Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Challenge
- Starwood wanted to develop a more comprehensive revenue management (RM) system to be able to price hotel rooms more effectively
- Starwood's original RM strategy analyzed only internal occupancy and revenue data, and did not incorporate competitor pricing and availability information available on the Internet
Solution
- Redpoint developed a powerful rate shopping capability that automatically collects pricing data from hotel web sites and travel sites such as Expedia.com
- The system includes extensive RM reports that incorporate real-time competitor pricing data
- Users access the system via a web-based interface and can be automatically notified of critical events via wireless devices (including cell phones and PDAs)
Result
- Having access to this competitive data allows Starwood to better forecast demand and maximize occupancy
- The system was successfully rolled out to all Starwood properties in the U.S. and Canada, and is now being extended to international properties as well