ALL-SERVICES LODGING REPORT Navy Gateway Inns and Suites

ALL-SERVICES LODGING REPORT

Navy Gateway Inns and Suites:

Standardization and Renovation

Davis

Tammy Davis, official and recreational lodging manager, Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC), continues to oversee the complete standardization of more than 70 Navy Gateway Inns and Suites (NGIS) worldwide, maintaining its commitment to provide quality lodging for official Navy travelers.

Davis also has recreational lodging -- cabins, cottages and RV parks -- and the Fisher House program under her purview, providing her with plenty to talk about in her conversation with Military Club & Hospitality.

The front desk at the NGIS at NAS Oceana, Va. (NGIS PHOTO)

MCH: What were the highlights of the Navy Gateway Inns and Suites (NGIS) during 2009/2010? Were there any initiatives that exceeded expectations? Were there any initiatives that did not meet expectations? Please explain.

Davis: The Commander, Navy Installation Command (CNIC) Lodging Program prides itself on providing quality lodging for official military and civilian Navy travelers. CNIC's standardization and branding continue to drive the NGIS Lodging Program.

In one of the many ways CNIC improved NGIS during fiscal 2010, approximately 10 installations (many with multiple NGIS buildings) completed either Whole Room Concept or Total Room Concept improvements, or both, making their NGIS facilities 100 percent standardized. Other installations may not have had the requirement to replace all furnishings, but only to provide standardized items in guest rooms. As of Sept. 30, NGIS facilities throughout the Navy have reached 80 percent standardization, with the goal of being 100 percent standardized by June 2011.

MCH: How many Navy Gateway Inns and Suites do you run? What were revenues in fiscal 2009/2010, and how did they compare with fiscal 2008? How are revenues year-to-date?

Davis: Throughout the CNIC enterprise, there are 74 Navy Gateway Inns and Suites lodging operations. Revenues in fiscal 2009 were $184.8 million, compared to $152.5 million in fiscal 2008. Fiscal 2010 year-to-date revenues are $197.6 million.

MCH: Have you opened any new NGIS? Are there any new NGIS you plan to open in 2009 and 2010?

Davis: Although CNIC has made numerous improvements in existing lodging facilities, it has not opened a new NGIS this fiscal year, but has upgraded and/or renovated a number of lodging operations. NGIS has established a recapitalization rate program that will allow CNIC's Navy Lodging Program to continue to improve and provide the best lodging services at a reasonable rate for the Navy's traveling community.

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MCH: Last year, then-CNIC Official and Recreational Lodging Manager Mario Trevino said that Whole Room Concept renovations would take place in 2010 at NSF Diego Garcia; NAF Atsugi; CFA Yokosuka; NB Guam; NAS Sigonella; NSY Portsmouth, Va.; NAS Oceana; NSA Northwest Annex, Va.; and NSA Wallops Island, Va. Please provide an update on these renovation projects. What plans do you have for renovations in 2011?

Davis: CNIC is striving to complete scheduled renovations, and the lodging operations have either been completed or are ongoing. CNIC Fleet and Family Readiness (FFR) leadership is very impressed with results. Additional CNIC FFR projects currently in progress include: Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam, Hawaii; NAS Pensacola, Fla.; FA Okinawa, Japan; NAS Whidbey Island, Wash.; and NB Point Loma, Calif.

MCH: Please provide an update on the standardization of training for all NGIS professionals.

Davis: CNIC FFR is working diligently to educate and train personnel in order to provide the best customer service possible. Lodging and the Fleet and Family Readiness (FFR) Training Branch continue to partner to standardize specific tasks within NGIS operations. A skill/knowledge gap analysis was recently conducted for NGIS front-desk and management personnel. Recommended performance improvement activities are currently being designed and developed for implementation in fiscal 2011. The NGIS Performance Advisory Group and CNIC FFR Training Branch are partnering to establish a career development model that identifies skills, knowledge and competencies required for each NGIS position.

The CNIC FFR Training Branch was chartered to consolidate and centralize training. The following standardized N9 core business tasks, service and leadership learning events are available to NGIS professionals:

a) Navy N9-specific Business Tasks: NAF budget planning, APF and NAF budget analysis, establish fees and prices, and select the right staff for virtual asynchronous learning events.

b) Customer Service: Creating Stellar Customer Relations (CSCR) and Coaching for Extraordinary Service (CfES) classroom learning events.

c) FFR Leadership Skills: activating change and leading innovation for virtual synchronous learning events. These learning events were recently piloted and are scheduled to deploy in fiscal 2011.

d) Basic Work Skills: Classroom learning events are scheduled to be piloted within Commander, Navy Region (CNR) Southwest, CNR Mid-Atlantic , CNR Midwest and CNR Japan in early fiscal 2011. Facilitator certifications for N9 deployment will follow.

MCH: Trevino said that 47 properties allowed online reservations, and all properties were expected to be completed by March 2010. Please provide an update on the rollout process.

Davis: CNIC Lodging Program's rollout of the Defense Lodging System was successfully completed at all 74 Navy Gateway Inns and Suites lodging operations enterprise wide.

MCH: How many recreational lodging facilities does CNIC run? What were revenues in fiscal 2008, and how did they compare with fiscal 2007? How are revenues year-to-date?

Davis: CNIC's Navy Recreational Lodging Program has been branded as a premier global military leisure program, with the new branded name "Navy Getaways." There are 47 recreational lodging destinations offering a myriad of RV spaces, cottages, cabins, hotel-like guest rooms, yurts, tent sites and bunkhouses. In the very near future, recreational lodging patrons may look for exciting initiatives within the Navy Getaways program. For reservations and information, please visit . navy.mil/mwrprgms/cabin.htm.

Revenues in fiscal 2009 were $18.8 million, compared to $17.7 million in fiscal 2008. Fiscal 2010 year-to-date revenues are $17.8 million.

MCH: Have there been any revisions made to the Whole Room and Total Room Concepts in the past year? If so, please

explain why these changes were made.

Davis: Nomination packages and concepts are currently being reviewed.

MCH: Please provide an update on NGIS' branding concept, as well as NGIS continued efforts to achieve standardization.

Davis: The Navy's official lodging operation was branded as "Navy Gateway Inns and Suites" about five years ago, and is working toward having all CNIC FFR NGIS lodging operations achieve standardization by June 2011. As CNIC continues to complete the standardization goals, the focus will be on improving the brand, enhancing amenities and services, and always ensuring that customers receive the best service and accommodations.

MCH: Are there any programs currently underway that CNIC would like to highlight?

Davis: Maintenance teams at Navy Regions Mid-Atlantic and Southwest are very active in the renovation process of the NGIS facilities within their regions. This results in a remarkable cost savings to the region's lodging programs for both appropriated and nonappropriated funds. CNIC FFR NGIS teams continue to work closely with the Public Works departments and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) to ensure compliance with all rules and regulations pertaining to renovations of government facilities. The Mid-Atlantic Region has completed a project at JEB Little Creek/Fort Story and Wallops Island, both in Va., and the Southwest Region is in the process of renovating two buildings at Point Loma.

MCH: Trevino said that NGIS was in the process of implementing a facilities recapitalization plan - a nonappropriatedfund construction (NAFCON) process that would improve good facilities and replace bad ones. Has this process been approved, and how would it benefit NGIS going forward?

Davis: The goal of CNIC FFR's Navy Lodging Program is to continue

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to improve and provide the best lodging services at reasonable rates for the Navy's traveling community. One of the initiatives to reach this goal is the CNIC FFR NGIS Recapitalization Program. The NGIS NAFCON instruction and nomination package are currently in final draft. CNIC's goal is to have the program in place and reviewing and approving projects in 2011.

MCH: How has the new online reservation system and central call-center system benefited NGIS guests and NGIS personnel? How many reservations have been processed since the implementation of the new systems?

Davis: The online reservation and call center system has given CNIC FFR the ability to market inventory in a completely

different way. For the first time, customers have the ability to make reservations 24 hours a day by calling the property directly, making reservations online or using the call center. This gives customers a quality standard they can count on.

MCH: Are there any other new technological advances featured in NGIS? Please provide the names of the companies supplying the technology.

Davis: CNIC is always looking for better and innovative ways to improve processes and customer services. As part of ongoing efforts to partner with other services, the CNIC FFR is working with the Army to manage the rollout of the Defense Lodging System (DLS). DLS offers the same enterprise capabilities to operate all Army Lodging organizations

under one call center, Web reservations and offer enterprise controls.

MCH: Does CNIC have any new initiatives for fiscal 2011?

Davis: The CNIC Navy Lodging Program welcomes Navy Getaways, the Recreation Lodging Program, to the Defense Lodging System reservation program. This program will allow leisure guests the ability to book leisure travel through the Web reservation system and call centers. This new service will benefit both the local FFR NGIS property and the leisure traveler by allowing them to plan their travel in advance, and allowing them to visually see the recreational lodging properties and guarantee their travel requirements.

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