London, UK – 10th May 2012 – IDeaS Revenue Solutions, the leading provider of pricing and revenue management software, services and consulting, today announced that two luxury hotels in Florence, Hotel Brunelleschi and Grand Hotel Minerva – part of the same regional hotel management group – are using the IDeaS Revenue Management System (RMS).

Claudio Catani, General Manager at Hotel Brunelleschi explained, “Our annual occupancy rate averages at 90% - already quite high. As such, we wanted a revenue management system that would support us to optimise our occupancy by providing the business intelligence and forecasts required for us to enhance our pricing strategy.” With similarly high occupancy rates, Filippo Burroni, General Manager at Grand Hotel Minerva, agreed. “We were aiming to increase our Average Daily Rate (ADR) in order to improve our Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) index,” he expanded. “We were ready to move onto the next level in automated revenue management systems,” concluded Burroni.

After receiving positive feedback from other Italian hotels already using the IDeaS RMS, the hotels carried out an extensive evaluation of the IDeaS RMS, as well as evaluating other revenue management systems on the market.  “Compared to its competitors, we found that the IDeaS RMS functioned with superior analytical process, which would accurately and efficiently determine the pricing decisions we need. Furthermore, IDeaS was the only system that includes the impact of the competitors’ price changes in the Best Available Rate (BAR) recommendations,” said Catani, who holds a certificate in Revenue Management from Cornell University, “IDeaS met my expectations and the system brings the best of international industry knowledge, in a format relevant to the challenges we face in our local market,” he added.

The IDeaS RMS went live at Hotel Brunelleschi and Grand Hotel Minerva in March and April 2011 respectively, and the hotels have seen tangible benefits.

“Even on days when our occupancy is lower, the IDeaS RMS helps us make the right pricing decisions, but it is during our peak season that the support of the IDeaS RMS is vital, as it recommends BAR levels, controls the booking, and forecasts our performance,” stated Burroni. “Since using the IDeaS RMS, our transient revenue has seen an uplift of 18.5% over an 11 month period” added Catani.

Fabian Specht, EMEA Managing Director at IDeaS, said, “We are delighted by these latest Italian partnerships as they represent the growing acceptance that powerful technology has the potential to transform and enhance the already-strong Italian hospitality industry, delivering great time and revenue benefits to hoteliers across the country. Here at IDeaS, we are able to provide that technology.”
 
About IDeaS
Founded in 1989, IDeaS Revenue Solutions - a SAS Company, offers industry-leading pricing and revenue management Software, Services, and Consulting to the hospitality and travel industries. Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN with our Global Technology center located in Pune, India, IDeaS maintains sales, support and distribution offices in North & South America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Greater China, Australia and Asia. For more information, visit www.ideas.com.