Revving Up Revenue: How Hotels are Winning Big with Groups in 2024

The hotel industry is gearing up for a banner year in 2024, with meetings and events finally making their grand return! According to the latest data from Duetto's annual Revenue Management Trends & Predictions Survey, many hoteliers and industry analysts are predicting a boom in this segment.

However, with the transient and FIT (Fully Independent Traveler) market remaining strong, hotels need to strike a balance. ?? Understanding the revenue displaced by group bookings is crucial to optimize overall income.

Here's how hotels are mastering the art of attracting groups while keeping their regular guests happy:

Understanding Guest Habits and Market Trends

Hotels need a clear picture of total guest spend and market demand. Forward-looking market data on events is key to understanding local trends and crafting winning strategies.

Building Strong Relationships: Balancing Segments

Sheran Loh, Vice President of Revenue Management (Corporate) at Frasers Hospitality, emphasizes the importance of collaboration between hotel revenue teams.

Her focus for 2024 is on:

Transient/FIT: Maintaining control over pricing parity, driving digital marketing budgets for top performers, and reducing distribution costs.

Managed Segments: Renegotiating corporate rates for better deals.

Long Stay: Balancing long-stay bookings with the transient segment mix to optimize revenue.

Frasers Hospitality, a global leader in hotel residences and boutique lifestyle hotels, has been leveraging Duetto's revenue management solutions since 2019. Their 55 properties utilize Duetto's suite of tools, including GameChanger for pricing, ScoreBoard for intelligent reporting, and BlockBuster for optimizing contracted business.

Minor Hotels: Putting Contracted Business Front and Center

Minor Hotels Europe and Americas are placing contracted business, meetings, and events at the core of their revenue strategy in 2024. This focus on groups ensures a healthy mix of revenue streams while mitigating the potential impact of fluctuating guest spending habits.

Cori Galindo, VP Commercial Growth at Minor Hotels Europe and Americas, highlights the importance of segmentation: "B2B is a key part of our business mix... By focusing on contracted and group business, we are maintaining our advantage and continuing to drive demand and optimize results," he says.

Building a Winning Segmentation Strategy

For Minor Hotels, building the right segmentation strategy for each property is paramount. A healthy mix of segments, channels, and feeder markets is the key to revenue optimization. They also prioritize maximizing profitability through the right distribution channels, with a focus on growing direct digital bookings.

NH Hotel Group, a part of Minor Hotels, has been working with Duetto since 2016. Their impressive portfolio of over 340 properties across six brands – Anantara, Avani, NH Hotels, NH Collection, Tivoli, and nhow – all leverage Duetto's revenue management solutions.

The Power of Optimized Pricing

Duetto's Trends & Predictions survey revealed that over 50% of hoteliers aim to increase group revenue through strategic pricing. Dedicated group analytics are in high demand to optimize room and meeting space rates.

Ready to learn more? Check out the full Duetto survey results and discover how your hotel can win big with groups in 2024!