I bet that when you hear people talk of Revenue Management (RM) you immediately think of a “change the prices of the rooms”. Right? Well, yes, that is partbut the RM is much, much more. It is a strategic discipline complex which, if properly applied, can make a huge difference on the profits of your property, regardless of its size or its category.
The hotel Revenue Management is l’art (and science!) to sell the right room, to the right customer, at the right time, at the right price, through the right channel… with the’ultimate goal of maximizing revenue and profitability. See? This is not only to raise or lower prices based on all’employment. It is profoundly understand your market, your customers, their behaviors d’purchase and the competitive dynamics.
Think of this example: you have a hotel in a city d’art. During the week, your clientele is mainly business, willing to pay higher rates, but maybe book all’to the last. On the weekend, tourists arrive leisure, more price-sensitive, but who book in advance. A good Revenue Manager does not merely set a price “the mid-week” and “weekend”. Analyzes the historical data, monitors events in the city, studying the moves of competitors and defines pricing strategies dynamic and segmented. Maybe introduces rates for non-refundable discounted rates for those who book before (to make sure a base of employment), special packages for the weekend that include additional services (increasing the average expenditure), and manage l’inventory on various channels of distribution (OTA, site-directed, GDS) to optimize the costs of the commission.
But the RM is not just about the rooms. You can also apply to ancillary services: restaurant, spa, meeting rooms, even the parking lot. How? By analyzing the demand and l’use of these services, by setting pricing policies are flexible (think of the happy hour at the bar or spa packages in days of low turnout), and by promoting actively to the right customers at the right time (maybe with a’email pre-arrival or through the interactive TV in the room).
Implement a Revenue Management strategy effectively requires analysis of data (big data!), suitable technological tools (a good Booking Engine, Channel Manager, maybe a RMS dedicated), but, above all, strategic thinking skills and the ability to make decisions based on numbers, not on’instinct. It is a challenge, because the tourist market is unpredictable, but it is a challenge that pays off. Your hotel is really taking advantage of all the potential Revenue Management?
In these days we have to Rimini for the week of Fairs. We are available to take a coffee.
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