2011 by the numbers

At the start of each year, I sit down and work out our sales productions for hotels for the calendar year just gone to find out which cities are the biggest and which hotels get most of our bookings.

Here is a list of the capital cities that were most productive for us and how they compared to 2010:

1. Darwin (up 32%)
2. Brisbane (up 130%)
3. Perth (up 240%)
4. Sydney (down 14%)
5. Melbourne (down 55%)
6. Canberra (down 65%)
7. Adelaide (down 84%)

Comparing the cities to their ranks last year, Melbourne moved up the ladder mainly thanks to Tiger Woods and the President's Cup in November while Adelaide received the wooden spoon having fallen from 5th to 7th. The bottom three cities were very, very quiet for us and were not even close to Sydney in 4th, I hope this will change in 2012.

The positives were the great production in Perth and Brisbane which came as no surprise as they kept us very busy last year. I've nicknamed Perth "boomtown USA" because it fills almost every week (midweek) due to the mining boom, there aren't enough hotels to cope with the demand and the prices are through the roof. Brisbane is benefitting from the mining industry as well and really narrowed the gap between it and Darwin this year (which was miles ahead in 2010). Darwin continued to be our # 1 city purely due to a large contract we were helping with. Unfortunately this work is basically over now so it will take a huge drop next year.

Here is the list of the 10 hotels around Australia that we make the most bookings with:

1. Mantra Pandanas (Darwin)
2. M on Mary (Brisbane)
3. Perth Ambassador (Perth)
4. Mantra on the Esplanade (Darwin)
5. Chifley at Lennons (Brisbane)
6. All Suites Perth (Perth)
7. Macarthur Chambers (Brisbane)
8. Hotel Grand Chancellor (Brisbane)
9. Mantra on Murray (Perth)
10. Hotel Ibis (Perth)

One of the goals I set Adam at the start of last year was to help us book more rooms with less hotels rather than some rooms with lots of hotels. The best example of this in action is that the total sales for our top 10 hotels increased by 90% from their counterparts in 2010.

Back in the office

Today marks our first day back in the office for 2012.

January is a very quiet time for the corporate travel market so while our hours are officially 8:30 - 5 (Brisbane time), there may be times over the next week or two when the phone is diverted during these hours. We might be out catching up with some of our hotel contacts or sometimes if its quiet we're just taking an early mark. If you do call and get the voicemail during normal business hours please just leave a message and we'll get back to you shortly.

February is one of the busiest months of the year for us so things will quickly return to madness around here!

I hope you have a fantastic 2012 and we look forward to talking with you soon.

Where's my Christmas card??

Thank you for all the cards and well wishes we've received. If you're wondering why you haven't received a Christmas card from us, we've chosen instead (like the last few years) to make a donation to the Starlight Foundation.

This year we are fortunate enough to be able to shut down the office and take some well-earned time off. The office will officially be closed from Friday, December 16 through until Monday, January 9. If you need anything during this time please send me an e-mail or leave a voice-mail message on the phone.

I wish you and your families a very enjoyable and relaxing festive season and we look forward to looking after you again in 2012.

Festival of food

Many people know that the way to my heart is through food ... so not surprisingly when peak corporate travel season finishes its a great time to catch up with sales & reservations managers over lunch.

Last Wednesday we had a nice long lunch with Zana and Brad from The Point Hotel. We did a lot of work with the hotel in November so it was a good time to discuss possibilities for 2012 as well as have a look at their new tower of rooms (that opened in October). The rooms look fantastic and I'm lucky enough to be staying in one this Saturday night which I'm looking forward to.

Wednesday night I had dinner with friends at the Sofitel. Since lunch (which was excellent) at The Point finished around 2:30 or so I wasn't sure how good an effort I was going to be able to put in to the buffet but somehow I managed to do ok!

Thursday lunch was spent with Nicole at the Brisbane Marriott checking out their new restaurant, Motion Bar & Grill. Nicole is one of our best contacts and has been for a while so it was good to catch up with her after she had been so helpful during November. Motion is a nice change from the normal 5 star hotel buffet (not that there's anything wrong with a buffet!) and the refurbishment of the restaurant decor looks great.

Thursday night was dinner at The Surf Club (celebrity chef Ben O'Donoghue) and then Saturday night was my mum's birthday so we had dinner at the Hundred Acre Bar & Restaurant at St Lucia.

Thankfully I've been working out almost every day so despite all the dining out I'm not as big as a house!!

Day at the cricket

We've done a LOT of work with Mantra Pandanas in Darwin over the last 18 months and this (mainly) led to an invite for me to a corporate box at the cricket on the second day of the first test between Australia and New Zealand.

I'm not a huge cricket fan but a day out of the office after the madness of peak season was something to look forward to. Plus, corporate box, food & drink, etc ... unlikely I'm going to turn that down! As you can see from the picture below, the weather wasn't great but that was a good thing for us (and no doubt the players) as it wasn't too hot.

The action on the field was a little slow but the company was great and the food and drinks flowed. Thanks so much to Edith, our sales manager from Mantra for the invite and her generous hospitality, it was a fantastic way to spend a Friday afternoon!

Busiest week of the year?

The end of year peak corporate travel season in Australia essentially runs from the end of September school holidays until early December. We have been flat out every day since Melbourne Cup (Nov 1) and this week was the ultimate for Australian hotels.

Here is what happened:

* Adelaide - filled last night
* Brisbane - filled Tuesday, Wednesday and almost Thursday
* Canberra - filled Tuesday, Wednesday
* Melbourne - filled Wednesday, Thursday
* Perth - filled Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
* Sydney - filled Tuesday, Wednesday and almost Thursday

It got so busy, the cities so full and we ran out of our allotments so early (especially for Perth) that we had to give up on this week enquiries on Tuesday and focus on the week after.

There looks to be another 2 or 3 weeks left before things quieten down so if you have any travel to do in that time and need to book accommodation, make sure you organise your hotel before you book your flights!

The Tiger Woods effect

He may not be the # 1 golfer in the world anymore but that doesn't lessen the pulling power of Tigers Woods playing tournaments in Australia. This then flows through to the hotels in the city that he's playing in.

Last week Tiger was in Sydney playing in the Australian Open and virtually every CBD hotel was fully booked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This week he joined the USA's President's Cup team in Melbourne and all the hotels in and around the CBD have filled for at least Wednesday and Thursday nights.

I think I've explained this concept before, but when a sporting event happens in a city, strangely its not the nights of the event that actually fill, its only the nights that overlap with corporate travel. For instance, the golf got underway today in Melbourne but the worst nights for accommodation were actually last night and tonight with there still being availability over the weekend (while the tournament is still running).

I know he's become a controversial figure after his off-course antics that have come to light but as a golf fan and a business owner that benefits from him coming to Australia, I for one hope he comes back every year!