One secret of Harrah’s Cherokee’s success is its ability to anticipate growth requirements based on accurate demand and revenue forecasts. Wiggins and his team credit The Rainmaker Group’s revenue management system for helping translate a wide variety of data into actionable future demand projections that were the basis for its decision to embark on a new 532-room hotel tower expansion. Revenue management saves millions of dollars, retains valuable business Harrah’s Cherokee opened its first hotel tower in 2002, with 252 rooms. This was soon followed by a second 324-room tower in 2005. Wiggins relied on Rainmaker’s revenue forecasting system to estimate each guest’s total value to the property and determined which guests would be offered rooms in the hotel. “Our resort was running at 101 percent occupancy, with most rooms comped to high-end gamers,” explained Wiggins. “Rainmaker tracks denials and regrets, and prior to building our new tower its demand analysis revealed we were denying nearly 10,000 room requests a month.” A more compelling statistic was that only one-third of the denied gamers visited the casino. “The other two-thirds of the denials were lost business to us and the local market,” said Wiggins. So several years ago, the Cherokee team determined it was time to consider another expansion. Accurate forecasting supports growth to 95% occupancy with 45% increase to internal revenue The Cherokee Tribal Leadership insisted that any expansion plan encompass only enough rooms, slots, parking, restaurants, and amenities to turn a profit without generating excess inventory. “We used Rainmaker’s system to accurately calculate the inventory needed to address our forecasted lodger demand, and we nailed it,” said Wiggins. “The new 532-room, 21-story tower nearly doubled our room count and we are at 95 percent occupancy and our total internal revenue is up approximately 45 percent. We never would have expanded to this size without the data from Rainmaker’s system.” Carolina destination for Las Vegas-style luxury Wiggins put the revenue management system to work again recently, “We forecast two years in advance and created a marketing plan to compliment the facility that will attract new demographics, while continuing to cater to our core customer. Our current project will transform the casino into a full-service, high-end resort.” Wiggins noted Paula Deen’s Kitchen is now open, and a noodle bar, food court, and 600-seat buffet will open in the next 90 days. Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Brio Tuscan Grille will be added in the spring of 2012. “We have a 3,000+-seat state-of-the-art concert venue and an entertainment lounge with a nightclub and stage acts. Coming in 2012 is a 15,000 square-foot full-treatment Mandara Spa and a refurbished casino floor with 4,500 to 5,000 slot machines.” Besides the dazzling gaming floor and Las Vegas-level amenities, there is one more outstanding perk to staying at Harrah’s Cherokee, concluded Wiggins. “It’s our employees. There isn’t better service anywhere in the casino industry.” About Harrah’s Cherokee Casino & Hotel Harrah’s Cherokee Casino & Hotel is an enterprise of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, located 50 miles west of Asheville at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Harrah’s Cherokee Casino & Hotel is open 24 hours a day to guests who are 21 or older. For more information about Harrah’s Cherokee Casino & Hotel or to follow its $633 million expansion, please call 1-800-HARRAHS or visit our website at www.harrahs.com. About Caesars Entertainment Corporation Caesars Entertainment Corporation is the world's largest casino entertainment company. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada more than 70 years ago, Caesars has grown through development of new resorts, expansions and acquisitions, and now owns or manages casino resorts on four continents. The company's resorts operate primarily under the Harrah's, Caesars and Horseshoe brand names; Caesars also owns the London Clubs International family of casinos and the World Series of Poker. About Rainmaker  The Rainmaker Group – a Microsoft Gold
Partner software
and services company – is an industry-leading provider of revenue
management
and profit
optimization solutions
to owners and operators in the multifamily housing and
gaming/hospitality
industries. Rainmaker software, coupled with professional business
consulting
services, enables multifamily housing operators to maximize revenue
from
apartment leases and helps operators of casino hotels and other
hospitality
enterprises secure the most valuable customers to increase their
profitability.
Rainmaker software delivers real results for operators such as
Archstone,
AvalonBay Communities, Equity Residential, Post Properties, Simpson
Housing,
Mid-America Apartment Communities and a number of other leading
companies. Top
casino/hotel organizations that rely on Rainmaker’s revenue management
system
include Atlantis The Palm Dubai, Caesars Entertainment, IP Casino
Resort
Biloxi, Isle of Capri Casinos, MGM Resorts International, Trump
Entertainment
Resorts, Wynn Las Vegas, and many others. Headquartered in northern
Atlanta,
GA, Rainmaker is a solid, profitable, rapidly-growing, privately-held
company.
For more information, visit www.LetItRain.com. |
