Scottsdale, Ariz.� March 9, 2009 � JDA®
Software Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS), the leading provider of Price
Sensitive Revenue Management solutions, announced today that Carlson
Hotels Worldwide selected JDA�s new Travel Price Optimizer to provide
daily pricing decisions for more than 700 properties in the United States
and Asia Pacific as the foundation of the Carlson Hotels Stay Night Automated
Pricing initiative. Carlson Hotels operates in 74 countries under the brands
Regent® Hotels & Resorts, Radisson® Hotels & Resorts, Park
Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM
and Park Inn®.
JDA�s new Travel Price Optimizer, a pricing solution
architected using the JDA® Enterprise Architecture, was designed to
serve the needs of travel, transportation and hospitality companies. It
dynamically optimizes prices based on competitive rates, capacity constraints,
local market demand, and economic and company factors.
.
| Paula Winkler,
executive vice president, operational support service and chief information
officer for Carlson Hotels Worldwide said, �Two years ago, we embarked
on a process of redefining revenue optimization for our hoteliers. Our
research showed that the capabilities offered by established revenue management
systems were no longer relevant to our hotels or the industry. We worked
with JDA to develop the Carlson Hotels Stay Night Automated Pricing (SNAP)
process. While traditional Revenue
Management focuses on restricting the availability of discount products,
the SNAP process optimizes pricing in order to maximize revenue through
demand forecasting. This is a completely different strategy and with JDA�s
new solution we will be able to address this business challenge for our
hotels.�
�Carlson Hotels Worldwide�s strategy is to become
the first hotel group to make the paradigm shift from traditional Revenue
Management to true price optimization,� said Andy Archer, JDA group vice
president. �We are seeing this change elsewhere in the travel industry,
and while there have been efforts to join pricing and Revenue Management
in hospitality, the Carlson Hotels SNAP process truly reinvents the discipline.� |
Andy Archer
JDA group vice president
|
.
Pricing is the Biggest Driver
�We are convinced the Carlson Hotels SNAP process
is the right one for our hoteliers,� said Winkler. SNAP is designed to
address three major shortcomings Carlson Hotels identified in the current
breed of Revenue Management systems:
-
Traditional Revenue Management systems depend too
heavily on busy nights for their benefits. Carlson Hotels wanted
to help its hotels make profitable pricing decisions on all stay nights,
not just the busy ones.
-
Carlson Hotels trains its hotels to understand their
markets and their competitors� prices. Traditional Revenue Management systems
have too little insight into competitor pricing � SNAP puts competitor
data at the heart of its forecasting and price recommendation process.
-
Carlson Hotels saw an opportunity to reduce the workload
for end users significantly. To do this, it partnered with JDA to design
a new business process in which JDA handles more complexity, so that the
end-user process is simpler.
Archer commented, �This marks the latest innovation
in JDA�s highly successful relationship with Carlson Hotels, which began
in 2007 with the estate-wide implementation of JDA® Demand, the leading
forecasting solution used by hundreds of enterprises across multiple industries.
The creative leadership at Carlson Hotels helped us develop and deploy
a more effective pricing technology in the hospitality industry and drive
significant revenue improvement for the company�s hotels.� A good example
of this is JDA�s highly innovative Market Reference Price algorithm, which
was designed collaboratively between JDA and Carlson Hotels and is now
the subject of a patent pending.
Travel Price Optimizer is the latest addition
to JDA�s family of Price
Sensitive Revenue Management solutions. This innovative price optimization
solution is the result of many years of experience solving tough optimization
problems throughout the travel industry. With Demand Management, Revenue
Management and now Price Optimization, JDA offers the most comprehensive
solutions for the services industry market today.
About Carlson Hotels Worldwide
Carlson Hotels Worldwide (www.carlsonhotels.com)
includes more than 1,000 hotel locations in 74 countries. Carlson
Hotels Worldwide brands include Regent® Hotels & Resorts, Radisson®
Hotels & Resorts, Park Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Country Inns
& Suites By CarlsonSM and Park Inn®.
About JDA Services Industries Group
JDA Services Industries Group has pioneered industry-leading
Price Sensitive Revenue Management solutions. Today, leading firms leverage
JDA�s expertise to maximize their profits in the service-based Travel,
Transportation, Hospitality and Media industries. JDA clients include Carlson
Hotels Worldwide, Continental Airlines Cargo, Harrah�s-Caesars Entertainment,
Omni Hotels, Princess Cruise Lines, Eurostar and TUI Travel (formerly Thomson
Holidays).
About JDA Software Group, Inc.
 JDA®
Software Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS) is the world�s leading supply chain
solutions provider, helping companies optimize operations and improve profitability.
JDA drives business efficiency for its global customer base of more than
5,800 retailers, manufacturers, wholesaler-distributors and services industries
companies through deep domain expertise and innovative solutions. JDA's
combination of unmatched services, together with its integrated yet modular
solutions for merchandising, supply chain planning and execution and revenue
management, leverage the strong heritage and knowledge capital of market
leaders including Manugistics, E3, Intactix and Arthur. When supply chain
results matter, companies turn to JDA. For more information about JDA,
visit www.jda.com or contact us at [email protected]
or call +1 800 479 7382/+1 480 308 3000.
We do not believe this press release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Nevertheless, if remarks in this press release
are considered to be ``forward-looking'' or to have forward-looking implications
(including statements by Ms. Winkler and Mr. Archer regarding anticipated
benefits to Carlson Hotels Worldwide from the implementation of JDA�s products),
we would remind our investors and prospective investors that future events
may involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include
the risk that that complex software solutions such as JDA�s may be costly
and time-consuming to implement and/or may not produce the level of benefits
anticipated by the parties at the outset of the project. Other risks and
uncertainties that may affect our business are detailed from time to time
in the ``Risks Factors'' section of our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. As a result of these and other risks, actual results
may differ materially from those predicted. We undertake no obligation
to update information in this release.
�JDA� is a trademark or registered trademark
of JDA Software Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced
in this document using the name �JDA� is a trademark and/or property of
JDA Software Group, Inc. |