Introducing the session, Bob Gilbert, executive vice-president and CEO of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI), challenged hotels to �get in the game and take advantage of the wealth of information that is out there.�  Marketing on a one-to-one basis, he said, is �all about profiling�, finding out who the customer is that you want, but don�t yet have.

Cendant Corporation�s executive vice-president of marketing, Scott Anderson, pointed to the underlying aim of data mining and warehousing � greater profitability.  �You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much data,� he said.  The basic process involves taking data, turning it into information, discovery and knowledge, and ultimately transforming it into action which brings in more revenue.

Transactional and customer data from the Property Management System is the starting point, he said.  The data is then uploaded to a relational database which allows hotels to find out where their guests are coming from and how much business they provide.  Once this is done, the knowledge must be created, eg. details on guest habits, hobbies, income, ethnic group and educational level.

This allows for the right advertising media to be targeted, and appropriate third parties identified for joint promotions.  Anderson emphasised the importance of the data analysis phase in the process � �before you go to war you must have a victorious strategy�.

Cindy Estis Green, senior vice-president of Pegasus IQ and managing director of Driving Revenue, showed how database mining can make a major impact on the bottom line.  She explained how a London mid-priced hotel looking to build corporate business had conducted a phone survey to identify companies within a 5 mile radius, looking for accommodations in that area at the proposed rate.  500 companies were qualified as a result, of which only 6 were already customers.  Sales calls to a total of 400 accounts produced reservations for 14,000 room nights, at a rate £40 higher than the existing average.  This was for an initial investment of about $7500.

�No industry gets a better opportunity to do database marketing and chooses to do so little about it, as the hotel industry,� said Hans Lindh, director lodging industry EMEA for American Express Establishment Services.  He urged hotels to do more, �to start exploiting their revenue management system capabilities, integrate the systems, train staff on the input of information and take advantage of partnership marketing opportunities.�

He cautioned hotels not to underestimate one of the big challenges of database marketing: the manual input of data.  He also underlined the significant cost savings hotels can make in this area by using opportunities for partner marketing, citing examples of joint promotions which have helped American Express generate millions of additional dollars in Cardmember spend by target marketing.

EURHOTEC, which convenes annually, focuses on the use of technology to improve management and profitability in the hospitality industry. EURHOTEC '99 attracted more than 1,100 visitors from 54 countries.  62 technology experts headed the three-day conference programme, with 90 exhibitors showcasing their hi-tech products and services at the EURHOTEC exhibition.  EURHOTEC 2000 will convene at the Congress & Exhibition Centre Bealieu, Lausanne, Switzerland, from 16-18 February.