What the Labor Shortage Means for Hotel Revenue Strategy

Revenue management within the hotel industry has never been as affected by labor as it has been over the last 18 months, experts said at the 2021 HSMAI Revenue Optimization Conference.

Speaking during the "A View from the Top: Chief Commercial Officers Take on the Big Issues" session, panelists said labor shortages affect revenue management in multiple ways, from a lack of housekeepers limiting inventory to difficulties staffing revenue-strategy roles.

Garine Ferejian-Mayo, chief commercial officer for Sonesta Hotels, said her company has acutely felt this pain, which has ramped up significantly over the course of the pandemic and labor crisis.

"Finding good talent has been very difficult," she said.

She said more and more hotels are becoming reliant on outsourced labor to fill in the gap left by open positions, particularly in housekeeping and front desk.

Ferejian-Mayo said this puts added pressure on people in data-driven roles to make sure they're offering the right compensation packages and also pricing rooms correctly to make sure hotels remain profitable in the face of labor cost increases. She said that's made them less inclined to lower rates to drive occupancy.