Group and Catering Forecasting Process Updates: Guidance for Franchised SPG Hotels
SPG Franchise Management Companies | One key process change that will occur for the Sales, Event Management & Revenue Management disciplines during integration is Group Room Night and Catering Forecasting. Currently, at most SPG hotels, projections are entered directly in PDA and/or Revenue Plan by the revenue manager.
After systems cutover beginning in September by brand, the forecast of group definite rooms will be pulled directly into the One Yield Revenue Management System from Consolidated Inventory (CI) or Opera Sales & Catering. Hotels using other Sales and Catering systems – or who do not have a Sales and Catering System – will manually input group definite projections into the One Yield Revenue Management System.
The forecast must be correct in the sales & catering system because it cannot be overridden in One Yield. An incorrect forecast can have severe negative impact on hotel performance, as the optimization of hotel pricing and yield management strategies are dependent upon the comparison of remaining demand vs. remaining supply.
There are two implications of this:
- Projection updates are needed now, prior to cutover, to ensure that correct values are converted into the new systems at cutover, and
- Franchise management companies and hotels are encouraged to review their forecasting process and make any necessary adjustments based on system changes.
The actions below will be communicated in an upcoming Land-It Task List for hotels, but franchise management companies are encouraged to leverage these recommendations to ensure correct forecasts at hotels:
ACTION #1: Projection Updates for groups arriving September 1, 2018 and beyond:
ISAC Hotels converting to Consolidated Inventory (CI):
- ISAC should be updated to reflect the correct group forecast for any groups arriving September 1, 2018 and beyond. The “Projected QTY” Field in the ISAC Projection View should reflect the number of rooms we expect the group to actualize at for each date. This is the field that will be converted to the CI Projected Values.
- For ISAC properties who did not previously have the projections view activated, this has been activated for hotels.
- Visit the Group Forecast Meeting Job Aid on MGS for instructions on how to complete this step in ISAC.
Opera S&C Hotels converting to the MI Shell of Opera S&C:
- Because this conversion will be manual, we are not asking you to make group forecast updates in your current shell of Opera S&C. However, we need your teams to be ready to enter the correct values in the MI shell at the time of conversion. Additionally, at thirty (30) days prior to go-live, Revenue Managers will need to manually enter group projections into One Yield at the day level. If this is prepared prior to that date it will make for a more efficient data entry as well as a better and more accurate supply forecast, which in turn will result in better group and transient pricing recommendations from One Yield/TY.
- At cutover/conversion, the projected values will need to be transferred from the current system of record (ROS or Revenue Plan) into the Opera S&C Projection Snapshot in the Marriott shell. Having these projections already validated in the current system will speed up the data entry process.
Delphi hotels:
- Revenue Managers will need to manually enter projected values for group definites at the daily level into One Yield’s Revenue Planning 30 days prior to cutover and beyond. Revenue Managers will use their existing PDA or Revenue Plan Day by Days as the source, so it’s important that they are using accurate projected values from Delphi as soon as possible to ensure that these systems are correct.
- In Delphi, the values in the Blocked Rows should represented the estimated number of rooms that the group will actualize on each night.
ISAC hotels not converting to CI:
- For ISAC hotels that will not be converting to CI, there will be no automated conversion nor a data feed for these properties into the One Yield System. One Yield will use the greater of the blocked or booked values in MARSHA unless the revenue manager enters a daily level group definite forecast, which they can begin to do at 30 days prior to cutover. It is recommended that these properties convert ROS values over at the day level. Note changes to ISAC are required.
ACTION #2: Implement Group Projection Meetings
It is important that all hotels establish a process where the projection of definite groups are reviewed regularly. We encourage hotels to establish a regular group forecast meeting. Guidelines for establishing an effective group forecast meeting are outlined in the job aid posted on MGS: Group Forecast Meeting Job Aid.
Training on how to forecast effectively will be available on the Digital Learning Platform this summer. Associates interested in reviewing forecasting fundamentals are welcome to utilize the following resources on MGS: Group Forecasting Resources on MGS
Group Sales Incentive Impacts
ISAC and DELPHI hotels who make adjustments to the projected values directly in those systems, as explained above, may see an impact to their productivity numbers. Franchise Management Companies are encouraged to partner with their hotels to manage negative impacts from productivity. Should you have questions about the Group Forecasting Process, email RMfieldsupport@marriott.com.
