The first summer after most countries lifted the majority of their Covid-related travel restrictions unleashed the era of revenge travel.
NB: This is an article from Atomize, one of our Expert Partners
Over the past two years, countless experts predicted it. The World Travel & Tourism Council even forecast a 94% rise in travel spending in 2022 compared to 2021. Now this exceptional demand surge is finally here.
Most markets have seen amazing results so far. According to STR, many regions are matching or even beating their 2019 results.
And while most people have already booked their summer trips, there’s still time to make the most out of the revenge travel era and maximize your hotel’s occupancy and revenue with smart, proactive pricing.
What is smart, proactive pricing?
In short, smart, proactive pricing looks at the bigger picture when determining optimal room rates. This means leveraging top-of-funnel data such as flight searches or overall search pressure to understand demand developments in your market.
That reveals where and how quickly demand is building even before bookings start coming in. Knowing this allows you to adjust your rates accordingly and target the right market or guest segment with promotional activities.
Adopting this approach will help you make the most of every revenue opportunity this summer. It’s the key to taking advantage of last-minute changes and unexpected variations in the market.
Using a fully automated RMS that collects and evaluates data and updates rates in real time is your best bet. It ensures that your prices always reflect the latest market developments so that you capture maximum bookings.
Since conditions remain unpredictable and historical reservation patterns do not provide an accurate picture of future demand, make sure to look for an RMS that also utilizes high-quality search data.
A perfect example of this is the product partnership between Atomize and trivago that will help you generate more revenue by understanding future demand.
“trivago’s search data is a valuable asset especially given the COVID related changes in travel behavior and the changing economic environment. Making our data available through Atomize will better serve the hotel community in navigating this challenging new environment: making real-time pricing decisions will improve the hotels’ ability to generate revenue.” says Alexander Forstbach, Chief Data Officer at trivago
How to use proactive pricing to maximize hotel revenue this post-covid summer
Many guests booked their trips in advance which means you probably have solid on-the-books business already.
But some people were still unsure about restrictions and safety, so they waited until the last minute to plan holidays. For these spontaneous travelers, domestic or short-haul travel is easier. A Booking.com survey echoes this. The OTA recently found that among Europeans 38% want to stick with weekend getaways while 32% are planning short city breaks.
For you, this means that there’s still a chance to get short-lead reservations and to maximize occupancy and revenue.
Here are three straightforward ways to do this:
Good offers for last-minute bookings: look at what’s available in your market. How can you make your deals more attractive?Highly targeted promotion: use geo-targeted ads to get your offers in front of your domestic travelers. Source markets that can reach you by car or a short-haul flight may also be a good option. Check local airports: If the situation at your nearby airports is too chaotic, you may want to focus on drive-to markets.
Get ready for the approaching off-season
Peak season prices and busy airports may cause some people to put off their trips for now. They might look at the end of the season, when things start slowing down, as an alternative. Even though you’re busy now, don’t forget about this period and keep an eye on how demand is developing.
Again, create enticing offers for off-season guests and target your most promising source markets with relevant ads and promotions.
Doing all this will be easier and more effective with an RMS like Atomize. It allows you to apply smart, proactive pricing in real time by automating everything from data collection to rate updates.
This will keep driving revenue and occupancy for your hotel even as overall demand wears off at the end of summer.
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