Hospitality projections look fantastic for the coming year! With increases in both occupancy and traveler demand, hoteliers will see rate improvements of roughly 4-7 percent! How can hotels leverage this upswing to maximize their sales and profits? SkyTouch Technology shares the following tips:
Ramp up Sales! The market is there… sales staff should be encouraged to drive profit improvement by creatively and proactively ramping up efforts. Existing guest data should be captured and used to “court” qualified potential prospects as well as woo back loyal customers. Management should identify creative ways to incentivize sales staff who hit and exceed their sales targets. Communicate and share current industry data and numbers with sales staff… this will underscore why they should be selling at higher rates!
Follow the Crowd! While transient travelers tend to drive the majority of hotel bookings, groups tend to be an overlooked, yet valuable, revenue generator. With demand up in general, the time to raise group ADR rates is NOW. Hotels should take advantage of the opportunity to gain more bang for the buck by proactively pursuing group bookings.
Be Vigilant! Pay attention to the competition. How are they responding to market changes? Will new competitors be entering the fray? Know your competition and the overall market in order to strategically set and increase rates that drive profits.
Get Tech Savvy! With a hot market, the time has never been better to invest in tools and technologies that help drive revenue. Cloud-based technologies represent the future of hotel property management! Today’s best-of-breed cloud hotel management platforms feature rate management functionality that enable hoteliers to set and increase rates in real time based on occupancy and market conditions. They also add convenience and efficiency to the property management function to enable hotel staff to focus on filling rooms and serving guests!
Take note of the above tips… it’s a new year and hoteliers should adapt a new outlook when it comes to raising rates to drive revenue!
