The "right time, right place" mantra has always been complete nonsense to me. It treats humans like logical machines, as if only the left side of their brain exists, ignoring emotion and gut feeling, which is what ultimately drives decisions.

As a former revenue manager turned to marketing, I've witnessed something that traditional RM theory can't explain: sometimes raising prices increases occupancy. You can't solve this with spreadsheets and algorithms. It's pure psychology.

Traditional segmentation is pointless, I agree with you. Seriously, what purpose does it serve other than mere reporting, considering that most hotels (there are exceptions of course) accept everybody and anybody, as long as they pay the rate?

As a matter of fact, the hospitality industry is one of the few sectors where "expanding" is more important than "narrowing" to a few segments.

AI needs babysitting, at least these days. Sure, algorithms handle booking and pricing now, but they're still prone to errors when data is incomplete. But if the revenue manager doesn't know about this lack of data and quality, that becomes the perfect recipe for disaster.

I believe revenue can't be separated from marketing.We've been discussing this for a decade or so, but still they work in separate silos.

There's no magical "right" price sitting in isolation. Price only makes sense in relation to perceived value, and that's why revenue and marketing should work together on raising their chances to be perceived as higher quality, thus higher value, thus higher budgets and willingness to spend.

Behind every booking is someone making an emotional choice. Therefore, the famous "right price" becomes a feeling rather than a fixed tag.