The global hospitality industry has been through every perceivable calamity over the past decades: earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, major floods, terrorist attracts like 9/11, SARS, global recessions, epidemics and pandemics like SARS, MERSA, ZIKA, swine flu and now COVID-19.

After each crisis the industry came roaring back and I believe it will recover very quickly after the current COVID-19 crisis and prosper like never before.

Naturally, each region and destination has had and will have its own decline and rebound curves as far as hotel occupancy, ADRs and RevPARs are concerned. Recovery post COVID-19 will also be unique to each region, destination and property and will greatly depend on a) the underlying economic conditions in each region and destination, b) the preparedness of each property for the post-crisis period, and c) the lingering impact of short term tactics employed in each market during the crisis.

This down time of low hotel occupancies or property closures is the perfect time for POST-CRISIS planning, revenue optimization action plan development, product and marketing campaign ideations.

The question to the Revenue Management community is, which specific action-items SHOULD be included in a hotelier's Post-Crisis Top Three Revenue Management Action Plan? In addition, please suggest one creative, OUTSIDE-THE BOX idea... something we may not have seen yet in revenue management. Just an idea... big or small.

Ally Northfield
Ally Northfield
Director at Revenue by Design

One way to break down the top three revenue strategies is to look at what you need to be doing now, what scenarios you need to plan for in the short term, and then extrapolating how these scenarios may then impact the mid and longer-term, on the understanding that there will never be a specific end date on this, and many new factors we need to come to terms with. (Click here to see a full version of my article)

  1. A strategy for now - Managing cancellations remains the focus for the immediate short term, the volume of which will depend upon where you are located and the current stage of the spread of COVID-19 and is likely to remain the case until there is more certainty over how to manage the process from lockdown through to the new "normal". (Click for more)
  2. A strategy for re-opening with social distancing - On removal of lockdown restrictions life will not immediately return to what we would consider as normal. When planning strategies for re-opening, budgets need to be re-written with realistic targets. What does that mean? You may find that there are restrictions on the number of people allowed in any one place at any point in time. This may also restrict the number of rooms put back into inventory. If your hotel has a heavy reliance on F&B, social distancing measures will likely mean fewer covers. Re-work the figures and use multiple scenarios.(Click for more)
  3. Strategies for looking further ahead - This becomes trickier to anticipate. Which reports will be helpful? What data do you need? More than ever you need to communicate to your executive team what is going on. Work out which new segments you will be dealing with. What impact will management of re-infection have and how will this materialize? Depending upon travel guidelines, "Quarantine" may be considered as a new segment especially if the hotel is near an airport, and restrictions require incoming travelers to isolate. Consider how your hotel may be positioned to support patients coming out of care, where the road to recovery for some will be a long one. Consider offering Key Worker packages to support those that are working through this, to get rest and recuperation at affordable levels.(Click for more)

Finally, a (not so) off the wall idea. People who have suffered from COVID-19 have a long recovery both mentally and physically. Consider re-structuring your health offering, to show you are aware of how we move on from this, covering gentle exercise, expertly crafted wellbeing programs, re-configuring gym equipment to support recoverees, adjusting menus, or allocating ground floor rooms to people who may have longer term breathing difficulties. 

Click here to see a full version of my article

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