The SKNapp 

Hello Friends of SKNapp Consulting,

The scale of the bushfires in Australia is overwhelming to say the least; thousands of people have lost their homes, their livelihood and sadly some have lost their lives. Due to forecasted weather conditions, these fires are expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

For those of us fortunate enough not to be directly impacted (other than having to wear these fetching masks) there are plenty of ways to contribute.  Please consider these ways to help out...

Dear Friends of SKNapp Consulting,

Air Hair Lair from my third week in brisk Autumn pre-Brexit London! Of course #Brexit has businesses, certainly hotels, gearing up for its impact in a manner of controlled chaos. Despite many UK Hoteliers being nervous about post-Brexit profits, there are also some who say it is right poppycock.

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, or "BoJo" as he's not-so affectionately called, has got himself into a spot of bother here in London town. However, the Prim...

Dear Friends of SKNapp Consulting,

For those of you who've been to my KNow Revenue workshops and training sessions, remember how I bang on about ebb and flow in demand patterns and booking curves... and how the smartest most successful hotel revenue managers have long-term (ah hem, like, 5 years out not 5 weeks people!) diverse distribution and market segment strategies? Remember that? Good times. Now if I was the type of consultant who says "I Told Ya So" this is when I'd say that sort of thing....

Dear Friends of SKNapp Consulting,

Last week I had the great joy of spending time with this squad of hoteliersat Tourism Accommodation Australia  HQ to deliver two Revenue training programs. (20 years in Australia and I still love a good SOH  photo opp)  Our participants' reward was a much more advantageous ascend than even climbing Mt Everest  is these days. Our training workshops can get equally as crowded though. So ya better ping me to secure a safe spot in...

Dear Friends of SKNapp Consulting, 

Are you new to the hotel game and keen to learn more about the marvels of (T)RevPAR? 

Would you like to become a hotelier for whom forecast is a verb? 

Are you already a revenue management pro and would like a certificate to prove it?

When you think of revenue management for hoteliers, do you feel a bit like Jared Leto carrying his own head? 

Well you may have missed out on the Met Gala event but there's still time for you to get in on an even more spectacular...

Dear Friends of SKNapp Consulting, 

You may have noticed that the first ever actual image of a Black Hole nearly broke the interwebs this week. (You should totally listen to this song while reading this.) I actually thought we had always seen pictures of black holes, but I've learned those were all just interpretations and artists' renditions, just like pictures of dinosaurs. Mind. Blown. 

And if this wasn't already cool enough, turns out it was a 29 year old woman who led the effort to make...

Dear Friends of SKNapp Consulting,

Last week while spending time onsite with one of my favourite SKNapp customers, I learned about the value and splendour of a proper pizza oven. The downside being that now I want to build one at home, alongside our tandoor oven. Seriously.

I was also thankful to have successfully moderated a panel at the 80Twenty Hotel Conference in Brisbane. My measure of "success" being that no chairs were thrown (despite a small bit of shouting), I didn't offend anyo...

Happy IWD everyone! In addition to a great excuse to eat pink cupcakes, it is a great time to remember that diverse teams are smarter.  I've spent the day at SiteMinder which enjoys a strong culture of diversity, encourages female engineers, celebrates girls for whom code is a verb, and a #BalanceForBetter.

Meanwhile...

My strong advice to you, Dear Friends Of SKNapp Consulting, is the next time you’re in Melbourne Australia as I've been this week: Do yourself a favour and run, don't wal...

Dear Friends of SKNapp Consulting, 

From my week's log of lessons:

1) iPhone 8 running version 12.1.4 operating system is not compatible with almond milk iced lattes.

2) Cameras on holiday, good.  Guests being filmed by hidden cameras in rented accommodation, bad.

3) Robots and machine learning for accurate revenue forecasting, good. Robots in hotels, bad. Let's stick to well-trained human workforce armed with clever tech stack shall we?

And if you think your job is stressful or complicat...

Hello friends of SKNapp Consulting,

Are you like me? Do you see things like this and worry for the future of the human race? 

Well have faith my friends! This week I witnessed something that restored not only my faith in humans, but also in Aussie hospitality! (ok yes I have a penchant for the dramatic, but stay with me here) A friend visiting from America lost his wallet somewhere between his barramundi at CYCA and his Pinot at SOH. The following day he gets a call from the New South Wa...