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HOSPA Conference, UK


HOSPA (formerly BAHA), the UK’s leading organization in financial management, revenue management and IT in the hospitality industry, organized its Annual Conference in November at the Sofitel Hotel – London Heathrow.

The theme for the event was “Taking Investment Forward”, in terms of investing in people and businesses to create more value.  The one-day conference was kept very crisp targeting the major investment issues to help industry professional understand how to face these crucial challenges related to funding. Russell Kett, President, HVS – specialists in hotel valuations, opened the session involving experts and professionals through a debate aimed at finding solutions to the doubts of hoteliers located away from the big cities and beyond. The lack of interest from investors, along with the problems associated with re-financing in 2013, is one of the main reasons that blocks the revival and promotion of tourism in the UK, and especially in outlying areas such as provinces.

“Boosting investment in the world’s hotel sector is the single biggest challenge facing the industry today. Despite strong buyer interest in the global hotel market and plenty of equity available, not least from the Far East and Middle East, there are few hotel transactions taking place outside key locations and gateway cities across Europe. In the UK, there is little investor appetite in the provinces where hotel trading continues to languish in all but the best-run hotels. Obtaining debt finance for hotel acquisitions is tough and a number of re-financings due in the next year will prove challenging to accomplish in the current environment without a significant chunk of fresh equity and an understanding bank,” said Rassel Kett – President, HVS.

Following the topics on finance, there were discussions on the trends and developments in Revenue Management, and how it could affects hotel sales and revenue. Casey Davy, VP – Sales, EMEA & Canada and Cristina Blaj, Sales Manager, UK & Ireland, attended the event as delegates representing eRevMax and shared their inputs on these topics.


To view pictures from the event, please click here.

Domenico Defina is Sales & Marketing Intern at eRevMax and is based out of London. He can be reached at domenicod@erevmax.com

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RateTiger Q2 Sales Meet


I attended the recently held RateTiger Sales Meet in Glasgow. This was the first time I attended this event in my new capacity as Sales Manager UK and I found the whole experience to be very rewarding.

The EMEA team gathered in Erskine Bridge Hotel for two days of team building activities, presentations, trainings and a lot of fun. Brainstorming sessions were conducted on current industry trends and detailed analysis of the company’s sales and marketing strategies were shared. We were treated to a professional training session on advanced presentation skills to enhance our expertise.

Our CEO Michael McCartan shared important company and product updates while Keith Watson, Head of Commercial Operations, gave us inputs on new support structure and processes. Casey Davy, VP Sales EMEA, provided the team with useful tips to a more successful sales process, and ran through some administrative aspects of sales, while Ryan Haynes, VP Marketing, shared the upcoming marketing plans and encouraged us to work closely with partners and associations. 

I was given the opportunity to present my recently prepared competitor mapping analysis and I received a lot of kudos for it. All the sessions were productive and it was a great opportunity for us to come together and share a sense of camaraderie.

And obviously the after-hours parties were a complete hit. We were delighted when we found that we have been booked for ‘A Journey with Taste’ going back into the history of whiskey tasting, sampling the products from the top distilleries across Scotland. This was followed by a late night at The Corinthian Casino Club downtown in Glasgow – a perfect closure to the two day marathon meetings!


More fun pictures here 😉

Cristina Blaj is Sales Manager – UK at eRevMax and is responsible for sale of RateTiger products in the region. She is based out of London, UK and can be reached at cristinab@ratetiger.com
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RateTiger @ Ecole


The Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne is an extraordinary place, being the second time to visit this is a world of its own. Students are taught all areas of hospitality service, operations and management. As you step on campus the students are warm and welcoming and immediately make you feel at home – it’s part of the service.

My second visit was an invitation from Professor Horatiu Tudori, who we are working with on a market research project to better understand the challenges hoteliers are facing on local and global levels, to deliver a presentation to his students. Along with Casey Davy, VP EMEA we addressed an eager audience of over 150 students – I suddenly felt I had been catapulted back to my University days as I stared headlong into an audience towering above me in the auditorium.



Here we delivered the Evolution of Channel Management – the history of sales and the future challenges we have ahead of us. In particular exploring those that this generation of revenue managers will face when they enter the full-time workplace. We had a discussion on Booking.com, social media and voucher websites – it was abundantly clear these students were well read.

I certainly feel our partnership is growing and I look forward to this year ahead with Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne and the launch of our Research Paper.

Thank you Professor Horatiu Tudori.

Ryan Haynes is the VP – Marketing Communications at eRevMax and is responsible for driving all PR and Marketing activities of RateTiger and eRevMax brands globally. Ryan is based out of London and can be reached at ryanh@ratetiger.com