Keeping a center going during these uncertain times often means fundamental operational changes, from what services we are able to offer, to how much they should cost. In this webinar, deepen your understanding of your center’s financial viability and discover tools and variables to use as you explore the sustainability of your current business model.
Stephanie Lewis, Director of Guest Services, Esalen
Stephanie is committed to providing exceptional service for the more than 12,000 seminarians and students who would visit the Institute annually. She is the former Director of Rooms at Sanctuary Beach Resort and has a breadth of experience working for Monterey and Carmel area hotels such as the Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa and Bernardus Lodge. Stephanie returns to Big Sur having previously served as Ventana Big Sur’s Director of Guest Services. In this position, Stephanie played a leadership role in helping the hotel re-open after the area’s closure in the 2017.
Melanie Cooke, Complex Director of Revenue Management
Mel is currently overseeing three hotels throughout the US. She has over 20 years of experience at three, four and five star hotels in city, resort and international locations overseeing revenue strategy, sales, digital media, e-commerce/social media, reservations and front office operations. While maximizing revenue is her success driver, her passion lies in change and new experiences, and awakening those urges in others. Her most creative role was as an underwater performer, swimming as a mermaid at Aquarena Springs in the Guadalupe River in San Marcos, Texas.
Thank you so much to Stephanie, Mel, Camille and Jacy from the Esalen Institute in California for their insightful presentation – exploring the breakdown of pricing, how to determine the cost per occupied room (COPR), allocate costs and adjust the business model of a center to maximise revenue, in alignment with holistic values.
It was great to see nearly forty folk on the call with new colleagues attending and many centers represented, including; The Haven, Northern Edge Algonquin, Sacred Kashi, Yogaville, Spirit Rock, Naramata Centre, Yashodhara Ashram, Stonehedge, Great Vow Monastery, New York Open Center, Yogaville, Occidental Arts and Ecology, Kripalu, Le Monastere des Augustines and Sage Oasis Garden Retreat Center.
If you’re interested in applying knowledge from the for-profit hospitality sector that can enhance your non-profit model of revenue management, you’re welcome to watch the recording . The webinar demonstrated the art of yield management, while staying true to our values, and encouraged ways to explore costs step by step.
Questions that arose
- What about seasonality? Do you vary for occupancy and pricing?
- Have social justice and accessibility contributed to your pricing decisions?
- What are the considerations around posting accommodation on AirBnb to take advantage of their yield management data to inform the rest of our pricing?
Comments shared
Thank you Esalen team for sharing your learning, insights and offering tools so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Deep appreciation for your time and knowledge.
It was fun to hear about how you are thinking about your numbers.
This is very clear. Thank you. Also encouraging to see that you are getting realistic answers from this approach.
This was a very exciting conversation, thank you for sharing all your work!
Pop the dates of the 2021 webinars on your calendar and we look forward to connecting in future webinars.
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