NB: This is an article by Rich Maradik, Founder of nSight for Travel
The head of Revenue and Distribution for a large global chain framed the hotel big data challenge well when we met a few weeks ago at a major industry conference. He said, “We already get all of the value we can possibly extract from our own data – even more so through collaborative products such as Hotelligence. What we need is to tap into the massive volume of data on consumer behavior beyond our own data that we just don’t have visibility to now…”
Predictive Consumer Analytics: This is the future of Hotel Revenue Management.
Keep this fact in mind. Only 12,000-15,000 hotels in the world today use a major Revenue Management System (RMS) tool. The rest of the 500,000+ hotels out there are using either something their chains developed or their own customized Excel spreadsheet as their RMS tool.
Hotels that are not using a RMS tool now will begin adopting solutions over the next five years at a much faster rate than they have over the past ten years. And RMS tools developed by the chains will have to embrace innovation in the same way RMS providers will.
Key drivers of adoptions will be:
- Predictive analytics based on consumer shopping
- Impact of consumer adoption of the sharing economy, e.g., Airbnb
- Increasing consolidation and dominance of OTAs in advertising and online booking
RMS providers are well positioned to help hotels navigate the increasingly complex distribution landscape since intelligent use historic hotel data is a foundational component of smarter yield practices. The providers who embrace Big Data opportunities with predictive consumer shopping analytics will grow very quickly. Those that do not adapt will become increasingly irrelevant.
Shopping Data + Demand Forecasting = Revenue Strategy
With insight to consumer behavior and competitive position, nSight’s Demand Forecasting calendar provides a dynamic view of leisure travel by incorporating rate, booking performance and travel intent into a single perspective for both revenue management and marketing.
This multi-dimensional view of rate, conversion and market potential gives revenue managers and marketers a more complete outlook for better decision making. Knowing the volume of consumer searches for future arrival dates, hotels have new insight for optimizing ADR and occupancy.
By focusing on the travel consumer’s shopping behavior, revenue management and marketing come together with a common perspective and approach. The result: higher ADR, increased direct bookings, and better marketing ROI.
Insight into consumers’ future behavior. It’s a goldmine for RMSs going forward and it’s the future of revenue strategy.
