricing and availability, but a report that actually tells you what customers come in to your area and where they are staying is more valuable.
And now we come full circle. The value of a report is in how easy it is for you to understand, and how effective it is in helping you take successful action - against the markets that are right for your hotel.
Not every hotel can afford every report that is currently available in our industry. Before you subscribe, always be sure you understand what you will learn and what actions you will take if you invest in a given report.
About Mary Wiley
Mary Wiley, Director of Marketing for CCRA, was senior director of sales data systems for the former Cendant Hotel Company. You can contact Mary at mary.wiley@ccra.com. |
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The 12th Annual World Tourism Award Honors Canton-Based Tourism Cares
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 The 12th Annual World Tourism Awards, co-sponsored by American Express, Corinthia Hotels, International Herald Tribune, and Reed Travel Exhibitions, were presented at a special ceremony on November 10, 2009, at World Travel Market, Excel Centre, London. The 2009 Award Honorees are Tourism Cares, Gap Adventures and Cyrene, Libya.
The 2009 Honorees were being recognized for their dedication to sustainable tourism and the preservation of natural and cultural heritage. The award presented to Tourism Cares cited the organization’s "… extraordinary work to preserve the travel experience for future generations by awarding grants to natural, cultural and historic sites worldwide; awarding scholarships to the future tourism workforce and organizing volunteer projects to help restore tourism-related sites."
Inaugurated in 1997, The World Tourism Award was established to recognize “the extraordinary initiatives by individuals, companies, organizations, destinations and attractions for outstanding accomplishments in the travel industry.” Presenting the Award on behalf of the sponsors were: Jean-Paul Kyrillos, V.P./Publisher, Travel + Leisure, American Express Publishing; Glenn Carroll, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Corinthia Hotels & Resorts; Alistair McEwan, Advertising Director, International, The New York Times/International Herald Tribune; Wendy Hartley, Sales Development Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions.
The World Tourism Awards are presented in the form of a specially designed Steuben Crystal arch entitled “Partnership,” chosen to “celebrate the bond of a supportive partnership which, like a bridge, spans both time and distance.”
Bruce Beckham, Executive Director of Tourism Cares, Canton, Massachusetts accepted the award in London. Tourism Cares is a 501c(3) non-profit public charity that works to preserve the travel experience for future generations by awarding grants to natural, cultural and historic sites worldwide; by presenting academic and service-learning scholarships to students of hospitality and tourism; and by organizing volunteer efforts to restore tourism-related sites in need of care and rejuvenation.
About Tourism Cares
Tourism Cares is the leading philanthropy of the travel and tourism industry through its affiliations with major industry associations, including the National Tour Association, the United States Tour Operators Association, American Society of Travel Agents, the Receptive Services Association of North America, and the World Religious Travel Association.
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Hospitality Industry: Hotel Business Current and Future Trends
Writen by: Nick Nikolis
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Hospitality has long been synonymous with the hotel industry. Any changes in trends of hotel business have wide scale implications on an otherwise diverse industry. What might be an opportunity for a traveler can be a matter of survival for hotels? It will not be an oversimplification to suggest that the emerging concepts in hotel industry reveal an atmosphere of stiff competition. Here is a look at a few major issues:
Is Green better?
 Amid growing concern over environment friendly services, a majority of travelers now prefer Green and Eco lodgings. Recent surveys by trade associations such as Partnership Travel Industry Association and online retailers like Yahoo revealed that nearly seventy percent of the tourists are willing to pay extra when it comes to environmental friendly lodgings. These surveys further revealed that these guests will pay anywhere from nine to ten percent premium on the already advertised prices.
What can be stated as a welcome relief for the educated traveler might pose real challenges for the hotel business. To better understand the scenario, it should be noted that hotels are presently facing severe shortages in occupancy rates which are at their lowest since 1971. Such a crisis and lack of funds can definitely hamper any efforts to install appliances that comply with the LEEDS standards (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design). Some experts agree that a trade off may lead hotels into removing free amenities that include little bottles of shampoos, jams and free basket of fruits; all of which are the hallmark of these eco lodgings.
Where have the Workers gone?
The hotel industry gives employment at a very large proportion of part time workers, who after gaining substantial experience, leave for other lucrative jobs at restaurants and outdoors. Low wages in the hotel industry is one of the primary reasons for low retention rates.
Hotel industry Gurus are already thinking of ways to attract and retain qualified workers by increasing the pay scales and by reducing the long working hours. The top management is now devising constructive methods that will retain the existing workers by sponsoring education and creating attractive career paths.
Mega Hotels
The rising cost of construction and a struggling real estate has prompted hoteliers to deploy the pre-fabricated and cost effective solution in the construction of new hotels. In fact they are fighting back by producing highly efficient designs that utilize a greater proportion of space for revenue generating purpose. Future trends in the hotel construction will seek to maximize the use of building areas by constructing a multi purpose facility that will include Casinos, shopping outlets and Theatres. The stand alone hotel concept is likely to vanish as the new properties will be constructed as a mixed use development to provide guests with facilities such as Church, Hospitals and Theme Parks. Such a variety will ensure that guests remain at one spot which will help generate revenue for the entire hotel complex.
The evolution of savvy traveler
The evolution of internet has given rise to a phenomenon where travelers are becoming ever more demanding. Industry professionals suggest that an increase in a trend, to review properties online, will make travelers less forgiving as they are able to post their travel experiences. Such an overemphasis on web may even lead to stiff competition and price reduction strategies where only large players may be able to survive.
To ward of such threats, the small business owner is now turning towards opening a boutique establishment as an alternate to 70s style motels. Such niche properties are popping up everywhere by advertising a more personalized "home away from home" kind of experience. The introduction of such boutique properties has also given rise to the popular and widely accepted theme of modern hostels. These hostels are keen to provide a clean and safe environment for budget conscious travelers. Their goal is to wipe out the myths associated with cheap motels and dingy guesthouses.
Whatever may be the case, one thing is for sure that constant remodeling of the hotel industry has made it more functional and practical not only for the guests but also for the hotel owners.
Article Source: http://hotel-management.bestmanagementarticles.com
About the Author: Nick Nikolis is writing about Hospitality Industry and destinations
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