May 16, 2012 – “Data tells an important story, you just have to know how to present it.”  This business insight comes from Ms. Joanne Pearson, Director of Corporate Reporting for Sandals Resorts International.  Sandals operates a total of 22 luxury resorts carrying the Sandals, Beaches and Grand Pineapple brands and employs 10,000 people. She is also crystal clear when it comes to managing by the numbers, “The only way you can maintain company profitability is to know precisely where you are against budget and how you got there.”

Ms. Pearson, a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, should know.  Prior to 2003, Sandals manually collected and analyzed data for an international property portfolio that extends from Jamaica to the Bahamas, Antigua, St Lucia, and Turks.  “We relied on hand-populated spreadsheets.  There was no way to gather and process all the data we needed from our entities in a reasonable time to make intelligent business decisions,” Pearson said.  

Sandals brought Mrs. Pearson onboard expressly to develop a timely standardized process of key performance analysis reporting.  “The first thing the executive team and I ascertained was that Sandals needed a dedicated hospitality business intelligence system that would automate data gathering from our entire Hotel Group, which had multiple systems, and perform timely, in-depth what-if analysis and performance reporting.”

In 2003 Sandals’ executive team implemented the Execuvue® web-based hospitality Business Intelligence system (BI) developed by Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. “The right tools are essential to carry out the extensive analysis required for an enterprise as large as ours.  The BI automates the daily data collection from our entities and we created KPIs for occupancy, staffing, food costs, utility use and other expenses, as well as spend-per-room,” Pearson said.  The system consolidates data from all Sandals’ resorts in a data mart where Pearson and her team access and analyze it. The data that once took a month to collect is now in their hands daily. 

Sandals focuses on operating performance and how to increase it “Since property information is available and current each day, we focus our attention on analyzing performance and how to increase it,” Pearson said.  “We generate daily management reports that include month-to-date (MTD) revenue, staffing, F&B and utility costs and forecasts with comparison to budget, YTD, and same period last year.  This data enables us to monitor performance daily and take corrective action by mid month so we can address trends before they become problems.”  Pearson’s team also creates weekly reports for revenue managers that show revenue spending with actual sales performance and MTD vs. budget evaluation for all profit centers.  To keep a tight rein on expenses, Sandals pulls data from all property P&Ls with side by side comparison to budget for current period, prior MTD, and YDT totals.  “Property expense reporting goes straight to our managers for review and corrective action if necessary,” Pearson explained. Pearson gained so much expertise shaping Sandals’ data analysis and reporting that she suggests new BI development ideas to Aptech.  Sandals is unique among most North American resort companies because it operates in three currencies. “I discovered how to input our different currencies – Jamaican dollars, USD, and Eastern Caribbean dollars – with current exchange rates for set-periods and then perform analysis to assess performance in multiple currencies.  I also learned how to use Execuvue to create budgets at month-end with updates from current property data,” she said.

Sandals Whitehouse, Jamaica Sandals Grande St. Lucian

"With so much data to analyze, it is essential to report it in understandable, actionable formats, this is one reason we upgraded to the newest Execuvue version.  The system lets me create more attractive reports and send them as password-protected Excel spreadsheets, graphs, and PowerPoint extracts so our managers can act on the information more quickly,” Ms. Pearson says.  “With complete performance data at your finger tips you can plan proactively for the future and execute more effectively on your plan.”

About Sandals and Beaches Resorts
Sandals and Beaches Resorts has a worldwide reputation for providing two people in love with the most romantic vacation experience in the Caribbean. Currently, there are 16 Luxury Included® Sandals Resorts located in Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia and The Bahamas plus 6 Beaches Resorts in Jamaica, Turks and Caicos and Antigua. Each offers stunning beachfront locations; a choice of à la carte restaurants, from white-glove dining to barefoot elegance; all premium brand wine and spirits, including an exclusive partnership with California's legendary Beringer Vineyards; luxurious accommodations in a range of categories; unrivaled watersports including the Caribbean's largest PADI certification program; Butler Service for truly indulgent pampering; Sandals Weddings by Martha Stewart^TM; and signature Red Lane® Spas, with services and treatments inspired by the region.  Sandals Resorts has been voted the Caribbean’s Leading Hotel Brand at the World Travel Awards for 16 years in a row, and World's Leading All-Inclusive Company for 14 years in a row.  For more information, call your local travel agent or 1-800-Sandals (1-800-726-3257) or visit www.sandals.com.

Going to HITEC 2012 in Baltimore? Visit Booth 1813 to meet the Aptech team and get a personal demonstration of all Aptech’s systems.

Aptech Computer Systems, Inc., based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, leads the hospitality industry in leveraging change by valuing human relationships and applying technology to solve business problems for people. Incorporated in 1970, Aptech is a financial and operations technology solutions and service company whose products include state-of-the-art back office, business intelligence and enterprise planning products: Profitvue®, Execuvue®, and Webvue®. Over 2,500 properties, including very large chains, multiple-property management companies, and single-site hotels utilize Aptech solutions to understand their financial and operational data. Execuvue and Profitvue are registered trademarks of Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are owned by their respective holders.