LODGING LEADERS
234 | More for the Money: Upselling generates significant revenue gains for hotels
LODGING LEADERS
Though average daily rate in U.S. hotels continues to grow year over year, hotel operators are not so eager to increase room prices these days.
STR and Oxford Economics forecast ADR will increase by 1.9 percent this year and 2.2 percent in 2020.
While an increase is usually viewed as a positive, the joy is muted in the hotel industry. STR noted in August that inflation coupled with increasing room supply are outpacing the rise in hotel revenue.
Hotel operators are experiencing what STR calls “an absence of pricing confidence.”
So, you don’t want to increase your room rate but you need to make more money.
How do you do that? You upsell. You offer additional products and services to guests who have already booked at your property.
Think you do not have anything to offer besides a clean room and free breakfast? Think again. Generating extra revenue by upselling is possible no matter the location, type and size of your hotel.
In today’s episode Lodging Leaders talks to experts in upselling in the hospitality industry.
You’ll hear from Geoffrey Toffetti, president and chief marketing officer of Frontline Performance Group, and Jason Bryant, founder and CEO of Nor1.
They talk about the art and science of selling upgrades and when to engage the guest with offers. And they give tips on ways to increase incremental revenue that goes straight to your bottom line.
LODGING LEADERS
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301 | The Road Warrior Ahead: Business travel will come back ‘with a vengeance,’ say experts
Global business travel is a $1.4 trillion industry. The Global Business Travel Association calculates the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 resulted in a loss of $113 billion in business travel spend in hotels, airlines and other sectors of the travel industry. But all is not lost. GBTA, industry analysts and travel management companies see some green shoots of hope for 2021 as the COVID-19 vaccine rolls out and corporations put some of their people on the road again. This report is part of Long Live Lodging’s ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hospitality industry.
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300 | 2020 Hindsight: Lodging Leaders reviews hot topics, gives sneak peek of what’s ahead
Long Live Lodging, an online multimedia news organization that covers the hospitality industry, found itself tossing aside its plans for news coverage late in the first quarter of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. and devastated the hospitality industry. The year turned out to be ground-breaking for Long Live Lodging, which developed the industry’s first live digital conference, and its podcast, Lodging Leaders, which increased its followers through timely, credible and balanced reporting on trends and issues driving the industry during the historic year. The company also won international recognition for its coverage of the COVID-19 crisis and its work as a whole. Long Live Lodging is a startup media company, formed in 2019, with Lodging Leaders, which was founded in 2015. In today’s report, we celebrate the podcast’s 300th episode. Podcast founder and co-host Jon Albano and co-host Judy Maxwell have a free-wheeling conversation in which they review the top podcasts of 2020 (Can anyone say ‘fair franchising’?) and give a brief preview of what the media organization plans for 2021.