Group items tagged

WHEN IT COMES to growing hotel revenue, size does not matter. Economy hotels and micro-inventory properties are experiencing one of the biggest booms in recent years, thanks partly to a massive resurgence in small group travel, changing economic trends, and the staying power of global "return to travel". CBRE noted economy and midscale hotels recovered to 2019 performance levels by 2021, and properties with fewer rooms may benefit from lower operating costs when compared to their big-box brethren-though they also tend to have fewer resources with which to hire revenue professionals. Revenue managers are driving the charge for better operating returns. Many are taking the lessons they learned from their success at larger hotels and applying these truths to the industry's smaller properties. These revenue managers leverage new technology and strategies, options that small hotels with smaller, cross-functional staff haven't fully embraced. However, competition among economy hotels and properties tends to be fierce, requiring new action, especially with recent economic pressures and a downward 2023 RevPAR forecast of 0.2 percent in recent data shared by Tourism Economics . Modern revenue management practices and technology can provide these hotels with many benefits and significant competitive advantages. Small hotels need to avoid the erratic rate shifts of the past and capitalize on new trends as they emerge. By embracing strong revenue management systems and discipline in these properties, operators can realize greater control over a typically inconsistent space. Room Enough for Revenue The most common misconception about revenue management's place in hospitality is that it is the domain of large or full-service hotels. This is simply not the case today. No two hotels are the same, in practice, with key differences always existing between the layout of a property, its location, third-party partnerships, and so on. Every hotel has different revenue pot

SITEMINDER, THE HOSPITALITY software platform led by CEO Sankar Narayan, and IDeaS recently launched the "Dynamic Revenue Plus" revenue management system that enables hotels to access live market intelligence and quickly act on their bookable inventory, pricing and distribution strategies. This mobile-first solution allows any hotel to optimize revenue based on market demand, unlike traditional RMS, which are often limited to select hotels. Dynamic Revenue Plus employs data from SiteMinder's platform, encompassing 120 million annual hotel bookings, and will soon be enhanced with pricing recommendations from IDeaS, the companies said in a joint statement. "We're committed to democratizing revenue management and bringing the benefits of dynamic, demand-based pricing to hotels across the globe," said Klaus Kohlmayr, IDeaS' chief evangelist and development officer. "This partnership offers hotels of all sizes and operating models a viable option to avoid losing revenue due to outdated manual practices." The integration of IDeaS' dynamic pricing capabilities with SiteMinder's distribution platform and market intelligence will help hotels of all sizes, including those with limited resources, with robust revenue management and quick market access, the statement said. It will initially be available to hotels in Australia and New Zealand, expanding to other markets in 2025, the companies said.

ACCORDING TO THE March 2022 edition of CBRE's Hotel Horizons national forecast report, the total revenue for a typical U.S. hotel is not expected to return to pre-COVID 2019 nominal dollars until 2023. Accordingly, hotel owners and operators continue to seek ways to control expenses, and that can include property taxes. One potential reduction opportunity is property taxes, according to an article from Robert Mandelbaum, director of research information services for CBRE Hotels Research, and Mark Whitney, managing director of CBRE's Property & Transaction Tax Services platform. Based on a sample of 3,400 hotels from CBRE's Trends in the Hotel Industry database, U.S. hotel property tax expenditures declined by 13 percent from 2020 to 2021. This decline put 2021 property taxes 9.9 percent below 2019 levels. Unfortunately, this compares unfavorably to the 41.3 percent decline in revenues and 57.4 percent falloff in profits during the same period. For this analysis, profits are defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or EBITDA. Relationship to Profits Compared with other forms of real estate, hotel financial performance is relatively volatile. Because of the lack of long-term leases, hotel revenues and profits will react almost instantaneously to changes in the economy. This was evident during 2020 when we observed a sudden 64.3 percent drop in revenues along with a 109.4 percent decline in EBITDA in reaction to the pandemic.

URBAN PARK HOTEL Collection, an independent budget-conscious hotel group, has partnered with technology firm LodgeTender to integrate its latest hotel technology platform. The new technology offers hotel owners an extra revenue stream, while eliminating the need to pay for a hotel PMS, booking engine, and channel manager, Urban Park Hotel said in a statement. "The partnership with LodgeTender offers our hotel portfolio an opportunity to earn rather than pay for a technology package," said Jay Patel, managing partner of Urban Park Hotel Collection. "We're delighted to introduce products and services that not only save our owners money, but also generate additional revenue for our member hotels." "Hotel owners now have the chance to upgrade their technology while staying ahead with productive features for added revenue and seamless guest service connections," added Kent Comfort, president of LodgeTender.

IDEAS HAS LAUNCHED the G3 RMS Portfolio Navigator for automating multi-property revenue management. The tool analyzes business and market trends to identify revenue opportunities and necessary actions, while streamlining strategy decisions for individual properties and enabling swift responses to market changes for optimal revenue generation, IDeaS said in a statement. "IDeaS is committed to ensuring our customers, regardless of size, have the tools they need to become more efficient and productive," said Sanjay Nagalia, IDeaS' cofounder, COO and chief technology officer. "The addition of Portfolio Navigator to our flagship product, G3 RMS, is a game changer for multi-property revenue management. It helps teams highlight suboptimal business or system conditions by property, prioritize tasks with the highest revenue impact, display outstanding revenue tasks by individual property and scale revenue operations and brand contribution. This functionality helps revenue management leaders turn insights into impactful commercial actions at scale."

HOTELS CAN ENHANCE profitability through greater reliance on revenue management technology tactics, according to IDeaS, a revenue management service provider. The survey examines how investors view revenue technologies, the role of artificial intelligence in hospitality, and how technology is reshaping hospitality commercial organizations. According to the survey, "Unlocking hotel performance: The power of revenue management technology today,'" inflation and economic pressures may lead hoteliers to consider cost-cutting measures to boost profitability. However, a majority of respondents view revenue management technology as the most effective and efficient way to enhance net operating income. "For investors, revenue management technology is shifting from a competitive edge to an essential instrument for maintaining competitiveness and securing a solid bottom line," said Mike Chuma, vice president of global marketing, IDeaS.

DUETTO, A REVENUE management software provider, recently introduced BlockBuster, a revenue optimization solution, and rebranded its acquired space optimization tool, MiceRate, as OpenSpace, integrating new functions. BlockBuster coordinates revenue, sales and catering teams to optimize business quotes, while OpenSpace automates revenue management for rooms, event spaces, and ancillary services, Duetto said in a statement. "The addition of OpenSpace, combined with our investment in group management, positions us as a one-stop-shop for hoteliers looking to maximize revenue across their entire property," said David Woolenberg, Duetto's CEO. "Now, our customers can leverage Duetto to optimize pricing, manage inventory, and streamline bookings for individual guests, groups, and function spaces - all in a single, unified solution. These enhancements will streamline the group booking process, improve internal communication, and ensure a more seamless experience for both hoteliers and their customers."

Amanda Lynch is the vice president of revenue management at Uniondale-based Blue Sky Hospitality. Michael Newman is the company's new corporate director of sales and marketing. Naveen Shah is Blue Sky's CEO. Prior to joining Blue Sky, Lynch was the corporate director of marketing and revenue management with The Dow Hotel Company. She also is a member of HSMAI. Newman most recently served as Blue Sky's director of marketing at the 305-room Hilton Long Island. Over the course of his career, Newman worked for multiple hotel management companies, including 11-plus years with Hyatt Hotels, as well as stints with Millennium Hotels, Magna Hospitality, Interstate Hotels, and Melia Hotels. He was also the director of sales and marketing at hotels such as Hyatt Regency Jersey City, Grand Hyatt New York, The Millennium UN Plaza and INSIDE New York.

Beth Barris is the new executive vice president of sales and marketing for ELEVAT3, a revenue management consultancy led by Nilesh Patel as founder and partner. The company recently launched a new sales and marketing division to offer tailored branding solutions for hoteliers. Before joining ELEVAT3, Barris was chief sales officer at Barris Hospitality Consultancy, where she worked with hotel sales and marketing teams, owners and management companies to increase sales revenues and market share. She previously held various roles at Marshall Hotels & Resorts, including executive vice president of sales and marketing. The company combined its revenue management and sales and marketing divisions to provide a collaborative approach, ELEVAT3 said in a statement. The sales and marketing team provides services from full sales to market-plan development and prospecting, enhancing revenue management capabilities, the statement said. While clients can choose either service, both teams are designed to work together for branded and independent hotels.

HOSPITALITY SOFTWARE FIRM Actabl recently introduced new bundled offerings designed to address hotels' operational efficiency, profitability and workflow management. The bundles include features from its integrated solutions-ProfitSword, Hotel Effectiveness, Alice and Transcendent-providing solutions for business intelligence, labor management and operations and CapEx, Actabl said in a statement. "We are thrilled to unveil our new bundled solutions, which mark a significant evolution in how we deliver value to our customers," said Jason Luo, Actabl's chief revenue officer. "We've thoughtfully crafted our offerings to meet the unique needs of properties and management groups of all sizes, providing a comprehensive, scalable, and flexible approach to hotel management." The new bundles are marketed to hotel management companies in three tiers: the Base Bundle, providing essential tools for foundational needs; the Advanced Bundle, offering enhanced features for more complex management requirements; and the Premier Bundle, delivering comprehensive, customizable solutions for those seeking to maximize the Actabl platform.

THE 2020 COVID-influenced lodging industry recession resulted in some noticeable changes to the way hotels provide F&B service. Social distancing regulations forced operators to be creative in the way they served food and beverages to guests. Rising wage rates and sharp increases in the cost of food and beverage products compelled hotel managers to find ways to control costs. The inability of hotels to attract employees to fill the positions eliminated during the recession required creative solutions to improve productivity and offer more with less. These factors resulted in the following hotel food and beverage trends during the subsequent recovery period: The increased offering of kiosks and grab-and-go venues The closing of traditional three-meal-a-day restaurants A reduction in the menus, number of seats, and hours of remaining F&B venues Reductions in in-room dining and mini-bar service The conversion of food and beverage space to other revenue generating purposes To learn how these recent changes in hotel food and beverage operations have impacted revenues and expenses, we have analyzed the operating statements of 2,500 U.S. full-service, resort, and convention hotels that participated in CBRE's annual Trends in the Hotel Industry in 2021 and 2022. In 2022, these 2,500 properties averaged 285 rooms in size, and achieved an occupancy of 64.7 percent, along with an ADR of $225.60. To provide more current information, we also relied on the monthly operating statements of 1,200 properties during the period January through June of 2023.

SOFTWARE PLATFORM SITEMINDER, led by CEO Sankar Narayan, has partnered with PMS software developer Cloudbeds to provide more service to its 60,000 hotelier clients. The collaboration allows Cloudbeds clients direct access to SiteMinder's revenue platform, while SiteMinder users can leverage Cloudbeds' PMS platform. "In late 2023, we announced our mission of making sophisticated revenue management accessible to every hotel in the world," said Narayan. "We are excited to partner with an industry leader like Cloudbeds to propel this mission, by removing the friction that comes with having critical data hidden away in isolated systems. This partnership is a testament to the $50 billion hotel revenue that is processed by SiteMinder's platform each year as well as the unique position that we hold to completely transform revenue management for the global hotel industry. It continues SiteMinder's long history of breaking down silos in a highly-fragmented industry."

TOCK, A RESERVATIONS and events platform for the hospitality industry, recently partnered with Curator Hotel & Resort Collection to enhance food and beverage operations and provide additional amenities to guests. The partnership will enable Curator member hotels and resorts to streamline operations, drive revenue and improve guests' experiences on a single system. "Tock provides a holistic solution that empowers our customers and we're thrilled to bring that to Curator's elite network of independent hotels and resorts," said Patrick Venn, Tock's head of hotels and enterprise. "This partnership aligns with our mission to empower hotels of all sizes with forward-thinking technology focused on revenue management. Together, we aim to help these properties not only in navigating today's competitive landscape, but also setting new standards in delivering extraordinary guest experiences." Tock's platform offers capabilities tailored for hotel operators, Tock said in a statement.

ANNUAL CHANGES IN U.S. hotel utility costs and in the Consumer Price Index, or inflation, have historically proven to be strongly correlated. As of August 2022, CBRE is forecasting CPI growth to be 7.7 percent in 2022, followed by another 3.6 percent in 2023. Since inflation has averaged just 2.2 percent since 2000, these inflation projections have hoteliers concerned about operating costs. Given that rising energy costs are a significant driver of the current rise in CPI, hotel managers are especially worried about utility department expenses. Over the past 50 years, utility department expenses have averaged between 3 and 4 percent of total revenue, indicating that hotel managers have been successfully controlling energy costs in the face of fluctuating business volumes. This is particularly commendable given the highly fixed nature of utility expenses. To provide some context to the current challenging environment, we studied recent trends in hotel utility department expenses. The data come from a sample of more than 2,800 U.S. hotels that reported utility department expenses each year from 2015 through 2021 for CBRE's annual "Trends in the Hotel Industry" survey. In 2021 the properties in the sample averaged 209 rooms in size, with an annual occupancy rate of 54.2 percent and an average daily rate of $152.70.

STAYNTOUCH, A CLOUD-BASED hotel property management software developer, recently deployed its PMS at 139 Cobblestone Hotels locations in 90 days. Cobblestone has more than 160 properties across 29 states. The PMS streamlines operations, improves efficiency and speeds up property setups with template configurations, according to Stayntouch. It also enhances revenue and occupancy through an integrated rate strategy module and provides products to manage operations, drive revenue and support guest services. "At Stayntouch, we understand the challenges faced by hotel chains like Cobblestone, which is why we've tailored our solutions to meet their needs," said Jacob Messina, Stayntouch's CEO. "This collaboration reflects our commitment to delivering solutions that enhance operations and drive revenue for owners and operators. We focus on understanding their needs, delivering consistently, and building trust as a reliable partner."

FF&E PROVIDER HÄFELE and Like Magic, a guest experience platform, are producing a new multifunctional hotel room concept. The "Work and Sleep" concept allows hotel operators to transform rooms into offices, meeting spaces and other functional areas using digitally enabled furniture, fitting solutions and specialized software. Work and Sleep integrates a booking engine, guest platform, employee interface and monitoring tools into one central hub, streamlining hotel management, the companies said in a joint statement. It will combine Like Magic's guest and employee experience platform with Häfele's hardware systems, the statement said. The collaboration aims to introduce new revenue models by activating otherwise vacant rooms while reducing outfitting costs. "Our goal is to lead the way in hotel industry innovation with our forward-thinking concepts," said Gregor Riekena, Häfele's CEO. "We are currently testing these new ideas at the ibis Styles Hotel in Nagold, Germany, which serves as a valuable proving ground for our initiatives. This innovation not only allows us to gather essential insights and refine our concepts, but also demonstrates our commitment to pushing the boundaries of what modern hotels can offer. By continuously evolving and enhancing our solutions, we aim to set new standards for guest experience and operational efficiency."

GRACESOFT, URBAN PARK Hotel Collection and LodgeTender have integrated their portfolios to create an independent hotel service and membership network. The alliance provides hotel management technology, revenue optimization, consulting and a non-franchise membership brand, helping independent hoteliers compete in the market, the companies said in a joint statement. "Our mission is to equip independent hoteliers with the resources and technology they need to compete with major brands while retaining their unique identities," said Gideon Stanley, GraceSoft's CEO. "This collaboration brings together over 2,000 hotels, helping them improve efficiency, guest satisfaction, and profitability." The partnership offers a suite of solutions including property management systems, booking engines, revenue analytics and distressed property recovery consulting, giving hoteliers access to tools typically reserved for large franchise chains, the statement said.

Bill Fanning is now the chief revenue officer at Stayntouch, a cloud-based hotel property management software developer. Previously, he was senior vice president of sales at Compeat, part of Restaurant365's enterprise suite, covering accounting, inventory, scheduling, payroll, and HR solutions. In his new role at Stayntouch, Fanning will oversee revenue strategy and expansion efforts, focusing on customer value, strategic partnerships and global commercial growth across North America, Europe and global markets. "We are pleased to welcome Bill Fanning to our team," said Jacob Messina, Stayntouch's CEO. "His exceptional track record and experience in the hospitality industry and enterprise sales make him the perfect fit to lead our commercial strategy. Bill shares our unwavering commitment to customer success and innovation. His expertise will be instrumental in strengthening our relationships with hotel partners and enterprise customers, ensuring we continue to deliver solutions that address the most pressing challenges faced by hotel owners and operators today."

STAYNTOUCH, A CLOUD-BASED hotel property management software developer, recently launched UpsellPRO, an attribute-based selling platform that allows hotels to unbundle room reservations and market individual room features to guests during the booking process. The launch followed a report stating that half of respondents with a booking window over one month would pay more for ABS, Stayntouch said in a statement. "Attribute-based selling is giving travelers a degree of control over their hotel stay that they never thought possible, and hoteliers can deliver this experience without overwhelming themselves with unmanageable processes," said Nicole Dehler, Stayntouch's vice president of product. "The best part about today's ABS deployments is they can be delivered directly through the hotel PMS, automating inventory and room management without relying on a convoluted network of connected systems." Dehler said any hotel can leverage upselling to enhance service delivery and boost revenue growth organically, in a way that guests love.

CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL reported improved performance for Country Inn & Suites by Radisson following its integration with Radisson Hotels Americas. The brand saw a 19-point RevPAR Index increase, a 20 percent rise in direct online contribution and year-over-year revenue growth from group and business travelers. Radisson Americas brands have seen increased digital traffic and higher booking conversions, driving new hotel commitments, including 38 Country Inn & Suites additions in two years, Choice said in a statement. "Country Inn & Suites by Radisson has performed well above the goals we set out for the brand when it joined the Choice family of brands two years ago," said Judd Wadholm, Choice Hotels' senior vice president and general manager for upper-midscale, midscale, and economy brands. "We are committed to a long-term strategy to give this brand an even stronger edge in the competitive upper-midscale segment and to unlock additional channels for our owners to help grow their revenue."