In the hotel revenue management field, a significant change is underway. The primary focus is increasing total revenue, as traditional strategies focusing on room and space optimization have reached their limits. It is necessary to shift towards guest-centric strategies catering to guests’ nuanced needs and preferences.
NB: This is an article from Demand Calendar
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This shift is revenue-driven and aims to enhance guest satisfaction, strengthen the brand, ensure customer loyalty, and attract more patrons in a highly competitive market for overnight accommodations. A guest-centric approach is the only viable pathway to grow revenue and profits in a landscape where traditional revenue enhancement avenues have been fully explored and maximized.
The shift to guest-centric revenue management presents challenges and opportunities, particularly for revenue managers who have long operated within the frameworks of traditional methodologies. The challenge lies in stepping away from familiar territory – the comfort zone of room and space optimization – and venturing into the relatively uncharted waters of guest-centric revenue management. It’s about evolving from a numbers-focused viewpoint to one that deeply empathizes with and anticipates guest needs.
Moreover, the tools of the trade, predominantly the Revenue Management Systems (RMS), are currently aligned with the traditional approach, primarily focusing on filling rooms efficiently. However, they lack a comprehensive understanding of the guests’ preferences, behaviors, and expectations. This gap highlights an urgent need for innovation and a revival of the Property Management System (PMS) as a critical tool in this new era. Unlike traditional RMS, which predominantly focuses on filling rooms, the PMS is key to unlocking guest-centric data. It’s uniquely positioned to store comprehensive information about guests, track their consumption patterns, and gather insights into their preferences. This capability makes the PMS an indispensable asset in the shift to a guest-centric approach. By leveraging the data stored in PMS, hotels can tailor their services and experiences more effectively to individual guest needs, thus enhancing the overall guest experience and contributing significantly to the hotel’s revenue and brand loyalty.
The journey towards adopting a guest-centric approach in hotel revenue management is complex and far-reaching. It demands a comprehensive overhaul – not just in the tools we use, like the revitalized PMS, but also in our strategies and, fundamentally, our mindsets. This transformation is driven by a clear and compelling objective: to grow revenue and profits.
As we embark on this transformative journey towards a guest-centric approach in hospitality, it’s crucial to maintain open minds and an innovative spirit. Our goal is to redefine excellence in the industry, measuring success in occupancy and revenue and in the richness of guest relationships and experiences. This shift is more than strategic; it’s essential to sustained revenue and profit growth. In the upcoming blog post, we will delve into this concept in detail, exploring the intricacies and benefits of becoming genuinely guest-centric. A hotel business always starts with the guest.
