Hotel Math and Labskaus: MU students visit Hamburg Hotels
Following the successful inauguration of the study trip to Hamburg in 2013, another group of bachelor and master students hit the streets of Hamburg to deepen their understanding of hotels’ strategic positioning and competitive analysis. Equipped with solid knowledge of how to read and interpret vast amounts of STR Global performance data of the Hamburg hotel market, students engaged in talks with general managers, sales managers and revenue managers of four and five-star hotels in the harbor city.
Visits to the Le Meridien, Fairmont Vier Jahreszeiten, Park Hyatt Hamburg, Sofitel am Alten Wall, Scandic Emporio, Grand Elysee Hamburg as well as the 25hours Hamburg Hafencity provided plenty of opportunities to undertake a ‘reality-check’ of the theory.
Bachelor student Sophie Neubauer was enthusiastic about the personal touch, “The course, as well as the trip to Hamburg was a really great experience, because it wasn't just theory about STR but we got real-life examples of how hotels work with STR reports. In addition, we had the opportunity to receive detailed information about the performance of various hotels, from upscale to luxury, where either sales, revenue or other managers answered all our questions.”
MBA student Marianne Farraj also took away newfound knowledge from the experience: “The trip to Hamburg was very enlightening as we got to apply first-hand the theory we learned in class. The managers were very welcoming. They answered all our questions and gave us detailed information about their comp sets, occupancy, pricing strategies and so on, and this information along with the STR reports gave us a clearer and overall picture of the operations in the Hamburg market hotels.”
Besides the professional insights, the trip allowed for discovering the city of Hamburg including its nightlife. Culinary education wasn’t cut short either, be it a fresh fish roll at the harbor or the traditional ‘’Labskaus’’. Not to leave empty-handed, the students sat an exam to gain the Certification in Hotel Industry Analytics (CHIA), awarded by STR Global and the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s Educational Institute.
If this caught your interest, save the dates for the 2015 enrichment course: March 28th to April 1st. Registration will open in October 2014. For questions regarding the course or the CHIA designation, contact Dr. Florian Aubke.
