Innovation, Distribution, Inspiration @ No Vacancy 2010

Hot topics, great speakers, big brands and excellent networking - No Vacancy 2010 has got it all in just one action-packed day on Thursday, March 18. It's the perfect place to get the latest on Australia's accommodation industry, a compelling mix of opinions, facts, debate and data. See current topics and speakers below. Any questions call Martin Kelly on (02) 9882-1575.

• Bookings - $549 + gst
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PROGRAM - 8.15am to 5.30pm, Sydney, March 18

8.15am - 9.00am Delegate Registration and Registration

9.00am - 9.20am Rebound or Dead Cat Bounce? After a horrible start to 2009, in the second half many of the industry’s biggest players claimed the market had bottomed and was heading back up. But while ‘green shoots of recovery’ may have emerged, discounting remains rampant and the future of demand is still uncertain. This session examines key markets, demand and rates, while taking a crystal ball to the future. Is this sustained recovery or a dead cat bounce?

• Dean Dransfield, Managing Director, Dransfield Hotels and Resorts

9.20am - 9.50am View From The Top (Bottom and Middle). Accor owns, leases or manages 150 properties in all major Australian markets  across eight brands at every level of the of accommodation food chain – from the budget rooms at Formule 1 through to the marble lobbies of five-star Sofitel, giving the group an unmatched insight into market trends. This session will be conducted as an interview covering all key industry topics.

• Interview with Simon McGrath, Vice President Australia, Accor Hospitality

9.50am - 10.30am Webside Story. Discussion session featuring the leaders of Australia’s top accommodation websites, which continue to record remarkable growth whatever the economic circumstances. In many cases they have become the defacto search engines for the industry, wielding enormous power and are now perhaps they key link in the distribution chain. 

• Robbie Cooke, CEO, Wotif.com
• Chloe Lim, Managing Director, HotelClub
• Yury Shar, Managing Director, Hotels Combined
• Kirsty Shaw, General Manager, Stayz.com.au

10.30am - 11.00am Morning Tea

11.00am - 11.20am Online Accommodation Trends. Takes a good hard look at the Australian accommodation web; highest ranked websites, fastest-growing websites, supplier v. Online Travel Agents, consumers habits,  major traffic drivers, upstream traffic, downstream traffic – the lot. This session will also examine impact of social media on accommodation web traffic. 

• Alan Long, Research Director, Hitwise

11.20am - 11.45am It’s Not About The Room. There’s a strong argument that in recent times Australia’s accommodation industry has become far too hung up a short-term strategy of simply selling rooms – on price – rather than marketing the overall experience. Our next speaker will deliver a case study based around the creation of an “experiential travel brand” that happens to offer remote boutique accommodation followed by discussion.

• Grant Hunt, Chief Executive Officer, Anthology – The Traveller’s Collection

11.45am - 12.15pm Trailer Trash, That’s Just Garbage. Caravan parks have been the quiet achiever of Australia’s accommodation industry. Improved product, rebranding (‘Holiday Parks’) and strong demand mean rate rises while just every other sector discounts. They are also moving online after years on the fringe while more changes are in store. Session features presentations and discussion from the two leading Australian operators.

• Yvonne Bristow, Chief Operating Officer, Freespirit Holiday Park
• James Shearer, General Manager Operations Manager, Big 4 Holiday Parks

12.15pm - 12.35pm Hunting Opportunities - The Owner’s Perspective. Our next speaker is the largest private owner of hotels in the Australian market – eight at last count – across a number of different management groups and markets. This session will provide insights into how investors see the Australian accommodation market – the challenges they face, what they look for in a manager and where the opportunities exist. 

• Jerry Schwartz, Chief Executive Officer, Schwartz Family Company

12.35pm - 2.00pm Lunch

2.00pm - 2.30pm Distribution – Surviving In A Cut Price, Cut Throat, Last Minute World. What else is there to say? The tough times came and everybody said they wouldn’t discount – but everybody did and pumped their product through every channel, some of which looked done and dusted just 18 months. The good news is it has fuelled and sustained demand. Now the economy is better, pressure is on to raise rates but it’s a long way back. How does the industry raise prices without hurting demand? Has the distribution dynamic changed? What is the strategic impact of changing consumer patterns? All this and more…

• Paul Southey, Vice President Asia Pacific, TravelCLICK
• Luke Jamieson, General Manager Distribution, Mantra Group
• Prashanth Radhakrishnan, Area Director of Revenue Management, Starwood Hotels and Resorts

2.30pm - 2.40pm Channel Management - Where To From Here? Channel managers have emerged as the crucial link in the web distribution chain disseminating hotel inventory to all major accommodation sites. That's just phase one in their global domination plan. What's next? Find out here.

• Mike Ford, Managing Director, Site Minder 

2.40pm - 2.55pm Sleeping Giant – Q&A With ATDW. There’s a lot of taxpayer money riding on the success of the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse and its subsidiary Tourism Exchange Australia, which is now being used as the e-commerce proxy – primarily for accommodation - by every state tourism body in the country plus many of the leading regional tourism bodies. Which means it’s very important for accommodation and industry technology providers. Where is it at and what does the future hold  

• Liz Ward, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Tourism Data Warehouse

2.55pm - 3.10pm Starting Over At Roamfree. Update on the latest at Roamfree, a company that’s had plenty of ups and downs since it was started in spectacular fashion by entrepreneur Tony Smith in late 2006. The receivers were brought in last year – now there’s a new owner and approach.

• David Oliver, Chief Executive Officer, Roamfree

3.10pm - 3.30pm Anti-Social. Sick of hearing about social media? Aren’t we all, not least of because the phrase has become completely meaningless – encompassing everything from blogs and review sites right through to Facebook and Twitter. But you can’t ignore it. Or can you? The answer seems to depend on whether you are a supplier or distributor; overview, case study and discussion.

• Peter Topping, Social Media Strategist

3.30pm - 4.00pm Afternoon Tea

4.00pm - 4.45pm The Travelzoo Sales and Marketing Challenge. Everyone’s got an opinion on marketing and advertising, from the work experience kid through to the CEO. And that’s a good thing (unless of course you are the sales and marketing manager). In this session three leading marketers will be given a budget and challenged to come up a simple plan to drive profile and sales for three very different accommodation businesses.

Challenge 1: Hoteliers believe the already fragile Melbourne CBD market is set for a rate war with almost 3000 rooms coming on stream in 2010. Mantra Group is predicting RevPAR to fall a further 15% after a soft 2009. You are launching one of these new hotels. It’s an opulent five-star, 300 room property modeled on the excesses of Dubai, gold-plated taps, marble, heli-pad etc. The owner, the spoiled son of a very wealthy Middle Eastern royal family, is insistent the property is called The Sultan’s Palace.  What is your approach? You have an initial marketing, PR and sponsorship budget of $5m. Bernadette Dennis, Managing Director, HSMAI Asia Pacific

Challenge 2:  A good friend unexpectedly receives a large inheritance from a long lost aunt and decides to start an accommodation website. He makes you an irresistible offer to quit your job at major hotel chain to pursue your dream of business independence as Marketing Director of his new venture, sleeptight.com. Product supply is not an issue. Your first task is to establish brand (and a point of difference) while gaining immediate consumer attention, and bookings, in a very crowded marketplace. Tough task but the good news is you have a marketing budget of $500,000 to get things rolling. What do you do? Sebastian Fontanarossa, Marketing Strategist

Challenge 3: News breaks that notorious nudist resort The White Cockatoo in Far North Queensland is up for sale with a $1.5m asking price. The resort, known for poolside sex romps, made headlines last year when police were forced to intervene between warring nudists in a fight over dress code. You buy the resort determined to restore the good name of nudists everywhere. “It’s going to classy,” you tell the Cairns Post. Your challenge is to rebrand the resort, while retaining its focus on nudity, rebuild links with the local community and – most importantly – get bums on seats. You have an initial marketing, PR and sponsorship budget of $100,000. David Perry, CEO, The Hotel Windsor

4.45pm - 5.30pm Drinks and Networking

5.30pm Conference Close