THE HOTEL RFP

•What goes into sending the world’s movers all around the globe?

Valeria Medvedeva presents….

THE HOTEL RFP Learned through mentor Wanda

Davis-Senior Manager of Hotel, Travel & Trip Support Services

UNIVERSAL WEATHER & AVIATION Mrs. Click

ISM Fall 2014

***Some information in this presentation comes from outside sources

Travel

Management

What is Independent Study Mentorship (ISM) ?

What does ISM require of me throughout the semester?

• I shadow a mentor of a profession that interests me. ISM requires me to meet with my mentor an average of 2 hours weekly, complete various assignments, and compose a final presentation based on what I have learned throughout the semester.

My Materials & My Focus

• http://valeriamedvedeva.weebly.com/

• My journal

The Hotel RFP-Travel management, specifically the hotel process.-Very interested in travel and the world. Want to pursue a career in global business and use my bilingual abilities.

My Mentor Wanda Davis & Her CareerB.A. in business management

Member of Global Business Travel Association Senior Manager of Hotel, Travel, & Trip Support services

“I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.” –Oscar Wilde

My Mentor’s Responsibilities

• Global Travel Piece

• Hotel (operations piece) -17 employees 24/7 are making hotel reservations

• Travel Operations – Hotel booking

• Business Relationships- RFP AGREEMENTS

Bulk of the Day• Managing Team• Making sure

bookings are done in a timely

manner

• Started out as customized weather forecasting for business aviation. Continued to grow over the following half century , and came to evolve adding new services & solutions to meet the changing and ever-growing needs of those who utilize business aviation, regardless of their base of operations or whether a trip is 300 or 3,000 miles.

• 47 locations in 19 countries and over 1,700 employees worldwide• “Our primary focus has always been about one thing: making our clients' trips a success.”

My Experiences at The Business

• Nothing is ever done, changes are the norm. You have to be ready to deal with unpredictable events

• Hotels sell out or extremely high prices.

• Deal with everything client related, meet all needs for ex: paying for them temporarily, tracking down a lost passport

• Corporate jets like the “one-stop shopping”

• Many different avenues: private aviation, commercial aviation, vacation/tourist travel, meeting planning

• 6 tiers in every department at present: workers have 3 tiers/titles beginning with entry level and going up to senior position, then advancing to team lead, supervisor or manager.

• Always room to grow & move around between travel departments

• If management is your department, its pretty flexible

• Only sometimes is the job traveling and staying at nice hotels for free

• Salary depends a lot on years working

• Universal works 24/7, so employees may have to work on holidays, based on business needs, but more leeway in daily hours. Best to be there when most coworkers are.

• There is possible good work-life balance if you are dependable & committed, and if your bosses are understanding

• Companies usually provide on-site training

Costs & Revenues

•Revenue comes from commissionable rates, a 10% revenue

• $1.5 million a year from revenue

Global Travel• The clients are the movers and shakers of the world, the top 1%

• As long as there is money being made, people will continue to travel

• Travel industry will stay solid

• Only the way people travel will change

• The top 1% of the world, business aviation side, CEO’s, will continue staying at 5 star hotels

• Universal has different centers all around world

Different Types of Customers

• Customer A) Client, top 1% rich, owns private airplanes.

• Customer B) Travels for corporate travel

• UW does care about the corporate travelers, but more concerned about the Customer Type A Clients

Hotel Operations

• More than just hotel booking

• Vendor relations

• Negotiations

• Final agreements

• Commissions/Collections/Recovery

Expert Info on Writing a Request for Proposal• Why your organization needs the solution

• What your organization is looking for

• Who are you: Statistics, Customer Demographics, Strengths & Weaknesses

• Info on people who will handle future correspondence

• What is your project

• What duties will need to be done, expected outcomes

• Outcome targets, minimum performance expected, and ways performance will be tested

• A list of all products, reports, and plans that will be delivered with a delivery schedule

• Set the contract (Length, Start and End dates)

• What info do you need (Include financial/payment information)

• List rewards for high performances & penalties for lack of compliancy

• Attach contracting forms, certifications, and assurances

• Request a particular structure for the proposal

• Explain the evaluation & final selection process

• Your ideal criteria & what criteria would you compromise to

• Be aware of the selection process timelines & deadlines

• Include contacts for the RFP Process and any questions

Extra Tips on a Top Notch RFP Proposal

• Should capture the organizations & values with exactness or might get the wrong choice, after all have to choose one

• Start off on the right foot & plan it all

• Keep an open mind and broad vision

• Be prepared for changes in service capacities & relocated talent

• Network to see who should be part of your proposal process

• Pay attention to the quality & diversity of prospects

• Consider smaller boutique type firms- they might be a better fit for you than larger type forms

• On the other hand, your needs could be too complex for a local, small firm.

• Look at the work prospects have already done

• Be creative & particular in your needs and values

• Do not treat it as a standard checklist

• Assess and pay attention to your specific needs and goals to avoid cookie-cutter bids!

• Make sure your questions and criteria are clear and not repetitive!

• Check that your firms have the resources to get what you need done

Being Efficient in the RFP Process • Time is important part of RFP process; you

can’t waste it waiting around or dealing with little issues.

• The more information you provide in your RFP, the more likely your RFP is to get priority.

• There are 5 ways you can ensure a quicker RFP practice for you

• 1st , pay a visit to team up with the destination’s convention & visitors bureau: all of the inside scoop, along with being close to your hotel distance wise. Transportation of information for free, knows how to deal with the hotel better than you.

• 2nd, “educate” the hotel. Don’t expect them to know anything about you. Provide everything a standard RFP proposal should include and more. Highlight your priorities clearly.

• 3rd, do focus on every detail in your wants and needs, and include it. Don’t be vague!

• Key tip: Use APEX, the Accepted Practices Exchange, as a guideline to develop your RFP form.

• 4th, show your good credentials & track record. Literally log the years and include all of the details of your meetings & events. This will help the hotel determine final agreement.

• Explain any blanks. If you haven’t recorded previous meetings, the previous hotels sales department should have them logged. Contact them.

• Mention any history you already have with their hotel brand- loyalty is everything.

• 5th, remember to be flexible. Don’t be too closed off to one thing or you may get rejections galore. The more flexible you are, the more desirable.

• Be realistic! Get your head out of the clouds.

The Hotel RFP• Request for Proposal (Agreement)

• Consists of negotiating with hotels ending in final agreement for clients

• August – February

• Send by September, Close out by Thanksgiving

• Oct. 15th- If yes, send out.

• If no, renegotiate

• Deadline of December 31st for all to be in system for next year

• The purpose is to have preferred hotel selections ready, satisfy the customers, and make revenue.

Criteria in Hotel RFP

• Pricing: As affordable as possible, while offering the right amenities.

• Location: Close to airport if it is short stay, in the city if longer stay.

• Customer preferences are held at high importance.

• Every customer may have their own special preference, such as the owner of Dr. Pepper wanting to only stay at hotels that serve the drink.

• Customer Type A: Client, top 1% rich, owns private airplanes: more selective in process, has own preferences.

• Customer Type B: Corporate Travelers: follows company’s process of travel through use of yearly RFP.

• The company has a paper & online log for every client and traveler, with a report of their travels and their special criteria.

My Survey

• Breakfast and WIFI are the top customer concerns

• Women and men have different specific top preferences.

• Women have a higher amount of specific preferences than men.

• The wealthier anybody is, the more preferences.

• If someone cares about hotel appearances, they care about hotel amenities, and vice versa. Most do.

SABRE Hotel RFP System• What high end hotel management industry uses for bookings

• Efficient and promotes comparability & healthy competition

• Looks like a computer code

• Includes the big details such as hotel book times and small details such as non smoking rooms, type of bed, and rooms in quiet section of the hotel

• Designed to simplify the hotel negotiation & RFP process for corporate travel managers & travel agents

• Customers can be satisfied whether they are looking for personal consult services or the convenience of self-service online solution

• According to GBTA, corporate travel spending continues to grow, especially from US to international locations.

• Sabre Hotel RFP is being used more and more as a reliable helper

• Through Sabre, customers can source more than 130,000 hotels, and access endless hotel bids, reports, exports, and benchmarks.

• Nearly 1200 travel buys used Sabre Hotel RFP in the past year

• Sabre Hotel RFP users negotiated nearly $81 million in “unique corporate transient room night spend last year”

My Product: Hotel RFP 2015

• For a particular situation of needing preferred hotel selections in Tokyo, Japan for 2015 my mentor & I looked at Historical Hotel Usage for Tokyo Properties through her Sabre RFP Bid Manager Tool. We want to submit RFP’s to well known hotels.

• The Marriot Tokyo had so little in 2013 because it was new but the most in 2014. We ended up selecting the Marriot Tokyo, Hilton Narito Airport, and Marriott Courtyard Tokyo Ginza for our preferred properties for RFP’s, as they were the top used therefore top trusted, and upon further research exhibited good traits.

Main Goal achieved: Investigating Hotel RFP agreements in Travel Management Business

Questions

•?????????????????????????????????????

What goes into sending the world’s movers all around the globe?

• Careful organization & negotiations by individuals working in the travel management, hotel, travel & trip support services industry

• Specifically the Hotel Request for Proposal

We would not be the globally aware world we are today if the top people of every industry, in every part of our world, could not travel and be able to stay at hotels in an organized way.

Why I Liked This Study & The Value

• Helped me explore my future career goals

• Helped me get a taste of the business world

• Helped me learn about travel management & RFP agreements

• Valuable as the RFP Process is essential to business travel

Thank You • My mentor Wanda Davis

• My evaluators Mr. Craig & Coach Thomas

• My teacher Mrs. Click

• My parents Pete Lewis & Dina Lewis

• My ISM classmate & friend Shelia

• Thank you for being here for me throughout the semester and attending my presentation today!

Works Cited/Bibliography

"A Guide to Writing a Request for Proposal." A Guide to Writing a Request for Proposal (n.d.): n. pag. Werc.org. Warehousing Education and Research Council The Association for Logics Professionals. Web. 23 Oct. 2014 <http://www.werc.org/assets/1/assetmanager/rfpwritingguide.pdf>.

Hard, Rob. "What Should Be Included in a Hotel RFP?" About. About Money, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. <http://eventplanning.about.com/od/askrobeventquestions/f/proposal-example-hotel-rfp.htm>.

Kramer, Scott F. "Your RFP Process: The Groundwork for a Successful Relationship." Your RFP Process: The Groundwork for a Successful Relationship. Friedman LLP, Sept. 2009. Web.23 Oct. 2014. <http://www.guidestar.org/rxa/news/articles/2009/your-rfp- process.aspx>.

"Sabre Hotel RFP Simplifies Hotel Negotiations, Drives Cost Savings with Upgraded Online Interface and New Hotel Consulting Services  ." SabreNews. Sabre, 18 July 2014. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. <http://www.sabre.com/newsroom/sabre-hotel-rfp-simplifies-hotel- negotiations-drives-cost-savings-with-upgraded-online-interface-and-new-hotel-consulting-services/>.

Shimasaki, Christine. "5 Tips for Getting Fast, Complete Responses to Your Hotel RFP - Blog.empowerMINT.com." Blog.empowerMINT.com. Destination Marketing Association International, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2014. <http://blog.empowermint.com/meeting-planning-tips/5- tips-for-getting-fast-complete-responses-to-your-hotel-rfp/>.

My Mentor

www.google.com

www.universalweather.com