In revenue management, we’re trained to play defense: protect occupancy, hedge against cancellations, react to market shifts. But the real magic?
Many hotel managers today aim to shift more bookings to their website — and rightly so. But in practice, website sales often come in short-lived spikes, driven almost entirely by paid campaigns. When ads are the only traffic source, the website becomes a temporary landing page, not a stable sales channel. And while the numbers might look good in the moment, the ROI rarely holds over time.
Each of us remembers that one event we attended where every detail was flawlessly executed and the setting was so perfect that, in hindsight, the only word that describe it all is ‘magical’. Behind the scenes, as anyone working in hospitality knows, the crafting of a lifelong memory for attendees requires meticulous planning that starts months, or even years, ahead of the big day or multi-day conference.
As consumer expectations evolve and digital tools become increasingly sophisticated, hospitality leaders face a defining challenge: delivering their guests increasingly personalized, high-touch experiences at scale — without compromising brand integrity. For Jeanelle Johnson, managing partner at the Washington, D.C. office and co-leader of the travel, transportation and hospitality sector at PwC, this moment represents more than a tech transformation. It’s a redefinition of what makes a brand matter.
Generative AI is changing how information is surfaced online, reshaping the way travellers search, plan, and book. For independent hotels, this introduces a new layer of algorithmic competition with OTAs and global chains.
We’re still in the early days of figuring out how generative AI, LLMs, and search engines are index hotels. Everyone has their theories, and I’m sure thousands of actual SEO experts are running experiments as we speak. But one area where I’m increasingly convinced we’ll see a seismic shift is in reviews. I wrote about this some months ago, but with Google adding review summaries I think it bears repeating.
You know those family trips that sound like a good idea? “Let’s move countries, stop over in London, and bring only the essentials!” Which, of course, turned into 8 suitcases, 4 bag packs, loads of plastic bag :-)
It’s one thing to listen to what your customers are saying when they reach out to you directly through calls, emails, texts, or direct messages. But many customers prefer to “go social” and comment on social media, review sites, and online forums.
With the 2026 budgeting season around the corner, the question of marketing investment has once again become front and centre. In a recent Hospitality Net Viewpoint, Max Starkov set the stage by highlighting a striking imbalance: while U.S. hotels typically spend less than 2.5% of room revenue on marketing (including payroll), OTAs invest billions — Expedia alone allocated 54% of its 2024 revenue, or $6.9 billion, to marketing. Collectively, major OTAs spent $17.8 billion in a single year, dwarfing the combined marketing budgets of hoteliers worldwide.
The hotel industry’s love of tradition has quietly become a silent killer of revenue. Room categorization was never questioned in the past, not because it was perfect, but because technology made alternatives impossible. What once passed as ‘best practice’ now erodes pricing power and individuality in a world transformed by technology and shifting consumer behavior.
Changing your property management system (PMS) is one of the most important – and potentially disruptive – technology decisions a hotel can make. When it goes well, you unlock efficiency, revenue and a better guest experience. When it goes wrong, it can cause operational chaos, staff frustration and costly delays.
In the world of luxury, ostentatious logos and loud statements of wealth are becoming rather ‘has been’. A quieter form of luxury is increasingly making waves based on more discreet messages that signal sophistication through subtlety and experience over item. This article explores the socio-economic forces driving ‘Quiet Luxury’ and its powerful evolution in high-end consumption.
Imagine that your hotel’s average review score is going down. Not dramatically but enough to raise concern. A few decimal points can mean fewer bookings, lower visibility, and reduced trust with new guests. You check service quality. Everything seems fine. But one crucial source of insight often goes untouched.
Some industry experts claim that hotel guests are inherently disloyal, are interested only in the best deal, and, inevitably, end up booking with the OTAs — where they find the lowest rates.
How far are you with your targets, budget, and plan of attack for next year? What REVPAR and GOPPAR do you need to achieve? Have you gone over what next year will look like in terms of performance, and does it describe all actions in detail? Does everyone on the team know what the objectives are and which steps to take to get there? Did you make your new hotel budget already or are you right in the middle? What methodology are you using? Are you simply adding 3% to 5% each month based on last year’s performance? Or are you really putting your teeth into it and drilling down per segment, per channel, per account, and per day?
Last month, we analyzed search results from Claude, ChatGPT, and Perplexity for "best hotels in Miami." Not a single hotel brand appeared in the top 10 results. Meanwhile, 50% of travelers plan to use AI for leisure travel within the next 12 months.
The hospitality search experience has undergone a quiet revolution. Where travelers once Googled their way to vacation options, many now turn to AI assistants like ChatGPT, Copilot, and other “agentic” tools to dream, plan, and book. With tools like Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), users receive detailed answers, trip summaries, and personalized insights based on conversational prompts.
Let’s be real: if revenue management were a reality show, it would definitely be Squid Game, minus the violence, hopefully. But let’s break it down: the high-stakes drama, the tense moments, and the sense of “I swear this is going to ruin my entire month if I don’t get this right.”
More and more, brands are starting to get the chatbot “thing” right. AI is improving, and customers are realizing that a chatbot can be a great first stop for getting quick answers or resolving questions. After all, if you have a question, don’t you want it answered now?
A recent article puts Agentic AI in perspective. The author wrote: Would you hire an electrician to fix your toilet? Of course not. Yet that’s exactly what hospitality is doing when we rely on general-purpose AI to solve industry-specific problems. You end up with the wrong tool solving the wrong problems, and the results show it.
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