The matters weighing on the minds of hotel and resort owners and operators are many: average daily rates, occupancy levels, market penetration, revenue generation, operating costs, growth trajectories, tourism trends, customer service demands, real estate concerns, budget constraints, inventory management, cyber security and effective marketing strategies are a few of the major ones. Labor and employment issues are an unusually significant source of concern for hotel executives as well, demanding a disproportionate amount of their attention given the burdensome legal requirements imposed upon employers. READ MORE

Revenue management has come a long way since its early days of basic yield management. Many consider 1989 a pivotal turning point when revenue management became a permanent part of hotel management and not just a passing trend. With advancements in market data, decision science, and technology, revenue management continues to evolve. This is especially true of the groups and meetings segment, where revenue managers are using market data and advanced analytics to inform their actions, hone sales strategies, and unite sales and revenue management toward a common goal. READ MORE

Revenue managers are increasingly interested in the potential for alternative performance metrics to give a better understanding of profitability than RevPAR. In this paper, I describe an NOI metric CBRE Hotels' Americas Research is developing to give a better understanding of the relationship pass-through performance has with occupancy. To produce this metric, I estimate expenses and revenues from all sources separately with an econometric model. The difference of the sum of expense from the sum of revenues is the NOI. I demonstrate that when occupancy is increasing, revenues grow more quickly than expenses, and NOI growth exceeds RevPAR growth. Take a look… READ MORE

Michael McCartan, Managing Director of Europe, Middle East & Africa for Duetto, looks at why the hotel industry has historically lagged behind the technologically advanced online travel agents (OTAs). He addresses the issues of data sharing and analytics, and how these can help shape revenue management decisions as well as enhance the guest experience. He looks at machine learning and technology as a way of removing friction from the guest experience, and questions how this can be incorporated into hotel operations. And he calls on the hotel industry to work together to open up a shared “data lake” and compete head-on with the OTAs. READ MORE

It is hard to argue that a hotel's primary focus be anything else but the guest, but just how essential is it for hotels to be customer-focused? The answer is - very essential. A major part of being customer-focused is understanding and then ensuring you are giving guests what they want. Specifically, if guests are looking for experiences, then create experiences that are unique and personalized. Details matter. In the 21st century, customers have access to a wide variety of valuable third-party information about businesses to help them decide on a hotel at which to stay on their next vacation. READ MORE