– HSMAI Region Europe Awards recognises Smart Space by IDeaSIndustry’s leading solution helps hoteliers make informed decisions about M&E business

LONDON, May 16, 2018Smart Space by IDeaS was honoured by HSMAI, the world’s leading hospitality sales and marketing association, for its innovative role in allowing hoteliers to analyse the trends and performance of their meetings and events (M&E) space.

April’s HSMAI Europe’s Best Tech Innovator of the Year awards recognised Smart Space, with the judging panel acknowledging the platform’s role in connecting revenue managers and event sales managers with unprecedented visibility into M&E demand.

Through its unique cloud-based technology, Smart Space leverages sales and catering data to better manage M&E pricing, allowing hoteliers to enhance strategic decisions and increase revenue growth.

“Smart Space by IDeaS delivers an innovative solution to a long-established industry challenge—how to maximise revenue from M&E spaces,” said Fabian Specht, EMEA managing director for IDeaS. “Contrary to widespread belief, M&E does more than just sell guest rooms—for many venues, this revenue stream can contribute up to 60% of their total revenue. It’s often one of the most overlooked opportunities for substantial profit generation.”

Historically sales, catering, marketing and revenue management often worked in silos and haven’t extended the same disciplined approach to managing revenue to M&E space. Typical obstacles include a lack of easy-to-consume data and reporting from sales and catering systems—and a lack of visibility into key performance measurements for M&E.

“You can ask a hotel GM what their room occupancy was the previous night, and they most likely will know the answer or where to find it. But will they know their meeting space occupancy? Or better yet, would they even be able to find that answer,” said Fabian Specht. “It’s very pleasing that such a prestigious industry organisation as HSMAI Europe has recognised the impact Smart Space by IDeaS is having in allowing revenue management strategies to be folded into sales and catering processes.”

Users from around the world are now enjoying benefits such as double-digit growth in conversion revenue of inquiries into bookings, space utilisation and revenue per attendee thanks to Smart Space by IDeaS.