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Social media becomes integral part of hotel revenue management

June 22, 2010 | Hospitality Industry

According to a new report by HSMAI, the future of revenue management will include a rapid evolution of data as a strategic asset that can drive future decision-making. And hoteliers will track, analyze, and maximize social networking platforms as an integral part of revenue management.

TravelClick and the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) have partnered to develop the report The Evolving Dynamics of Revenue Management: A Comprehensive Revenue Optimization Road Map for Hotel Owners, Operators and Practitioners. Published by the HSMAI Foundation, the report analyzes key trends in revenue management across the hospitality industry.
“More than ever before, efficient revenue management hinges on effective business intelligence,” said Robert Post, Chairman and CEO of TRAVELCLICK.  “No longer a luxury, intelligence is a strategic necessity in improving a company’s probability of survival and prosperity, especially in difficult times. This report will enable hotels to take an informed, scientific approach to understanding market dynamics, applying the right marketing strategies and channels, and converting bookings at optimal value.”
TravelClick has identified five future trends from the report that are especially important to hotels globally as they move out of the economic downturn and begin to improve their growth figures:
1. The future of revenue management will include a rapid evolution of data as a strategic asset that can drive future decision-making.

2. Hoteliers will track, analyze, and maximize social networking platforms as an integral part of revenue management - leveraging the power of tools that help them in managing consumer review sites and other forums. They will take a proactive approach to user-generated hotel reviews, blogs, videos, and images.

3. Revenue directors will reinvent their approach to be even more proactive and creative - conducting more research, focusing on demand generators, developing relationships with the competition, shifting market share, developing the hotel’s reputation, and directing sophisticated channel management.

4. Automated revenue management technology will become the dominant practice, quickly delivering significant increases in revenue and return on investments to those who adopt it.

5. The hospitality industry will focus time and resources on developing strong revenue executives—headlined by the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) - who can deliver the best revenue strategy, top-line revenue, and bottom-line profitability.
Also serving as a publishing sponsor of the report is Smith Travel Research, the hospitality industry’s leading information and data provider.
“By relying less on spreadsheets and revenue directors with strong Excel skills, and more on central storehouses that compile all enterprise data and help hotels better analyze and process it, hotels will advance the impact of revenue management,” said Kristi White, TravelClick’s Director of Revenue Optimization. “Business Intelligence tools will be critical in this effort, producing objective, actionable information and analysis, and reducing subjective interpretations.”
White underscores the importance of sticking with a strategy, through good times and bad. “During good times, hoteliers are more apt to pay attention to their own needs and price as a benchmark of what the market will bear,” she emphasized. “During downturns, they shift to groupthink and merely follow the herd to the bottom of the bucket. There are always opportunities to maintain or grow rate - even in a down economy.”
“Hotel companies that embrace the requirements of revenue management, structure their organization, and provide the support required will find they receive the greatest benefits and realize the highest potential revenues,” said Robert Gilbert, HSMAI President & CEO. “Hoteliers who make these commitments and follow through will find they are positioned to be leaders in their marketplace instead of followers. Those commitments will provide hoteliers with the right information, confidence, and tools to price according to the customer’s willingness to pay.”

Purchase the full report at HSMAI

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