MAKE THEIRHOTEL

SMARTER

6 Ways Revenue ManagersUse Data to

WWW.NETAFF IN ITY .COM

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FOCUS ONCLARITY ANDDATA-DRIVENDECISIONS

Your Net GainPer Channel

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Looking to theFuture

When People are (Actually) Booking

Who's ActuallyStaying

Who Didn't Stay

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Not All HistoricalData is Bad

YOUR NET GAIN PERCHANNEL

Instead of reviewing the demand for eachchannel, analyse the net gain for each channel.That's simply the revenue from that channel,minus all costs associated with it (advertisingcosts, commissions, etc.).

When you look at how much you get from eachchannel, you can only get a true sense of itsvalue when you also understand how muchyou give to that channel.

How much does each channel return whencommission costs are accounted for?What’s the Average Daily Rate for thechannel? It may surprise to see it’s your brandsite delivering that higher ADR!

Do your own analysis, and remember: numbersdon’t lie.

Looking back helps you plan for the future.

Analyse the spend and lifetime patterns of each channel tounderstand if they have steadily raised or lowered the amount of

revenue they bring in, whether they have non-revenuebenefits (like exposure) that outweigh costs, and more.

NOT ALL

HISTORICALDATA IS BAD

Yes, the rate is low and the commission can be high – but the

exposure is great! Exposure, however, doesn’t pay the bills.

You need to analyse the lifetime value of guests that came to you

from deal sites. Did they book again? Did they spend more than

guests from other channels? If you can justify that short term pain

to reward you in the long term, then it is worth doing.

However, if you find that the majority of guests from deal sites do

not stay again, or do not spend more while staying, it may not be

worth your while.

EXAMPLE: DEAL SITES

LOOK TO THE FUTURE

Now that we've looked at what you can gainfrom the past, let's look to the future.

Decisions on the best action to take must bebased on hotel pace reports. A hotel pacereport, or pick-up report, typically shows totalrooms performance by market, putting theyear in context. You can also create room typepace reports, week parts (weekday vsweekend) pace reports, and recurring eventsreports for things like New Year’s or a biglocal event.

Pace reports enable you to see your likelydemand levels for the months ahead. Findways to filter the data in ways that are themost useful to your hotel.

Balance your own pace reports with industrypace reports. As we all know, you have to lookfurther than your own front door tounderstand demand patterns.

WHEN PEOPLE ARE(ACTUALLY) BOOKINGLooking at the average lead in time is important, but thisdoes not account for outliers. Failing to look at outliers canbe catastrophic – what if your average booking windowfor a certain day is 20, but, with outliers removed from thedata set, really should be more like 10?

If you plan and execute a marketing campaign based onthe wrong booking window, you’ll be essentially throwingmoney away.

You need to look at each booking window: examine who isbooking and what they're booking in each window.

WHO'S ACTUALLYSTAYING?

There is a world of difference between booked andstayed business for some channels. You may be busilyinputting or seeing bookings coming in from a particularchannel, but they are not necessarily the ones producingthe stays.

This is where sentiment may become an issue, so watchout for your or your team’s feelings conflicting with thefacts! A channel might be perceived as being of theutmost importance because that channel is front andcentre in someone’s mind, but the reality can be different.

It all comes down to the data.

Hoteliers have been expressing concern over Airbnbfor several years now. However, according to pacestatistics from TravelClick, they are forecasting 5.8%growth in occupancy for Q3 despite Airbnb. Airbnbcertainly is cutting into the market in certain areasand causing rent and space problems in cities whichare tight on housing, but it is not (yet) a Goliath thatDavidian hoteliers must face down.

The vast majority of their business operates in adifferent market than the traditional hotel market.While there is crossover and lessons to be learnedfrom both sides, the bottom line is that data shouldspeak here – not fear.

EXAMPLE: AIRBNB

Look at the booking lead in time for each channel'scancellations. Is there a pattern of longer lead

bookings having higher cancellation rates?

If so, how do you deal with it? How do you engagethe person still months from arrival?

We suggest two ways: examining the cancellationpace and moving on from fixed overbooking policies.

WHO DIDN'T STAY

Look at cancellation pace. Normally, the pace reporton bookings will exclude cancellations to give a real

sense of demand. It’s important to look at thecancellation pace specifically, though, so you can

gauge the expected cancellations for a future dateat any given point.

Move on from the idea having a fixed over bookingpolicy of a set percentage or a set number. There is

a world of diffidence in being minus 20% oninventory 3 months out, versus 3 days out.

THE REMIT OF A REVENUEMANGER IS EVER-EVOLVINGAND ALL ENCOMPASSING.

Be   su re   a l l  ma jo r   dec i s i ons   a re   ba sed  on  da ta .   The   a ccu racy   andre l evancy  o f   t he  da ta   you  have  w i l l   depend  on   the   too l s   you

have .

Your   ho te l ' s   so f tware   app l i c a t i ons   need   subs tan t i a l   and  ongo inginves tment .   I s   you r   ho te l   r eady   fo r   succes s ?

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