A few small but powerful tweaks to your hotel revenue strategies can make a dent in your overall pricing strategy. In this blog, we share some simple tactics and ideas to boost your hotel’s revenue.
There is no set formula to increase hotel’s revenue, it can be achieved by creating a good promotion plan, tapping into sources of ancillary revenue, upselling and other hotel marketing strategies.
Here are 10 strategies:
1. Optimise ancillary revenue.
Ancillary services such as restaurants, spa treatments, meetings and event spaces can generate more profit for your hotel. The same goes for other services such as early check-in, buffet breakfast, parking, etc. Attractively pricing these or combining with room booking to create packages can bump up your revenue quickly. More importantly services such as restaurants, spas and events can broaden your target audience to include locals.
2. Switch to dynamic pricing.
Dynamic pricing is a modern hotelier’s most effective strategy for revenue management. It relies on shifts in market demand to inform optimal pricing rather than relying on a fixed price. Even if you have a dedicated property manager, prices set without the support of reliable data and thorough analysis won’t be effective at capturing the most significant possible demand. The STAAH channel manager and booking engine are built on dynamic pricing, providing you with hotel revenue management strategies and a revenue advantage from the get-go
3. Know when to increase your room rates.
If you are selling out far in advance, this could be a sign of your rates being too low when compared to the market demand and competition.
It is great to be fully booked. However, it’s not so wonderful that you are too cheap you’ve reached maximum occupancy even before most people have shopped around for a place to stay. Knowing when to increase your room rates is a hotel revenue management strategy that works for all properties.
4. Use day of the week pricing.
This is another simple tweak to your pricing strategy to maximise revenue. Different hotels have different demand patterns and should adapt their pricing to that. This means that you’re mindful of the supply and demand in your local market, ensuring that you stay within the market prices.
Day-of-the-week pricing also means the packages you offer change as you respond to market trends.
5. Apply length of stay restrictions, often an underplayed pricing lever in a hotel’s revenue strategies
By applying this restriction you can prevent only selling out on peak days with no bookings on shoulder dates. Shoulder dates define a period before or after the block core dates where you can make reservations against the block during the reservation pickup process.
6. Partner with local businesses to provide guests a well-rounded experience.
For example, negotiate a commission with nearby restaurants for every table you book for guests. Or work with local tour operators to offer unforgettable outings and adventures. Not only will this help you generate revenue, but it’ll also make your property a vital part of the local community, incorporating effective hotel sales strategies
7. Step up on personalisation as a cookie-cutter experience is a thing of the past for modern guests.
Use data to offer guests what they would value most. For instance, if it is a business trip, offer free Wi-Fi or a work space. Guests travelling with family will appreciate information you send on childcare options or family things to do in your property and around it. Engaging guests with what they care about is key to building a rapport that encourages them to spend with you.
Targeted promotions work a lot better when you understand your audience and can personalise your messaging and offer to their needs.
8. Optimise your website for mobile.
An increasing number of travellers are using their smartphones to find and book their trips. Continually testing your website for improvements on conversion rate can build up revenue quickly. A streamlined and easy booking process is key, as is the brand continuation from search to your website. STAAH platform add-ons such as WatchMyRate are designed to improve website conversion rate by building pricing confidence for guests.
9. Rely on hospitality technology.
Increasing hotel revenue starts with having control. Hotel tech such as the STAAH SwiftBook, channel manager, online reputation manager and voucher management give hoteliers greater control and ability to drive growth.
A SaaS product you can rely on, STAAH is evolving based on customer feedback and industry conditions, translating to greater distribution and guest acquisition efficiencies for properties across the board.
10. Train your staff.
This is perhaps the most underplayed part of any revenue strategy. Upskilling your front-end staff can go a long way in promoting sustained financial growth. Implementing effective hotel revenue strategies, such as staff retention, improves profitability by avoiding the need to spend resources on constantly training new team members. Interacting with the same people helps regular guests build rapport and increases a sense of community. Most importantly, you will have a team delivering great service that will attract more guests to your property.
