Considering the unprecedented global travel disruption and performance declines we've endured; hoteliers finally have something to look forward to. The world has spent the last 18 months dreaming about travel, but not actually going anywhere. Increasing vaccination rates combined with relaxed travel restrictions are bringing travel back… with a vengeance. Most agree that the worst is behind us.

But so far, this pent-up demand or "revenge" travel is different. Driven almost entirely by domestic leisure demand, the patterns have changed. Some premium locations are already exceeding 2019 pre-COVID levels, while hotels just a few blocks away are still struggling. Hotels that targeted the corporate, international, or group segments are reinventing themselves, with mixed success.

Considering the unique nature of the recovery, what should hoteliers do to optimize and manage COVID's pent-up demand?

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Raul Moronta
Raul Moronta
CRME, CHIA, Chief Commercial Officer at Remington Hospitality

Whether a market is nearing pre-Covid demand or not, every hotel should review their channel mix and booking patterns. Our revenue management teams need to be more diligent at making changes to pricing and inventory management on hourly basis to make sure we maximize demand. Many markets are seeing historically high contribution from OTAs and shorter-than-ever booking windows. Here are a few tips:

Focus on Recent Trends: historical patterns do not apply and revenue management systems cannot react fast enough to the new demand. Offering premium rooms on all channels can create an advantage, as guests looking to travel may have some extra money in their vacation budget to splurge on a suite or superior view. At the same time, many guests still want to find a discount--managing these discount options is more important than ever in revenue management. Hoteliers should embrace discounts and test varying price points, lengths of stays, and booking windows to maximize exposure. For some, just having a rate open will drive demand; for others, the amount of discount will determine success

Take risks and trust your instincts: we are certainly in uncharted territory. If you are making changes with your comp set, you will lose the game. In order to win we have to get first mover's advantage. If demand is strong enough, the bookings will follow, if not, we change course again. While we can't predict when the next event will happen that will impact us this greatly, we can be sure that we'll see peaks and valleys in between—having a new “bag of tricks” will help manage the future that much more easily. 

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