Hotel Technology Next Generation

Horizon Hospitality Management, Inc., a national hotel manager and owner, has a simple formula for consistently making money for investors:

Develop successful brands in outperforming markets
"We concentrate on projects in Western Pennsylvania because we know the area and it has shown to react to the economy better than much of the country. It also recovers faster," says John Hannan, COO for Horizon Hospitality LLC.

Horizon also picks brands that perform and develops them in solid markets. "Hilton's brands, reputation, and Rewards program are very good for us," according to Hannan. Horizon has also had success with Choice's Cambria Suites flags. "Cambria is a new brand for Choice. It's all suites and upscale, and we like the aggressive nature of Choice's efforts. There are only 19 Cambrias now and they are gaining market share."

Hire property teams that know their markets and brands
The second part of Horizon's formula is its people. "We hire our GMs, AGMs and directors of sales based on their experience and knowledge with their specific brands and markets," Hannan said. "For example, our Cambria GMs are unique. They know their brand's appeal and how to sell it, and they know their specific Washington County, and Pittsburg markets."

Leverage corporate experience and tools to support property profitability
Horizon's core executives also play an important role in performance management and property profitability. "We have a tight corporate team with many years of experience," Hannan said. "Our job is to support the property managers so they can focus on guest experience and making money for investors. One way we do that is with centralized accounting, management support, and reporting. We use an enterprise back office system called Profitvue® from Aptech Computer Systems for all our properties. We wanted to have a centralized platform strategy for our multiple flags because this gives us better control for resource planning. Our hotels use Profitvue to oversee their income audit, general ledger entries, and other accounting processes."

Profitvue pulls each day's performance data from Horizon's property management systems, regardless of the flag. The system runs the numbers for each hotel and generates financial reports. "Each morning we send current financials to our properties to help them operate their hotels profitably," said Hannan. "This saves our property teams from having to do the accounting busy work so they can spend more time selling. Part of Horizon's responsibility is to provide its people with good tools so they can do the best job possible." Profitvue also generates global roll-up reports for Horizon as a whole so its executive team can compare performance and identify best practices.

Grow with your groups
Most of Horizon's properties are in suburban locations that host a mix of corporate business travelers, weddings, college events, and sports groups. "Our strategy is to establish long-lasting relationships with solid groups and grow with them," Hannan explained. "We market centrally one-on-one to our corporate business accounts and develop personal relationships. Our segments rotate by season and day of the week, and we work our hotels and group business together and balance our properties to fulfill the needs of our accounts."

Hannan relies on Horizon Hospitality's centralized financial system to keep his team aware of each hotel's needs and performance so the entire portfolio benefits. "Profitvue gets our numbers quickly and it's accurate so we can base business decisions on that intelligence, enabling us to increase revenue and manage costs with confidence."

What does the future hold for Horizon? Hannan said, "We are always looking for new deals and just opened a new Cambria Suites in December. For us, success is about developing good brands and running them with good people – then managing by the numbers."

About Horizon Hospitality LLC.
Horizon Hospitality LLC is a forward thinking full service hospitality company that makes strategic planning, critical financial analysis and innovative thinking our mission. Providing superior service to its guests and a positive work environment to employees is the core of Horizon's hospitality principles.

Horizon Hospitality LLC specializes in hotel ownership, partner relationships and hotel management services. As a full service hospitality management company, our organization includes all disciplines required to insure operational success. Hotel Development, Rooms Management, Food and Beverage, Sales and Marketing, Engineering, Human Resources and a complete back-office Accounting Services System are just a few areas of expertise within our organization.

Aptech Computer Systems
Aptech Computer Systems, Inc., based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, leads the hospitality industry in leveraging change by valuing human relationships and applying technology to solve business problems for people. Incorporated in 1970, Aptech is a financial and operations technology solutions and service company whose products include state-of-the-art back office, business intelligence and enterprise planning products: Profitvue®, Execuvue®, and Webvue®. Over 2,500 properties, including very large chains, multiple-property management companies, and single-site hotels utilize Aptech solutions to understand their financial and operational data. Execuvue and Profitvue are registered trademarks of Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are owned by their respective holders.

Contact
Cam Troutman
Vice President
Phone: 800-245-0720
Email: vueinfo@aptech-inc.com