Seasonal changes can be tough to manage if you do not have a well thought out action plan. What we often see during the low season is hotels aggressively decreasing their rates, creating a price war. There is no doubt that price is the main factor in the customer decision during low season solely due to the fact that there is often so much available to choose from with decent prices.
However, Hotel Revenue Managers can put some actions in place. This will ensure that your hotel revenue does not suffer in low season, rather thrive in increased revenue!
In this blog series, we will guide you through a number of strategies that can help you push your hotel bookings ahead of the market during seasonal fluctuations.
In part 1 of the blog series, we will discuss Distribution by Season.
Does your hotel go with the same distribution plan throughout the year or do you diversify your strategy to fit the seasonality of the market?
Here are a few tips on how you can make the most of your seasonal distribution plans.
- Review your Channels – Review in detail the performance of each of your online channels. Dive into this data by having a close look at monthly performance details both for stays and for reservations. Do all of your channels perform the same each month or do you notice an increase or decrease in any channels. This is not only beneficial for the low season, but for all seasons. Talk to your market managers to see what you can do about optimizing your seasonal performance. Hotels are often uninformed about the possibilities out there.
- Analyze your Source Markets – Dive deep into your feeder markets to see where the guests are coming from for each season. Do you see a trend here? If so, do targeted offers to those particular markets or find local distributors specialising in those markets.
