European hotel chains gather at HSMAI meeting to decide the standards of Revenue Management in Europe

Back (from left): Jorunn Svidal, Carl Oldsberg, Heiko Siebert, Tarjei Gylseth, Henning Möhn, Thibaut Seillier, Front: Wihelm K. Weber, Christopher Cooper

On Thursday 1 September 2011 leading European chains gathered in Oslo for the first meeting of the HSMAI European Revenue Management Advisory Board. With diversity in culture, language and level of experience, the European hotel industry is still struggling to find common ground that defines revenue management across nations and chains.

As a non-profit organisation, neutral towards competing providers and schools, HSMAI Europe founded the HSMAI European Academy, which will provide training in the disciplines of leadership, sales and revenue management. The HSMAI European Academy cooperates with training providers and industry leaders to create a European standard and certification in the discipline of revenue management.

The HSMAI European Revenue Management Advisory Board is an important body of leaders from various European hotel chains. Their role is to provide input on industry needs, define European standards, and to assess the quality and relevance of the training curriculum. The following leaders were present at the first HSMAI European Advisory Board meeting:

  • Carl Oldsberg, Vice President Revenue and Distribution, Nordic Choice Hotels
  • Christopher Cooper, Head of Commercial, Mint Hotel Group
  • Heiko Siebert, VP Distribution, Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts Management AG
  • Henning Möhn, Manager Revenue and E-Commerce, Queens Moat Houses Hotels
  • Jorunn Svidal, Director of Revenue Management, Thon Hotels
  • Thibaut Seillier, Corporate Revenue Manager, Kempinski Hotels

HSMAI Europe representatives in the meeting were:

  • Wilhelm K. Weber, Partner, Swiss Hospitality Solutions and leader of the HSMAI European Academy
  • Tarjei Gylseth, Project Manager, HSMAI Europe and coordinator of the HSMAI European Academy

With the curriculum approved, the first conference for Revenue Management Trainers will take place in Oslo already 7–9 October 2011. During this Train-the-Trainer conference, trainers will be introduced to the curriculum for the revenue management certification and be licensed to provide training leading up to the HSMAI Certified Revenue Management certification.

On February 9 2012 the second Pan-European HSMAI Revenue Management Conference will take place in London. The conference will discuss and provide input on trends in revenue management, social media, internal processes, how to become a RevPAR leader, and other relevant topics Revenue Managers face on a daily basis.

Photo: (back from left): Jorunn Svidal, Carl Oldsberg, Heiko Siebert, Tarjei Gylseth, Henning Möhn, Thibaut Seillier, (front): Wihelm K. Weber, Christopher Cooper