Nowadays hotel revenue management has become a somewhat controversial buzzword in hotel industry, back in the day, revenue management meant opening and closing availability and rates. When Online Travel Agents entered the scene, the industry became obsessed with simple adjustments of rates.
Today, the playing field is drastically more complex. Modern revenue managers are experts at analyzing, forecasting, and optimizing hotel inventory through availability restrictions and dynamic rates and have, appropriately enough, become instrumental in managing a hotel’s demand.
With the evolve of RM keep this fact in mind. Only 12,000-15,000 hotels in the world today use a major (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, and this is not until even more recently have hotels begun to implement formal revenue management policies, programs and systems. Fueled by technology, the field is now a true science. Increasingly powerful computer systems can handle many tasks essential for revenue management. The growth and proliferation of the Internet has changed core communications for travelers and hotels alike.
Whereas early on in the era of hotel bookings reservations were either made directly (telephoning the property/face to face) or via a travel agent, over the past few decades a larger offer of booking channels has emerged, The OTA segment is becoming a strong competitor to the individual booking sector and distribution channels; it has already taken substantial share from traditional contracted booking channels, mainly wholesalers and tour Operators.
Amid these developments, the online travel agency (OTA) has arisen, changing the rules of revenue management – and the professionals who practice it – on an almost-continuous basis. The role of OTAs and online distribution in revenue maximization has gained unprecedented importance. Of lately, hotels have started implementing formal revenue management guidelines, roping in committed professionals to sharpen and focus their revenue generation processes and augmenting their profitability. Hotels are using advanced travel technology tools for handling their hotel revenue management.
