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Tulane University’s Hotel Revenue ProgramKelly Venable Carroll, Tulane UniversityLarry Handel, Campus Travel Management

+How do you generate a new stream of visitor, parent and alumni revenue for your institution?

In the next 12 months, thousands of highly motivated prospective students and their families will be traveling to your institution in order to view, tour and evaluate facilities, faculty and learning environment.

In the eyes of the travel industry, this makes you not just a client, but a destination, with the potential to generate sales.

If it is your campus that is the destination, your travelers that are the visitors and your institution that is funding the event, why is it not your campus that is financially benefiting from the sale?

+Examples of university driven incoming travel:

Prospective Students & their Families

Parents Weekend

University Sponsored/Hosted Conferences & Groups

Alumni Reunions & Homecoming

Commencement

Move-in / Move-out

Athletic events

Admissions events

+Why is this so valuable to hotels? Volume

Concentration of volume

Motivation of traveler

Year round nature

Repeat business

Extended Stay potential

Ancillary community benefits

Collaborative potential

+How much will it cost my school? No cost to campus/school. Vendor (local hotel)

payment for one-time set up fee + $75 -$100 per month covers expenses

Technology supplied by Amadeus Travel Agency GDS System; Administration outsourced to CTM; implementation is turnkey.

In lieu of dollars, University provides easy website access to visitors from home page, plus upper management policy directing campus travelers and departments to preferred hotels

Of the approximately10% commission paid by hotel, 80% is transferred to campus and/or consortia with 20% retained by CTM to cover cost of processing. Full 10% if commission paid is direct.

+Additional benefit-Campus as buyer

Increased visitor volume assists Purchasing in improving contract terms/conditions, and bringing down university cost Increased volume reduces nightly cost Increased volume also improves contract terms, reduces

penalties Customer service, Amenities, Facilitated conflict resolution

Increased visitor volume assists with transparency, accountability and due diligence Administration needs to know with whom it is dealing It also needs to know the source of the transaction Periodic reports which document all transactions conducted

through the portal provides a paper trail

+Examples of visitors paid with school funds

Trustees Board Meetings Speakers Consultants Part-time or special needs groups Visiting Dignitaries and/or Faculty Department Head interviews Recruitment

+Let’s recap—Why should we do this? New stream of unrestricted

revenue at a time when budgets are tight and internal resources strained

No cost or risk; program is self-financed

Overcoming challenge of a decentralized, non-mandated, department-driven environment

More volume to fewer vendors

Building an asset where others see only an expense

Vendor transparency, leveled playing field

Paper trail for direct bill and/or P-card purchases

Pre-negotiated net rates stay the same

Documentation identifying nature of traveler and event

Making use of what works; rethinking and improving what doesn’t---Streamlined management; faster, cheaper, better

The power of pooling, collaboration

+Who does what in this partnership?

University/School/Campus Co-hosts on-campus presentation to local hotels Provides intuitive visitor website linking from home page Removes obsolete and/or outmoded local hotel pages Policy and procedures, department outreach Regular outreach with and to lodging partners

Campus Travel Management Creates local hotel website page listing participating

properties Assists with campus marketing and website linking Provides technology for reservations & transaction reporting Collects and distributes revenue (where applicable)

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Dedicated webpage for hotels and B&Bs

Hotel Expo

Section in new student and parent orientation guides, as well as University Services brochure that goes to all new students

Annual hotel and B&B site visits

Grass roots campaign to university departments & events—Alumni, Business& Law Schools, Commencement, Admissions, Student Affairs

How is Tulane reaching out to & marketing its lodging partners?

+Taking it to the next level…

Annual Hotel Expo--alternating campuses

Progressive hotel tours

Welcome kits for Tulane visitors at the hotel check-in

Hotels, on-campus food service provider, and summer conferences working together

Staff retreat locations

+Questions?

Kelly Venable Carroll, kvc@tulane.edu or (504) 247-1122

Larry Handel, larry@campustravel.com or (410) 267-0866