When selling all rooms is bad news for your hotel
"I have all the rooms in my hotel booked for the whole season. If a hotelier tells you this, do you really think he has done what is best for his business?
The answer seems clear to us:
Probably not.
Selling all the rooms in your accommodation quickly can mean that you are not getting the maximum possible revenue. At GuestPro we believe that this can be a bad strategy especially if the hotel has closed its bookings long before the start of a high season period.
"June is not even here yet and I already have the hotel fully booked until mid-September".
Selling the rooms in your hotel must go through the design of a strategy and it is here where the figure of the revenue manager is key to the business. Without this work, the hotel often ends up losing money in commissions that the OTAs will keep, at very low prices committed to the TTOOs or, in the best of cases, earning much less for the rooms sold directly from its website than it could have achieved with a well-thought-out pricing policy.
Basic tips to keep in mind:
- Fundamental, have a revenue manager. If you do not have many resources to have this figure on your staff, we advise you to outsource the service. Look for a professional, a partner who can contribute their knowledge and help you with the planning. Thinking that some technological tools can replace the knowledge of a revenue manager is a mistake that can end up costing your hotel dearly.
- Create a budget with a revenue target to be reached, based on historical data, events and, above all, filling curve, so that it is not the rush that sets them.
- Incorporate in your planning and budget marketing actions that increase business and attract customers on an ongoing basis. You don't have to sell everything in January. Important: don't improvise and respect the initial marketing budget, don't end up substituting commissions for marketing extras. Plan, manage correctly, respect the budget.
- Know your market place, what is happening in your city, contact your account managers and keep yourself informed of all the changes that are happening in the filling curve of your destination, in the nationalities of the demand, what kind of clients are travelling (couples, families, etc.).
Remember, it is essential to plan your strategy with a good revenue manager behind you, technology also helps but above all a professional is the one who will make the difference and increase your hotel's revenue.
One last piece of advice we heard from a hotelier that we found inspiring:
"I will know we have done our job well, if we sell our last room at the last minute and at the best price".
GuestPro incorporates in its platform a revenue management tool and has a team that offers a professional and specialised service. If you want to hire our service to help you in your revenue management strategy , please contact us.
