Hotel & Motel Management - January 7, 2008 - (Page 20) 20 Cornell Insights H&MM January 7, 2008 | HotelMotel.com www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition Online Continued from page 8 the hotel company (or airline or rental car), or is the brand the Web site operator that is packaging the tour? Customers who have received an early morning call from Orbitz alerting them to the status of an upcoming flight might see themselves more as a customer of Orbitz than of the airline itself. Carroll, Kwortnik and Rose suggest that hotels and other tour-package purveyors need to improve their “IT horsepower,” so they can manage their inventory and pricing in response to customer queries. Existing revenue-management software might not be up to the task of dealing with customers who are assembling their own packages. A hotel might sell itself short or price itself out of the market unless it can adjust prices in response to customers’ Webbased queries. Perhaps the room prices should change as the customer books additional services in advance. Such IT power is not always in place. It seems safe to predict that Web-based sales of packages will continue to expand. To retain control over room pricing, hotels must consider how to interact with customers and gauge their needs based on their online profiles. Assembling pack- ages that offer sufficient added value to offset pricing transparency depends on a hotel company’s ability to focus on component quality levels, to mitigate the opportunity cost of time spent shopping and to manage a customer’s risk when he or she purchases a reservation far in advance. By creating packages that provide value by addressing customers’ needs in these categories, hotels can stride confidently into the brave new world of online travel packages. hmm@questex.com Glenn Withiam directs publications at The Center for Hospitality Research at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. He can be reached at grw4@cornell.edu. News Briefs The executive committee for Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals comprises: President Anna McFarland, senior finance director at Accor NA; v.p. Jules Sieburgh, of O’Neal Consultants; Treasurer Terry Price, executive IT manager, The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa; Secretary Thomas Smith, c.f.o., Ozaukee Country Club; Immediate Past President Agnes DeFranco, professor and assistant v.p., Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management. The board of directors is: Steven Argo, controller, Charlotte Country Club; Carson Booth, v.p. IT in Europe, Africa and the Middle East for Starwood Hotels & Resorts; Lisa Funk, project manager, MTM Luxury Lodging; Brian Garavuso, chief information officer, Hilton Grand Vacations Club; Ronald Hardin, technology director, Davidson Hotel Co.; Joori Jeon, executive v.p./c.f.o., American Hotel & Lodging Assn.; David Manglos, c.f.o., Houston Country Club; Karl Munster, finance director, HRI Lodging; Philip Newman, partner, McGladrey & Pullen; RP Rama, v.p. and director of technology and telecommunications, JHM Hotels; Barry Robertson senior v.p., finance at the Venetian Macau (China) Limited; Jerilyn Schnitzel, owner, Schnitzel Hospitality Consulting; and Jerald Trieber, internal audit director, Hersha Hospitality Management. Compiled by Stephanie Ricca, sricca@questex.com Stop using your vacuum cleaner as CHANGES YOUR VACUUM FROM A BATTERING RAM a battering ram that dents furniture, scratches baseboards, bangs up doors and walls. And leads to bruising repair bills. Instead, tame the beast with a Soft Vac Protective Vacuum Cover. • Ends vacuum damage forever • Installs in seconds with Velcro tabs • Soft, durable cordoura fabric outside • High-density foam rubber inside • Eliminates costly repair bills • Extends vacuum cleaner life • Increases housekeeping productivity • There’s a Soft Vac model to fit any vacuum To learn more, contact your distributor, or call us at or visit INTO A GENTLE LAMB softvac.com. 800-866-7001, IN THE details Details summary Detail point Detail point Detail point CIRCLE NO. 158 © 2006 SOFT VAC CORPORATION http://www.HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition http://www.softvac.com http://www.softvac.com http://www.softvac.com
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