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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Federica Salvatori
Federica Salvatori
Revenue & Commercial Strategy and Founder of Federica Salvatori Consulting

New Demand, new approach!

First of all, A NEW APPROACH IS REQUIRED TO THE DATA:

Sadly but true, historical data is gone, the patterns and the demand have changed (forever?), so we cannot refer to them anymore as we did in the past

Nevertheless, this does not mean to ignore them. Data is always a treasure. Past data can in fact help us reveal the speed of our recovery, but in order to optimize the revenue we need to look at immediate historical data (like DOD, WOW or MOM) and above all at Future data!

It is a must to study the market in a deep way, to analyze the new trends and patterns. Every destination has a different booking window, business mix, Length of Stay and geographic demand in respect to the past and the first step is to know them. So, keep your focus on:

  • your recent past data
  • your future OTB and
  • the demand (flight and hotel search, new consumer behavior and needs)
  • the competition

The revenue manager post covid is a professional who looks at the market in a wider way, by analyzing the customer research on a destination and from specific geographic areas and examining other country political, flight and healthy restrictions, in order to understand where the demand could come from.

Moreover, the new demand is a very fast changing demand that requires monitoring inventory and pick up and making changes to rates on hourly basis. In some locations, the booking window is compressed to the last 7-4 days before arrival.

Another key point is to reconsider your property market segment and reinvent your spaces, in order to detect the existing demand. Target new geographic areas and personalize your offer to take every opportunity. 

Do not ignore the contribution to the total revenue of cross selling and upselling! 

The demand will continue to change. Be fast and be agile.

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