July 10th, 2007
Technology timeline: AmericInn standardizes PMS, HSIA to boost hotel performance
Minneapolis — AmericInn International is focusing on completing two major technology initiatives to help drive brandwide performance.
The Chanhassen, Minn.-based company recently selected exclusive property-management system and high-speed Internet access providers for its 188 properties nationwide.
“Technology initiatives are very important in helping to drive improved performance,” said Luke Fowler, chairman and c.e.o. of AmericInn. “It is critical to be wired live, with all your rooms available to the central-reservation system, Global Distribution System and Internet. The only way for us to do that is to have a high-speed Internet access component and the new front-desk PMS systemwide. It is a great time to push for consistency in these systems across the board.”
The company announced at its annual convention in April in Minneapolis that Micros Systems’ Opera Xpress will be the PMS brand standard for all properties. The PMS should be installed systemwide by June 2006.
Two weeks before the conference, which was attended by 500 franchise owners and managers, the company said Guest-Tek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. will be its exclusive provider of HSIA. All hotels must offer free HSIA in public spaces and all guestrooms by the end of the year, Fowler said.
“Our decision to have a consistent chainwide PMS will enable every AmericInn to have a two-way interface with our CRS at InnLink,” Fowler said. “Operating real-time through your HSIA, this system will provide you with maximum yield management and the ability for both InnLink and your staff to sell your rooms from the same inventory down to the last room.”
The decision was made to meet guest demand for fast, efficient and automated services. It’s also for group and tour operators, and travel wholesalers that want immediate availability.
The new PMS and HSIA, combined with the existing CRS, will allow hoteliers to better manage their inventory and revenue, Fowler said.
He said that a study of AmericInn locations that posted their full inventory and managed it daily revealed revenue increases ranging from 6 percent to more than 16 percent, and the average daily rate was $75.37.
Development front
Eleven AmericInn hotels opened in 2003 and the brand’s 188 locations offer 10,177 guestrooms. There are 17 properties under construction and seven under development, which means a franchise agreement has been signed but ground has not been broken.
The brand features all-masonry construction and 14-foot wide guestrooms, so only two conversions to the AmericInn brand have been done, and both of those hotels were built according to the company’s standards, Fowler said.
While some people think of AmericInn as a regional chain because of its strong presence in the upper Midwest–including 83 hotels in Minnesota–the company is working to be seen as a national chain.
“We are pushing into Colorado, Montana [and] California, and we have five properties in Delaware,” Fowler said. “We are looking to expand into New England and we have one going up in Tennessee.”
The company has opened hotels in destination markets, such as Eagle, Colo., which is the Vail market, and is moving into the Aspen, Colo., and Sun Valley, Idaho, markets.
The company aims to increase its visibility nationwide by sponsoring NASCAR driver Stanton Barrett in Busch Series races, and through the Americ-Inn Lodging National Youth Chess tournament.
“We are the sponsor of eight of Barrett’s races and we picked races strategically to represent where the chain will gain brand awareness,” Fowler said.
Rates and reservations
AmericInn’s GDS and electronic reservation activity was $6.7 million in 2003, a 168-percent increase over its $2.5-million performance in 2002. Activity at the company’s Web site, americ-inn.com, increased 80 percent in 2003.
The average daily rate on the GDS and Internet reservations averaged $76.62 with an average revenue per booking of $130.59, while the average length of stay was 1.7 nights per booking.
Chainwide year-over-year occupancy in 2003 for comparable properties averaged 54.8 percent, as the second half of 2003 compensated for negative trends earlier in the year.
Average daily rate advanced to $68.95 in 2003 from $68.54 in 2002. Revenue per available room was flat at $37.78 in 2003 compared to $37.79 in 2002.
“Although it is early in the year, the first-quarter indicators are trending much higher for the year ahead,” Fowler said.
AmericInn’s frequent-guest program, the INN-Pressive Club, gained 6,000 new members in 2003 to achieve a total membership of 71,600. Based on average systemwide ADR for comparable locations this year of $68.95, the company estimates that frequency club member revenue contribution in 2003 was $15.9 million, or 12 percent of the total chain revenue.
As part of its technology initiative, AmericInn set a goal for 2006 to automate its frequency club to attract more frequent guests.