With an emphasis on profitability, technology can help evolve the discipline.
Experts say revenue managers are redefining their roles in the hotel industry and promoting more sophisticated practices across broader sales teams. We're seeing a growing influence of RMs in their hotels.
Hear what several executives had to say at the Hotel Data Conference 2024, held in Nashville, Tennessee, in August of this year.
“It is now a discipline in many hotels, you are part of the executive committee“,” said Tina Meredith, vice president of Revenue Management for PM Hotel Group, in a panel discussion at the conference.A lot has happened between the evolution of distribution channels and everything we've had to deal with, but we've made a huge leap forward compared to two or three decades ago."
However, these same revenue managers say they need to be more involved in the decision-making process, especially when it comes to technology.
«Someone could develop a PMS where all the details needed to make the necessary revenue decisions could be mapped."said Jenna Fishel, senior vice president of commercial strategy at First Hospitality. "RM and the commercial sector need a bigger seat at the table when it comes to some technology decisions."
RMs are also looking to evolve their discipline with an increasing focus on profitability and revenue that doesn't come solely from rooms.Hotels are not just rooms», said Priya Chandnani, senior vice president of sales, revenue and distribution strategy for Sage Hospitality Group, during a panel at HDC. “We have food and beverages. We have a spa. We have bungalows. We have leisure activities. There are all these opportunities we can take advantage of, and that really means stepping out of our comfort zone and trying new things.”
As the discipline appears to grow, leaders say they need more influence on overall strategy and a more direct connection with owners.Revenue managers should lead the entire hotel strategy, whether group, transition or [business transition], we should be the guiding force"said Lynn Edwards, vice president of revenue management at Chartwell Hospitality. "We're analyzing statistics, daily trends, sales channels—we have all this data, so we should be having these conversations with our sales teams to get the most profitability."
One major revenue strategy shift that will happen sooner or later is the price transparency rules that have already been adopted in California and will likely be implemented across the U.S. before the end of the year, according to Troy Flanagan, executive vice president of the American Hotel & Lodging Association.
He said his group, the largest U.S. hotel association, has been pushing for the change to ensure consistency rather than allowing states to take a piecemeal approach. "In a situation like this, where consumers across political boundaries are booking hotels or considering making reservations online, this is an event where the solution should be a federal one." said. "We've been pushing this for several years and we're getting pretty close.
Gilbert Arredondo, senior vice president of revenue strategy for Dallas-based Remington Hospitality, said he’s focused on financial results and shareability as key metrics for success.Market share and profitability really go hand in hand working with your sales team, working together with your marketing team, but really our goal for the rest of 2024 is to build momentum for 2025", said.
At Davidson Hospitality Group's lifestyle division, Pivot Hotels & Resorts, senior vice president of revenue management Harry Carr said his company is actively adapting to a drop in leisure demand and a shift in group booking behaviors.“The [group] booking window is still very, very short. That's why we're seeing companies booking a few weeks in advance for a regional or sales meeting,” he said. “Overall volume and our pace for 2025 are strong. In some of the larger groups, we're seeing lower numbers of participants. So, while the number of bookings may be increasing year over year in some markets, the booking volume per group has decreased.”