Internship at Le Meurice: Unlocking the power of data analysis in the luxury hotel sector

By Clément Deplanche, MBA in Hospitality Management, France, 2012-2014 2nd Year 

Six months after starting my internship between the first and second year of my MBA, I’m pleased when I reflect on the numerous skills that I had the opportunity to improve. My internship took place at Le Meurice, the oldest Parisian Palace, which opened in 1835. The hotel is part of the Dorchester Collection, a hotel group managing a portfolio of 10 hotels across the United States and Europe. The motto of Le Meurice is “The French genius for the art of living,” which wholly represents what the hotel stands for: the ultimate experience for the guest, delivering a truly Parisian experience in all aspects.

I arrived at Le Meurice mainly with operational experience in food and beverage. Therefore, I was really excited to explore other departments, such as sales and marketing. I also arrived with a great deal of uncertainty, however, about how my internship would go and what I would learn, since I was told at the beginning that my internship experience would depend on me demonstrating my capabilities. Nevertheless, I was excited to take up the challenge.

I began by assisting the sales team with their daily tasks in order to gain the knowledge necessary to move on to more of a business analyst job. I had the opportunity to develop my knowledge in sales, of course, but even more in revenue management and market analysis. In fact, I had the opportunity to implement a brand new monthly statistics report, which fit the new segmentation of the Dorchester collection. This report was used by all the sales managers, as well as by the top management. I worked a lot on the implementation of new analysis tools and creating reports on market trends. I also had the opportunity to work on some e-commerce/e-marketing projects and to assist with more specific aspects of marketing (creating a CRM plan, researching the development of the Chinese market, etc.), as well as working on the 2014 budget.

Overall, it was a great experience that allowed me to develop me skills while bringing real added-value to the company. In addition, it gave me a much better understanding of what it takes to perform at this level of management, particularly in the luxury sector. One of the main things I took away from my internship was an in-depth understanding of the importance of data analysis and gathering information about the market and the competition in order to adopt the most suitable strategy for a hotel.