1. How has the revenue management role changed over a period of time, especially after the pandemic?
For a business Hotel like ours, we are now seeing a continued uptick in domestic corporate demand and business travel coming back.
Earlier this was limited to business travel but now as various destinations opened up post-pandemic; we have patrons visiting for leisure getaways as well. While this has taken the form of leisure in a few cases, we see travel to be shifting more towards business needs. Our packages and what we put on the shelf for our customers have to be priced well. The booking windows have changed with the travel plans as various destinations are resuming back for businesses.
With the speed of recovery, it is imperative that revenue streams remain agile to adapt to the swift changes of the market, and actively review our offerings and pricing with the changing demand.
2. What are the new challenges that the hotel faces in revenue generation?
With the recovery in sight, there still remains caution. We remain sensitive to the impacts of an uptick in cases or still-on travel advisories by corporates. Demand may remain fragmented in some key markets and vary from Hotel to Hotel to impact certain micro markets and their speed of growth.
Value packages have been a winner and revenue streams are always up to the challenge of seeing where the opportunity lies to maximize.
3. How has the social media influx changed the way revenue is managed and what has been its impact in the present and for the future?
They have a bigger role to play as digital consumption is ever-growing, how we sell online matters. what our customers feel and how we serve our guests can all be improved or grown with the help of these channels. Experiences & engagements on social media must be refreshed and thoughtful to ensure we stay relevant to our clientele.
4. What are the other engagement tools and strategies that hotels are looking at to maximize their revenue?
We continue to invest in training, data analysis, and side-by-side work with third-party platforms to learn and engage with them. OTA, SEO, and social media engagements help us to stay relevant and ensure we maximize opportunities.
5. What, according to you, are the changes that the revenue management will have to adapt to stay relevant in the years to come?
Data and trend analysis remain focal on pricing and ensuring we do not lose any demand wave unstruck.
Revenue management needs to be forward-looking and proactive more than ever to guide and lift sales in times to come. The acute balance of tools and resources has to be in its complete play to help revenue teams remain ahead of the curve.
