Tech on the brain

Ever take a little informal peer survey??

Let’s just say you’re out to dinner. Before you order, how often do you say, “Well, what’s everyone else getting?” It’s a fair question. Maybe you’ll order the same meal as the diner beside you, and it’ll be the best meal you ever tasted. Maybe they’ll open your world to a whole new food group.?

If you look at what your peers are doing now, 52% of CEOs say their top goal over the next three years is to identify new sources of growth and new ways of generating revenue.

And the top two drivers of new revenue?

1. Technological change (57%)
2. Changes in customer preferences (45%)

Although business decisions aren’t one-size-fits-all, digital transformation is showing up time and time again on over half of hoteliers’ radars.?

Keeping up with changing technology and keeping pace with what your guests want, when they want it, and how they want it, is how you stay on top of the most profitable opportunities.?

Your peers are onto something.?

[Guide] Secure the highest-value bookings and significantly increase direct revenue with the voice channel

Discover how you can turn your voice channel into a revenue powerhouse and hone your outbound strategy to recover revenue from abandoned bookings.

Access the guide

Numbers that matter

Nearly 180 American hoteliers boast an average ADR of over $1,000

• That number is up from roughly 50 hoteliers in 2019. Today, hoteliers are asserting command over room rates and taking advantage of traveler’s eagerness to spend again. Even if this number doesn’t include your hotel, you can keep momentum and maximize share of wallet with intelligent segmentation. Know who your guests are and which guests like to spend, and you just might position yourself in a more profitable market.?

US monthly social network users will reach 236.4 million by 2025?

• In just a year’s time, audiences — your prospective guests — will be watching 1.5% less TV and spending more time on their favorite social platforms. Maybe this doesn’t matter to you if you aren’t spinning up flashy Instagram reels, but maybe it should. Because every chance you have to get in front of the eyeballs of future guests is a chance to drive traffic to your website and secure a direct booking. An omnichannel communication strategy is where it’s at.

Beer and wine consumption is down 9%, spirits 11%

• Does your hotel restaurant rely on alcohol sales? Do you send targeted campaigns with promotions or discounts that include alcohol? While there’ll always be a percentage of guests who drink, alcohol consumption has decreased across every age demographic. If you haven’t consulted your data recently, be sure to double-check who you’re sending that email campaign teasing wine night to if you really want it to resonate. And maybe consider some alcohol-free events or promotions for the sober crowd.

Trends that matter

Trend #1: Keeping up with the Joneses: Booking.com

What is a hotelier’s biggest competitor up to, and why? Instead of looking at Booking.com to see what part of your market they’re swallowing, check out their growth strategy. The company’s recent partnership with the legendary rapper, Ludacris, is sending a signal to everyone in the industry that Booking.com is here to create value for their consumers. Celebrity and brand partnerships are popular among hoteliers too, even with local community influencers, so if it fits into your budget for next year, it may be worth considering.?

Trend #2: Labor attracting

A just-released report from McKinsey classifies the leisure and hospitality industry as “labor-attracting,” using data from 2010-2023. This basically means that employment is outpacing or keeping pace with unemployment. There’s been an overall “tightening” of the labor market, especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — pushing a need to increase productivity. As you continue to find, interview, and hire the right people to deliver exceptional guest experiences, consider adding technology that can increase productivity while you’re filling in the gaps in your staff.?

Trend #3: What would corporate like?

If you’ve been wondering how to capture the attention of your corporate travelers or make it easier to upsell them, try “attribute-based booking.” Hoteliers are using this technique to push direct bookings, saving money on OTAs. With attribute-based booking, corporate guests are able to pick what they want for their room — queen-size bed, corner room, etc — rolling up into a new custom room price. Of course, any kind of targeting by segment isn’t complete without personalization and the data to inform that targeting, but this new booking tactic has IHG, Choice Hotels, Marriott, and Hilton going a step further.

Perspectives that matter

BLOG: From order takers to revenue makers: Empower your hotel reservations team

• Trying to find the light switch in a pitch-black room is not an easy task. You fumble around, you can’t see where you’re going, and it takes 10x longer to flip the switch. That’s how Jenn and her reservations agents felt without the right technology to light their path. So Jenn set out on a mission to light the way for her hotel by finding a solution to turn her reservations agents from order takers into revenue makers with the right technology and training. Read to find out the rest of the story.

CUSTOMER STORY: Segmentation success: How Bunkhouse achieved $6.1M in lifetime revenue

• “Every time we send a campaign with Revinate Marketing we see on average $30K in room revenue.” That’s Katie Winther, Vice President of Revenue, at Bunkhouse. She and her team experienced what happens when you segment your audience effectively. Offers resonate, and revenue follows. Bunkhouse’s mastery of segmentation has driven $6.1M in lifetime revenue and made automated and one-time email campaigns a lucrative touchpoint. Read their story to find out more.

PODCAST: Is NOI the only thing that matters?

• Loyalty percentages, direct booking percentages, social media followers, don’t matter as much as your hotel’s NOI, according to Joe Pettigrew, Chief Operating Officer at EOS Hospitality. In this episode of the Hotel Moment podcast, Karen Stephens, Revinate CMO, and Joe take on the task of revenue maximization, uncovering ways hoteliers can measure their performance and boost their NOI year after year.?

WEBINAR: On-demand: Successful outbound strategies to maximize direct revenue

• Don’t give up if a guest doesn’t book with you on the first call! Watch this webinar to find out how to easily capture and convert second-chance bookings and discover best practices for following up on regrets, denials, and abandoned calls. Register now to elevate your direct booking strategy.

Explore the Revinate CDP

Explore our Customer Data Platform (CDP), which uses advanced AI-driven machine learning to gather all the characteristics and clues about your guests in one place.

Experience Revinate CDP