WORLDHOTELS has launched a new Performance and Revenue Optimization (PRO) concept at its Annual Conference for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), held at the WORLDHOTELS member Hotel Husa Princesa in Madrid from 24th to 26th January 2008.The conference was joined by 217 participants from 45 countries representing 75% of the WORLDHOTELS portfolio in the EMEA region.

PRO has been developed in response to the growing demand for hoteliers to establish robust pricing strategies, sophisticated yield management concepts and revenue maximisation policies, which, individually, are difficult to manage.

As Michael Ball, CEO of WORLDHOTELS, states, “The dynamics of hotels sales have evolved considerably over recent years. In the meantime, hoteliers not only have to consider traditional sales and distribution mediums, but also an explosion of new channels and methods, many of which exploit the ubiquitous reach via the internet.
The PRO team will provide consultation for affiliated hotels in order that they benefit the most from current and emerging industry opportunities and potential.”

This is the latest in a series of services specifically designed for the needs of independent hotels. At last year’s Annual Conference WORLDHOTELS introduced WORLDHOTELS.academy, offering dedicated training modules for independent hotels. Since its launch more than 350 trainings have been booked by hotels around the world.

In addition to the launch of the new Performance and Revenue Optimization service at the WORLDHOTELS Annual Conference, the participants also enjoyed key note speeches on issues ranging from “Corporate Social Responsibility in Hospitality” to “What Makes Your Hotel Website Sell?”. Established in 1971, the WORLDHOTELS Annual Conference has become invaluable for the member hotels in not only providing local and global market travel industry updates and insights into market trends but also through offering solutions.

The Annual Conference for EMEA is one of three regional Annual Conferences held by WORLDHOTELS in 2008. The APAC (Asia-Pacific) Conference was held in Kuala Lumpur 17th to 19th January; the Americas Conference in Baltimore will follow 19th to 22nd February. The need to hold three conferences clearly represents the global nature of WORLDHOTELS, with almost 500 hotels in 300 destinations across 70 countries worldwide. 
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