Outrigger Case Study

Though the hotel and resorts industry has suffered due to the declining economy over the past several years, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts (“Outrigger”) has been able to maintain a strong niche market in Hawaii as well as beginning to expand geographically, establishing a stronger international presence. Though they began as major competitors with companies like Marriott, Hilton, and Starwood, Outrigger has been able to diversify its product portfolio mainly through acquisitions to appeal to a wider customer base. Outrigger created OHANA hotels to attract more “budget travelers” as well as beginning to offer condominiums off the beach front to appeal to regular travelers that vacationed more frequently. In these new markets, Outrigger benefited from no direct competition and is able to benefit from a diversified product portfolio. Outrigger has enjoyed success in these new markets but has faced many problems due to their entrance into these slightly different markets. In spite of Outrigger’s aggressive geographical and product expansion in new markets, it has preferred to maintain a centralized management structure. Along with their centralized management structure Outrigger has tried to develop centralized operations and information systems. Outrigger’s operations and IT infrastructure in Hawaii were highly centralized. Outrigger’s properties in Hawaii all utilized the same Central Reservation Office; however all other properties located outside of Hawaii handled their reservations in house, limiting collection of important customer data and missing out on the opportunity to enjoy significant cross-property traffic. All properties in Hawaii ran on a JD Edwards ERP as the cornerstone of Outrigger’s back office operations while running Stellax, their integrated CRS/PMS, providing revenue management, reservation center support, and enabled data collection for further analysis on their E.piphany software. This integrated IT infrastructure has allowed Outrigger to