May 16, 2012 at 10:32 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments
Tags: hotel revenue management, hotel sales, hotel sales training, independent hotels, social media, social selling
Tingo and Backbid are both discount channels that work somewhat differently.
Tingo, owned by Trip Advisor, guarantees to refund the difference in rate if the hotel where you booked drops its rate on the same room for that date. Backbid, will take your reservatiosn and try to find a similar hotel with a relatively similar room type that will take yor reservation at a lower price. They then send your reservation to the lowest bidder and cancel your original reservation.
What’s wrong with this picture? In Tingo’s case, Orbitz has tried this promotion for years and still hasn’t taken the world by storm. Most hotels I know have not refunded one check to Orbitz for a customer who found you quoted a lower rate for the same date on a room type like the one they booked.
There is something snarky about Backbid that makes many of us uncomfortable no matter how competitive we are. There is something wrong with ‘stealing’ a reservation from a competitior after it is already booked.
This may be a moot point since niether of these platforms are becoming major players and barely make the list of minor players. In the current economy, hotels are more likely to raise rates as demand increases which renders the business model of these two players ineffective for the most part.
April 10, 2012 at 6:07 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Tags: boutique hotels, expedia, hotel revenue management, hotel sales, hotel sales training, independent hotels, social media, social selling
We wanted to make all of our readers aware of this Free Webinar scheduled for April 19.
Lead time for leisure is almost at precession levels and “…is a result of several factors, including growing consumer confidence and an economic recovery, said Julie Parodi, senior director of strategic planning for Pegasus and analysis editor of The Pegasus View.(Hotel News Now, 4/9/12)
This is a game changer versus the past several years. In this webinar we will explore:
• How to determine demand patterns from last year
• Comparing lead times from the past quarter and summer 2011
• Forward looking rates and reports of business OTB for the comp set
• Taking the leap – sell from the top down based on demand or from the bottom up?
If you have been holding off completing your pricing strategy for the upcoming 4 months – don’t’! The time to develop a pricing strategy is now! This FREE webinar targeted at independents and boutique hotels will explore guidelines for developing your summer pricing and how to measure the results! The webinar is 45 minutes in duration and will be on April 19 at 11am PST, 10 am MST, 11 am CST and Noon EST. Click here to register for the live program and/or the recording.
http://bit.ly/HnZT6P
April 5, 2012 at 2:30 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Tags: boutique hotels, hotel revenue mangment, hotel sales, hotel sales training, independent hotels, social media, social selling
You could just add a percentage increase to last years rates. You could just position your rates against the comp set — not a totally bad strategy but do you know how much of their rate decisions were based on groups you don’t know about. OR you could spend the time to conduct a demand analysis that will give you the info to make good rate decisions.
With demand forecasted to remain strong, the most advantageuos strategy might be to start high and lower rates if demand isn’t materializing shorter term. How to decide which demand periods to start high and go low if necessary?
The first step is a demand analysis of last years demand periods that takes into account booking windows, constrained and unconstrained demand and advance bookings.
Booking windows. Begin tracking how many rooms you have OTB this year versus last year at the same points in time. What is the reservation pace this year versus last year?
Constrained and unconstrained demand. Constrained demand is what you acutally booked. Unconstrained demand takes into account denials due to groups that you may not have on the books this year but displaced buisness last year that caused denials. How many rooms were denied due to rate and room types not being available, etc. This was business that wasn’t booked but tried to book. What was the price point that resulted in rate denials?
Advance bookings. Is your reservation pace for the high demand periods tracking higher than last year? If so by how much and at what rate?
Following a demand analysis you can begin to set a rate strategy for this summer. If you haven’t done this yet — don’t wait any longer! Advance bookings are pacing higher this year!
March 11, 2012 at 11:59 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Tags: boutique hotels, destination management, hotel revenue management, hotel sales, hotel sales training, independent hotels, Pinterest, resorts, social media, social selling
I am totally intrigued by Pinterest! This is fridge art on steroids!
That Pinerest now generates more referrals to web sites than Twitter is astounding and it surpassed Google+ ( not suprising), YouTube and LinkedIn. (TechCrunch, 3/8/12)
Pinterest is a social network where people and companies can post images of their world and interesting images from others, on a page. It is invitation only at this time but invites aren’t hard to get when you request them.
Destinations should be salivating over this — especially for summer season leisure. Imagine showcasing the destination with pics that all have embedded links to their members’ sites — attractions, hotels, historic sites and parks. Imagine forwarding the link to the Pinterest page to clients, potential clients and interested groups.
For independent resorts and boutique hotels the allure is irresistible in creating a sense of place and experience. 95% of Pinterest’s members are women and women are the primary decision makers for the family vacation.
And it is totally free — they don’t have ads (yet). How they monetize the site is anyone’s guess but it is a tool that promises to be a great marketing platform for the hospitaltiy industry among others!
December 1, 2011 at 7:17 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments
Tags: boutique hotels, expedia, hotel revenue management, hotel sales, hotel sales training, independent hotels, social media, social selling
Especially in urban settings, boutique hotels struggle with mid week corporate at this time of year when leisure mid week is non existent.
The large franchises have not only their frequent guest programs but also national accounts that feed many of their hotels at reduced rates. Then there are the large consortia that won’t even issue an RFP to a smaller hotel!
These are usually large companies with a volume of business travel. Faced with trying to steal share from these which entails more effort than the results are worth, what strategies can smaller independent and boutique hotels deploy?
Look at the flip side of the typical source of corporate travel for the franchise hotels.
Unmanaged coporate travel by small and medium sized businesses that book their own travel account for 56% of all corporate travel according to a research study by Forrester and Best Western.
Think about it. These small to meduium sized companies don’t have enough volume to negotiate significant discounts like the big guys. But they like everyone else would like a place where they are appreciated and can get issues addressed.
What about a full court press blitz, eblasts, direct mail, sales calls, reception, for every small to medium sized business in the market. Let them know that ‘their small business is big business to you!’ and you will give them the name and contact info of a live human at the hotel that they can contact if they have an issue!
I worked with a hotel once that had no major demand generators within 3 miles of the hotel — only small to medium sized businesses.
We went afer them. After about six months, we were driving a higher ADR than the comp set, getting roughly the same occupancy levels mid week as the franchises and had a stunning REVPAR!
Also, sign up for Expdia’s VIP program that caters to these unmanagaged business travelers.
(I’ve got to get a grip on the length of my titles!)
November 7, 2011 at 10:12 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments
Tags: boutique hotels, historic hotels, hotel revenue management, hotel revenue management training, hotel sales, Hotels, hotels sales training, independent hotels, remote revenue managment
Whan I look at the source of business reports for distressed hotels, almost always I find that they are not doing effective online distribution with the OTAs and are not using other online distribution platforms.
An online strategy and execution in these areas is the fastest way to jump start short term revenue. There are stratagies in developing a presence on the online channels that can be executed quickly and effectively.
For example, have you developed a mobile only promotion on the OTA’s mobile platforms targeted to stimulate occupancy when you need it? The hotel may have a mobile site of its own but it doesn”t drive the traffic or exposure that an OTA mobile site does.
Where on the page does your hotel appear on the OTA sites? How do you move it to the top of the page? HInt: The answer isn’t rate parity.
There are other distribution channles such as the Historic Hotels of America that blasts out promotions from its members to every member of the National Preservation Society and a bunch of others including me — I dont’ belong to either association!.
These are only three of many things you can do with a distressed hotel that will almost instantly generate incremental revenue. There are many many more!
real simple Remote Revenue Management has developed a special program for distressed hotels. You can continue to open and close your inventory, we will do the Online Radical Triage. Send us a blank email with Online Radical Triage in the subject line and we will send you more information..carol@carolverret.com
