233 | How Does Your Hotel Rate? Smart pricing strategies key to winning in a downturn

It’s often said the U.S. hotel industry is a street-corner business. With that point of view, it may not take much for a hotel operator to panic and set off a price war on your block.

The industry fell victim to mindless discounting in the days immediately after 9/11 and during the depth of the Great Recession.

Today’s hotel owners and operators like to think they’re smarter than that.

Over the past decade, revenue management – the science of smart pricing – has become a standard practice.

At the same time, technology providers have created automated programs that help properties determine the right price for the right guest at the right time. And hotels have a long list of online channels where they can advertise rate and convert browsers to bookers.

As the industry begins to see a slowdown in business performance, Lodging Leaders explores how hoteliers should be pricing now and in the near future.

We interview several specialists and technology innovators who focus on nothing but revenue management for hotels.

They share what to do if a hotel in your market starts to discounts rates; how to use online booking channels to generate more business; how far out to plan your revenue strategy; and what tactics to deploy to optimize profit.

Resources and Links

• Patrick Bosworth of Duetto
• Bill Daviau of Kriya RevGEN
• Klaus Kohlmayr of IDeaS Revenue Solutions
• Lily Mockerman of Total Customized Revenue Management
• Ira Vouk, independent revenue management consultant; senior product strategist, Cloudbeds