Macdonald Hotels & Resorts boost revenue performance with IDeaS

Revenue increased by as much as 40 percent for Macdonald Aviemore Resorts Woodland Lodges

LONDON – December 1, 2015, IDeaS Revenue Solutions, the leading provider of revenue management software solutions and consulting services, has demonstrated the exceptional return on investment for a leading UK hotel group, Macdonald Hotels & Resorts, after the successful implementation of IDeaS Revenue Management System (RMS).

“From the moment the Macdonald group first installed the IDeaS RMS in a handful of properties back in 2009, we realised the value to be gained by automating our revenue management processes,” explained Stephen Dodman, revenue director at Macdonald Hotels. “With IDeaS, we found a partner to streamline performance and attain previously missed revenue opportunities. This resulted in an estate-wide roll out in 2012, which included the Macdonald Aviemore Resort.”

The Macdonald Aviemore Resort includes four hotels and eighteen woodland luxury lodges located in the Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands. In addition to spectacular scenery, the resort boasts a world-class conference centre and one of Scotland’s top golf courses, designed by former Ryder Cup player, Dave Thomas.

“The initial roll out to the estate only included the four hotels in Aviemore, as we thought that the Woodland Lodges were too small to guarantee a viable return on investment. Over time however, we recognised that IDeaS would provide us with better forecasting and improved pricing to help increase our occupancy and Average Daily Rate (ADR), which in turn, would enhance overall revenue performance,” added Dodman. “By working with IDeaS and deploying IDeaS RMS, we have successfully turned this plan into a commercial reality. The Woodland Lodges have seen extraordinary growth in revenue, with several months seeing increases of 40 percent year over year.”

The Macdonald Group’s approach takes full advantage of IDeaS‘ market-leading skills and experience to create a focused revenue management culture, which marries a sophisticated approach to forecast and price, with the knowledge and skills of the end-user. This analysis provides meaningful insight and creates a better environment for more informative and impactful decisions.

„Macdonald Hotels & Resorts has fully committed to optimising their revenue management approach and the outstanding results seen at their Aviemore Lodges are a testament to their energy and dedication in driving better performance,” said Fabian Specht, EMEA managing director at IDeaS. “IDeaS is focused on helping clients achieve total revenue performance by providing technology which enables the revenue management team to identify and capture more revenue opportunities, more often.”

As a group, Macdonald Hotels & Resorts has embraced this philosophy and has consciously embedded IDeaS in their operations, with the executive team incorporating IDeaS forecast and recommendations into weekly operational reviews.

About Macdonald Hotels & Resorts

Established in 1990 by Donald Macdonald and colleagues, over the past 25 years Macdonald Hotels & Resorts has steadily and successfully expanded from its beginnings in Aberdeenshire to become the UK’s largest privately owned hotel group. Operating over 40 hotels across the UK and ten resorts throughout the UK, Portugal and Spain, the group continues to invest and now employs over 4,000 staff and operates in excess of 4,500 hotel rooms.

Firmly committed to excellence, the leading hotel group continues to invest to offer its guests the highest standards of product and service delivery across a portfolio of beautiful, individual hotels.

And whatever the dining occasion; breakfast, business meeting, conference, banquet or intimate dinner, Macdonald Hotels & Resorts is proud of its promise to serve only the finest and freshest produce, with flavoursome dishes always prepared from whole raw ingredients.

A forward-thinking, environmentally responsible hotel group, through its ‘Room 15’ programme led by internal ‘green teams’, Macdonald Hotels & Resorts continues to focus on achieving ambitious, self-imposed energy saving targets. This includes reducing its electricity and fossil fuel usage by 15% by 2015.

This unwavering commitment to achieving the highest quality standards in every aspect of the business has seen Macdonald Hotels & Resorts receive numerous prestigious accolades. This has included being named 2013 – 2014 AA Hotel Group of the Year, 2012-2013 AA Eco-Hotel Group of the Year, receiving the MIDAS award for the Best Breakfast 2011/12, a 2012 Good Egg Award by Compassion for World Farming, the National Customer Service Awards for Leisure and Tourism and the coveted 2013 Carbon Trust Standard.

About IDeaS

With more than one million rooms priced daily on its advanced systems, IDeaS Revenue Solutions leads the industry with the latest revenue management software solutions and consulting services. Powered by SAS® and more than 25 years of experience, IDeaS proudly supports more than 7,000 clients in 94 countries and is relentless about providing hoteliers more insightful ways to manage the data behind hotel pricing.

IDeaS empowers its clients to build and maintain revenue management cultures—from single entities to world-renowned estates—by focusing on a simple promise: Driving Better Revenue.

IDeaS has the knowledge, expertise and maturity to build upon proven revenue management principles with next-generation analytics for more user-friendly, insightful and profitable revenue opportunities—not just for rooms, but across the entire hotel enterprise.

For more information, visit www.ideas.com.