Attendees network to learn latest data-driven strategies for protecting revenue and profit
Hong Kong — Revenue Strategy Forum (RSF) Hong Kong brought together more than 100 revenue management innovators, hotel executives and thought leaders from one of Asia’s most prestigious hospitality schools to share best practices for thriving in an increasingly complex distribution landscape. Co-host Hotel ICON welcomed RSF Hong Kong back for its second year and accommodated an expanded lineup of speeches, networking and hands-on educational sessions.
Programming focused not only on top-line growth but also on managing customer acquisition costs to grow revenue and profits holistically in a recessionary environment. Executives from co-host Duetto led several key sessions, including RSF’s keynote speech by CEO Patrick Bosworth and an interactive master class in revenue management taught by Chief Product & Analytics Officer Marco Benvenuti.
A general-session panel of hospitality and online travel agency executives discussed the intensified competition for direct bookings and other digital disruptions in hotel distribution. Bosworth’s speech, “Break the Cycle and Win the Next Downturn,” elaborated on those challenges and identified key pieces of a Revenue Strategy meant to grow market share in a likely recession for the hotel industry.
“The attendees at RSF, from revenue managers and GMs to hotel owners and asset managers, were very focused on having the right plans in place for optimizing their profits and outperforming their competitors when the hotel industry’s cycle inevitably turns downward,” Bosworth said. “The ideas shared on stage and in the audience will help hoteliers manage through adversity now as well as succeed over the long haul.”
Richard Hatter, general manager of Hotel ICON, touted the educational session — in which Benvenuti led a hands-on revenue management class — as an ideal fit for Hotel ICON, which is the “teaching hotel” aligned with the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
“We were extremely pleased to bring thought leaders from within the hotel industry and from the university to give real-life experience and context to the challenges of modern revenue management, including a distribution environment that gets more complex every day,” Hatter said. “None of us can predict exactly how the industry cycle will play out, but we can feel confident that events like RSF prepare hoteliers to respond with the right Revenue Strategy.”
A final Revenue Strategy Forum for 2016 will focus on the European market and will take place in London on 7 November at Amba Hotel Charing Cross. Register for RSF London here.
