Six Continents Sets Five Goals To Improve Business In 2002

DALLAS— Six Continents Hotels kicked off its annual conference here this week at the Hyatt Regency with a change in focus: instead of traditional conference activities supplemented with galas, the company has designed its program as a business summit focused on “Driving Business in Changing Times.” During the afternoon opening session, John Sweetwood, president/Americas, empathized with franchisees suffering from these difficult economic times, stating “We’re all feeling the pinch…That’s why we’re having this business summit instead of a conference…It’s what you [the franchisees]said you wanted. You wanted to reflect the times.” The two-day long event plans to drive home designated objectives that the company hopes to achieve in 2002, which are expected to improve operations and ultimately lead to economic results for both Six Continents and its franchisees. Tim Clarke, chief executive/Six Continents, listed five corporate-wide goals for this year, including: accelerating the growth of midscale hotel development in the Americas, particularly with the Holiday Inn brand; building brand value propositions and marketing the power of Inter-Continental and Crowne Plaza; focusing on top line systems performance to increase room night deliveries; improving the company’s IT infrastructure; and reengineering Six Continents internal business. Clarke noted that the company plans to leverage the brand recognition of Holiday Inn and better utilize its growing international presence. Currently the brand has 70,000 rooms outside of the United States, and with the company’s recent acquisition of Posthouse, the brand will further expand its market share throughout Europe with an additional 80 hotels, most which have already been converted to Holiday Inns. Within the United States, the company plans to “rejuvenate the Holiday Inn brand,” said Ravi Saligram, brand president/Americas. Saligram noted that currently 40% of the hotels in the brand’s portfolio have been in the system for 28 years. “Compare this to Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Garden Inn,” said Saligram, who added that in order to increase the brand’s “newness,” Holiday Inn will launch a new prototype for smaller hotels within the next few months. In addition, the company plans to expand its marketing efforts for its full-service brands, gearing Inter-Continental towards leisure travelers and Crowne Plaza towards group business. Increasing sales activity is the company’s third core focus. Six Continents plans to encourage more hoteliers to utilize its marketing programs, rate promotions, and corporate agreements. Currently only about 20% of the company’s hotels are actively enrolling guests to the Six Continent’s loyalty program, Priority Club; and when the company launched a corporate rate agreement with American Express, which was free for franchisees, less than 60% of hotels participated. The company is also planning to invest $75 million in technology this year with the launch of an e-folio program with IBM and two new recommended PMS systems: Opera by Micros for the company’s larger hotels and Pegasus Central for smaller properties. Lastly, 6C plans to reengineer its business by improving hotel efficiency and streamlining purchasing with increased participation in Avendra, the procurement venture launched last year with Six Continents as a founding member.