Hotel room pricing is never easy to perfect, but you don’t need to be a genius or trained data-scientist to get it right at your property.
Last year Airbnb’s head of hospitality and strategy, Chip Conley, stated that while Airbnb could take lessons from the hotel industry on how to deliver high quality service on a consistent basis, hotels could also learn from Airbnb on the importance of hiring data-scientists to improve their chances of converting guests.
Data-scientists working for Airbnb are tasked with helping the company “…navigate through uncharted waters turning hard data into useful insights and compelling stories”. They earn upward of $100,000 (USD) and some roles advertised on its website even require candidates to hold a PhD in a quantitative field. Many job-ready graduates are now coming through Airbnb’s own Data University with classes available in all 22 of its offices.
For a company that a year ago was valued at $30 billion, hiring a team of academically-gifted scientists to crunch the numbers and make data-informed decisions, certainly won’t put a dent in the profits.
But it’s a very different story for the average hotel business looking to act on Conley’s advice of getting more advanced with data storytelling.
How do hoteliers start analysing data when the job feels overwhelming and time-consuming? What data points are important? How should they react when the market changes? And what do hoteliers need to keep ahead of competitors and their rates?
The answer is technology.
Why you need more technology, not staff
Hotels should not be intimidated by the word data, but instead concern themselves with how they’re using it. Data is usually collected in high volume and it can be a complex task deciphering the trends and using it to implement pricing strategies.
It may be tempting to take Conley’s advice and hire a trained professional to do this for you, but the fact is it’s not essential. That’s because, every host on Airbnb doesn’t perform their own data science, rather they utilise their agreement with Airbnb as a technology partner to do this for them.
