revpar guru
Which Revenue Management Technology is Best for Your Property?
Jean Francois Mourier | December 9, 2016
By Jean Francois Mourier, CEO of REVPAR GURU For many hoteliers, there is a great deal of confusion about the different revenue management technologies available on the market today. It's hard to remember which technology calculates rates, which manages inventory, which updates the new prices to the online distribution channels or if they do both. Some systems update rates in real-time, some only update once daily (or even less frequently… eek!). Talk about technology overload! Never fear, REVPAR GURU is here to help you determine which revenue management technology is best for your property. First, it's important for you to dete...
The Metric (That Most Hoteliers Ignore) That Can Significantly Impact Your Revenues
Jean Francois Mourier | December 8, 2016
By Jean Francois Mourier, CEO of REVPAR GURU When most hoteliers consider their revenue management metrics, they most likely think about RevPAR, ADR and occupancy. Perhaps, they would also think about historical and current local demand. But for the majority of hoteliers, their property's star rating wouldn't even occur to them (beyond when they initially start working with an OTA and are creating their profile). What many hoteliers forget is that a property's star rating is a hugely important factor, both in marketing your property and in determining the best price for your rooms on a given day – because consumers often use star ...
Technology Can Be the Problem, but It Is Also Your Solution
Jean Francois Mourier | October 21, 2016
By Jean Francois Mourier Today, we all live in a very fast-moving, high-tech society; and yet, our technology always seems to be disappointing us. Unfortunately for hotel owners and revenue managers, the same issue applies to most revenue management systems (RMS). The majority of RMS providers overpromise and under-deliver, promising real-time pricing updates but only delivering updates once or twice a day. Their solutions adjust prices mostly based on historical rates… or pricing trends… or environmental factors… but not all of them together. Overall, most RMS just don't work the way that hoteliers need them to. C...
Revenue Management: Art or Science?
Jean Francois Mourier | October 17, 2016
By Jean Francois Mourier Revenue management is a very complex, time-consuming process. There are literally hundreds of factors that need to be considered when setting room rates – and these factors are changing all of the time, sometimes as often as every minute or every hour. Add to that, the data collection, manually updating rates across all of the online channels, strategy meetings with various internal teams, etc. A revenue manager's list of responsibilities goes on and on… and on… (I'm tired already, just thinking about it all!). But the reality is that humans can only do so much. There are only so many (workin...
True ADR is the Future of Revenue Management Metrics
Jean Francois Mourier | September 23, 2016
By Jean Francois Mourier Like any highly complex, numbers-based discipline, there are many different evaluation metrics that could be used in revenue management. That being said, the most common metrics currently used by revenue managers to evaluate a property's success in optimizing bookings and revenues are occupancy and/or ADR. The problem with only using occupancy and ADR is that neither of these metrics show how much revenue your property is actually bringing in. That's why at REVPAR GURU, we believe that neither occupancy nor ADR are effective enough metrics on their own to determine the success of a pricing strategy. Here's why&h...
Five Ways to Boost Your Direct Bookings Today
Jean Francois Mourier | August 8, 2016
By Jean Francois Mourier OTAs are a great source of revenue for hotels but because of the HUGE commission rates, they make the cost of acquisition too high to sustain over the long term. Unfortunately though, it can be very difficult for hotels to direct business to their own website. But that's no longer the case; here are five changes that you can make to your pricing strategy to boost your direct bookings today: Offer free upgrades to guests that book direct For most consumers, rates are the most important factor when booking a stay at a hotel, so it goes without saying that hotels should be offering the same rates through their own ...
Worst Practices In Revenue Management – Part Two
REVPAR GURU | July 28, 2016
By Jean Francois Mourier The hotel industry is very competitive and it's crucial that hoteliers stand out and attract the attention of consumers online. Because it's easy for revenue managers to get caught up in outdated, ineffective methods, we've decided to finish our list with some of the most important worst practices. As a reminder, Part One offered the following worst practices: Worst Practice #1 - Assume Your Customers Know About & Only Evaluate Pricing Within Your Compset Worst Practice #2 - Use Stagnant Rates Worst Practice #3 – Don't Replenish your Inventory Online Worst Practice #4 – Make Your Already Complica...
Worst Practices in Revenue Management – Part One
Jean Francois Mourier | July 25, 2016
By Jean Francois Mourier Today, most expert articles are full of advice on best practices that hoteliers can use to improve the financial success of their property. But as useful as those tips can be, it can often be even more helpful to learn what NOT to do, especially when it comes to a complicated, ever-evolving field like revenue management. So, as promised, here are five of the worst practices revenue management (so please DO NOT do them!). Worst Practice #1 - Assume Your Customers Know About & Only Evaluate Pricing Within Your Compset When most revenue managers analyze the rates of their competition, they typically only compar...
