Most revenue strategies look solid when calendars are still open and demand is behaving well. The real test comes later, when booking windows compress, cancellations spike, and every pricing decision suddenly feels urgent.
NB: This is an article from Topline Revenue, one of our Expert Partners
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That is why pressure testing your revenue strategy before the year gets busy is so critical.
Pressure testing is not about tearing everything apart. It is about identifying weak assumptions and hidden risks early, while you still have the space to fix them thoughtfully. Hotels that skip this step usually end up reacting under pressure, and that is when rate integrity and profitability quietly suffer.
Start With the Assumptions Behind Your Strategy
Every revenue strategy is built on assumptions, whether they are stated or implied. You are assuming something about booking windows, demand timing, guest behavior, and which segments will carry performance.
Strong revenue teams take time to challenge those assumptions. If your strategy relies heavily on year over year pacing (expects demand to arrive earlier than it has recently, or assumes cancellation behavior will improve on its own) those are risks worth addressing now rather than later.
Pressure Test Your Pricing Structure
One of the simplest ways to pressure test your pricing is to picture demand suddenly picking up faster than expected. If that happened tomorrow, would your current rate structure let you raise prices with confidence, or would a tangle of overlapping discounts and forgotten promotions slow everything down? It is amazing how often a quick thought exercise exposes issues that have been hiding in plain sight.
This kind of review usually brings a few familiar problems to the surface:
- Discounts that were meant to be temporary but never removed
- Negotiated rates that no longer reflect current demand
- Promotions that lack clear fencing or a real purpose
Cleaning up pricing now gives you control later, when pricing decisions actually start to carry weight. A little housekeeping in Q1 can save you from a lot of unnecessary firefighting once demand tightens.
Examine Your Business Mix for Hidden Exposure
Not all demand performs well once the market tightens. Some segments that are perfectly helpful early in the year can turn into liabilities when things get busy. Just because a piece of business fills rooms in February doesn’t mean it deserves a place on a high-demand weekend in June.
