As budgeting season rolls around, it’s easy for hoteliers to fall back on familiar habits: looking at last year’s numbers, trusting gut instincts, or relying on the usual KPIs. But in today’s fast-changing hospitality landscape, planning in a bubble can lead you far off course.
NB: This is an article from Shiji Group
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Your guests are already telling you what matters through their reviews, surveys, and everyday feedback. It’s honest, unfiltered, and often eye-opening. Sometimes it confirms your instincts, and sometimes it challenges them. But most importantly, it points to where your money will make the biggest difference.
Budgeting blind spots: The positivity problem
It’s not just about what guests complain about. Equally valuable are the things they praise.
Imagine breakfast is consistently one of the most praised parts of your guests’ stay. But because it isn’t seen as a “problem area,” it slips under the budget radar. Over time, small inconsistencies start to creep in, and so does negative feedback.
Failing to protect and promote what already delights guests is one of the most overlooked opportunities in hotel budgeting.
As guest expectations shift and attention spans shrink, maintaining consistency in guest-loved experiences, whether it’s a popular menu item, standout staff interaction, or local partnership, is essential. These differentiators should be actively preserved, enhanced, and spotlighted in marketing efforts.
From feedback to forecast: A data-driven budget strategy
Budgeting in a guest-centric world means moving from reactive fixes to proactive insights. Here’s how leading hoteliers are making the shift:
- Diagnose before you design
Don’t assume. Analyze. Reviewing your guest´s reviews, surveys, and sentiment analytics provide a detailed map of guest priorities. Before allocating capital to high-profile projects, validate that those investments are aligned with guest needs. - Identify high-impact, low-cost fixes
Small operational changes, like training front-desk staff, adjusting breakfast hours, or switching vendors, often result in outsized gains in satisfaction and review performance. The highest ROI often comes from these overlooked micro-decisions.
