Hoteliers: Revenue Management Industry’s Biggest Challenge
New research shows just how easy it is to underestimate the importance of finding reliable hotel revenue management in Miami. That’s right, despite more headline-grabbing topics like Zika and extreme weather, hoteliers may have much bigger, underlying problem: securing effective revenue management solutions in Miami.
In a recent survey of the hospitality industry globally, 71 percent of participating hoteliers agreed that finding new and better ways to manage revenue and profit would be a key challenge for the year ahead. For comparison, only 68 percent saw achieving customer satisfaction as a problem they’ll likely struggle with over the coming months. In other words, hoteliers the world over agree that managing revenue is harder than keeping customers happy.
Other Findings
Of course, the survey didn’t just compare revenue and customer satisfaction. It also looked at hotelier’s views on employees, reservation management and adopting new technology generally.
The majority of those surveyed agreed that staff training and management is critical to guest satisfaction and that maintaining motivation is a constant challenge. A slim majority of 56 percent said their staff plays a key role in enticing guests to make return stays.
Interestingly, less than 30 percent agreed that retaining staff was a serious problem, while only one in four hoteliers said their staff lack career opportunities. A few other noteworthy findings include hotelier concerns over what new technology to install on their property (around 30 percent), and improving channel management (52 percent).
RevMar Digital’s Take
The survey certainly brings to light many of the key issues that have permeated the hotel industry for years now, though the issue of revenue management is certainly not surprising. Indeed, it’s perhaps most relevant here in Miami, where the hotel industry has faced some serious headwinds in recent years. Local hoteliers will likely remember 2016 and 2017 as low points for the industry, with negative demand and a general malaise setting in. So far, 2018 looks much sunnier, with an uptick in international tourism. According to data from the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, in the first two months of 2018, the industry saw a 2.1 percent increase in overnight stays.
“The first quarter of 2018 is already looking very promising and strong,” the bureau’s president Bill Talbert said.
“We are looking forward to the year ahead and feel confident that Miami’s tourism industry will continue to grow,” he noted.
Talbert’s optimism is well founded, but not all hoteliers can rely entirely on recovering tourist numbers to get back in the black. It’s no secret that around Miami, plenty of hoteliers remain uneasy about the industry’s future, and it’s hard to blame them given after the difficulties of recent years. Nonetheless, if there’s one thing that’s increasingly becoming clear, it’s this: when it comes to finding new revenue management strategies, Miami’s hoteliers would benefit greatly from taking a leading role. Better revenue management solutions are Miami’s best option for capitalizing on renewed tourism numbers. In the end, doing more with less, matters: both in the good times and the bad.
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