Providing development services, practical advice and training to tourism businesses in the UK. Identifying the individual properties needs for sales, to help maximise revenue and occupancy all year round.

A central role: When I initially accept this position in November 2011 I was asked to implement a revenue management structure at hotel level and online.Responsible for the channel management and distribution for all 18 hotels within the estate of Crerar Hotels and Swallow Hotels. Maximising revenue across multiple channels and platforms.Collating/distributing weekly/monthly revenue figures through excelSubmitting RFP info to Corporate Agents and once accepted loading rates and ensuring they are all mapped correctly to the relevant GDS channelsAssisting individual hotels in Reception/Reservations/Revenue training and organisation, motivating the team to meet and exceed targets on an ad hoc basis when needed. Dealing with any problems/queries each hotel may have on OTA sites or with bookings. Ensuring and maintaining a strong relationship with Account Managers and speaking to them on a weekly/monthly basis. Reacting to GM’s “need” periods and loading offers on Crerar website/OTA websites.Collation and distribution of FIT rates to all agents and hotelsAttending a number or Trade Shows throughout the year

A 4 star 42 bedroom hotel in Nairn. My key areas were:Room sales, maintaining websites & GDS updating etc and internal marketing. Managing the day to day running of the revenue sales department and maintaining the rate management of the hotel, ensuring rates and occupancy are maximised at all times. Forecasting reports, period end reports and the accommodation budget. Preparing budgets and report info by market segment, analysing the figures and then maximising room revenue via the various market distribution channels and world wide system. Developing and driving the team to exceed targets set. The Front of House team comprised of 5 members of staff and I was responsible for managing and training them, ensuring they were taking reservations correctly and inputting them into the system ensuring they were tagging the information correctly along with the correct rates. Making sure all enquiries are responded to within 24 hours of their initial enquiry. Motivating the team to meet and exceed targets. Effectively manage forward room reservations to maximise occupancy and revenue.

Providers of development services, practical advice and training to tourism businesses in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland. My duties in this role included firstly identifying the individual properties needs and carrying out competitors analysis. Key areas I worked in were room’s sales, maintaining websites & GDS updating and internal marketing i.e. internal databases. Providing training to the individual hotel staff on the GDS, OTA systems and marketing tagging reservations, also training in ways to yield rates and maximise hotel revenue.

In December 2005 I was asked by Swallow Hotels to take up a central position focusing on the golf market. My duties in this role included, setting up the Golf Desk, collating and maintaining Golf Agent databases, collating rate matrix for all golf related hotels and distributing the information to the Agents and individual golf clients. Taking reservations for the individual hotels and confirming to both clients and hotels. Compiling “Golf Trails” for different areas in Scotland and distributing the information to both Agents and Individual golf clients. Attending Golf Shows. Tracking all golf reservations through out the company and compiling detailed revenue taken report on a monthly basis.

Morton Hotels sold 3 of their properties to Swallow Hotels in December 2004. The Central Reservations team was split up and made responsible for 1 unit only, I was transferred to the Newton Hotel a 56 bedrooms, four star hotel in Nairn. I was responsible for the rate management in the hotel and all OTA websites including the GDS system. Also responsible for managing the reservations team members and the daily running of the reservations department. I was responsible for preparing budgets, by market segment, analysing figures and then yielding rates to maximise revenue and occupancy at all times and also developing and driving the team to exceed targets set.

This was a central role working for the 4 Morton Hotels based in Nairn. Initially I helped set up the Central Reservation and then was employed to run it. My duties included the following: Room Yield Management, both internally for hotels and externally for agent, world wide system. Maintaining and updating GDS System and OTA websites for all properties. Preparing papers for Managers/Board meetings i.e. set up a quarterly reporting system: Availability year on year comparison – projected revenue actually in system against targets set by budgets. Working directly with the General Managers on areas concerning reservations, room revenue and budgets. The CRO office employed 5 members of staff and I was responsible for managing and training them, ensuring they were all taking reservations correctly and inputting them into the system ensuring they were tagging the information correctly along with the correct rates. Making sure all enquiries were responded to within 24 hours of their initial enquiry. Motivating the team to meet and exceed targets. Effectively manage forward room reservations to maximise revenue in every property. Working directly with the General Managers and marketing to set rate structures in advance for Special Rates for the year, Rack and Leisure Rates for the year so that we could yield manage the year more effectively. Standardising area codes, packages, company tagging and guest types throughout the group where possible to streamline reservations input and revenue recording.