How to Maximize the Revenue Potential of Hotel Function Spaces
Hotel operators are realizing that underused function spaces—ballrooms, rooftops and patios—represent a sizable, untapped revenue stream. By targeting bleisure travelers and micro‑events, hotels can fill weekdays that would otherwise sit dark. The article explains how events generate a "halo effect" that lifts average daily rate (ADR) and RevPAR, and how dynamic pricing and length‑of‑stay requirements amplify that impact. Ancillary offerings such as tailored catering, A/V rentals and post‑event packages further boost per‑guest spend without large cost increases.
Understanding Direct Channel Benchmarking and Key Metrics
Rising acquisition costs and heightened competition are forcing hoteliers to scrutinize their direct booking channels. Direct channel benchmarking compares a hotel’s website and booking engine performance against a defined competitive set, revealing gaps and opportunities. The article outlines five metric...
Predatory OTAs Are Hijacking Your Boutique Hotel Bookings
Boutique hotels are losing direct bookings to predatory online travel agencies that purchase paid‑search ads for exact hotel names and pose as official reservation desks. The ads funnel high‑intent guests into opaque checkout flows with hidden fees and non‑refundable terms,...
Phone Calls Are “The Last Mile” Of Hotel Distribution
The article frames phone calls as the "last mile" of hotel distribution, where a direct inquiry can convert online interest into a profitable reservation. It highlights hidden costs of OTA commissions and booking engine fees that can be avoided when...
Top 6 Booking Priorities for Today’s Leisure Traveler
The 2026 TravelBoom Leisure Travel Study pinpoints the six factors that dominate leisure travelers’ booking decisions: room value and price (76.6%), hotel location (71%), guest reviews (51%), flexible booking options (29.4%), unique experiences or amenities (20%) and sustainability practices (12.4%)....
What Asset Managers Will Expect From Revenue Management
The article argues that by 2026 hotel revenue management will evolve from a tactical, RevPAR‑centric function into a strategic lever for asset performance. Asset managers will demand that pricing decisions be tied directly to NOI, risk mitigation, and long‑term value...
Help Your Direct Bookings Bloom with Creative Seasonal Strategies
Spring’s longer days and holiday breaks create a prime travel window, prompting hotels to revamp direct‑booking channels. The article showcases seasonal tactics—bright homepage layers, limited‑time discounts, and gamified Easter hunts—that turn seasonal enthusiasm into bookings. Real‑world examples from Savoyen, Penta...
How to Build Your Perfect Competitive Set in 2026
Hotels aiming for revenue growth in 2026 should build a focused competitive set of five to ten primary rivals, optionally adding secondary groups for niche insights. The article advises using OTA search filters—location, accommodation type, price range, rating, and online...
Rate Parity in 2026: What Hotels Need to Know
Rate parity once mandated identical public rates on hotel websites and OTAs, reinforced by contract clauses. Over the past decade, European antitrust rulings have eroded those clauses, allowing OTAs to offer layered discounts and price‑matching guarantees. As a result, uniform...
Why Scoring Hotel Image Quality Matters More Than Ever
Hotel images now shape traveler perception before price or reviews. Platforms and AI algorithms increasingly classify and rank photos, turning visual content into a data quality issue. To address this, hotels adopt structured image quality scores, typically 0‑100, evaluating dimensions...
How Clean Connected Data Improves Pricing and Distribution
Hospitality operators often juggle disparate systems—PMS, channel managers, and finance—resulting in conflicting reports and gut‑driven decisions. The article argues that clean, connected data unifies these sources, delivering a single source of truth for pricing, distribution, marketing, and staffing. By standardising...
Room Pricing Mistakes and How Channel Managers Can Help
Hotel room pricing mistakes—such as ignoring local demand drivers and maintaining inconsistent rates across channels—continue to drain revenue for many properties. Relying on outdated, intuition‑based methods leaves hotels underpricing high‑demand periods and overpricing low‑demand times. A channel manager centralizes rate...
The Portuguese Hotel Market Can No Longer Grow As Before
Portugal’s hotel sector posted a record‑breaking RevPAR of €72.38 in 2025, up 4.3% year‑over‑year, while ADR rose 4.0%. Occupancy, however, barely moved from 57.8% to 57.9%, meaning revenue growth stemmed almost entirely from higher room rates. Regional analysis shows secondary...
Hotels Didn’t Abandon Spam They Abandoned Acquisition
Luxury hotels abandoned outbound email acquisition after the spam‑filled era of the late 1990s, leaving a vacuum that online travel agencies (OTAs) swiftly filled. OTAs invested billions in search visibility and data-driven targeting, becoming the default discovery engine and extracting...
AI, AEO, and GEO: Questions Every Hotelier Should Ask
The article advises hoteliers to begin AI adoption by focusing on AI‑driven performance analysis of paid search, hotel metasearch and Google hotel ads, where measurable demand already exists. AI can process large campaign datasets to pinpoint high‑converting markets, eliminate wasteful...
Hotel BI vs Excel: The Hidden Costs
Excel remains a default tool in hotels, but its apparent zero‑cost facade hides substantial operational expenses. Hotels can spend up to 125 hours each month cleaning, formatting, and moving data, turning revenue managers into data clerks. This manual burden erodes...
How Boutique Hotels Personalize Without Getting Creepy
Boutique hotels aim for high‑tech, high‑touch experiences by using subtle personalization that feels intuitive rather than invasive. Intelity explains that automation should handle routine tasks while staff focus on human moments, supported by unified guest profiles. The article highlights preference‑based...
Why “Less Is More” In Hotel Sales Proposals (to Win More Business)
Meeting planners are inundated with proposals and now expect 80% of RFP responses within four days. Hotels that miss this speed often lose deals, making brevity a competitive edge. The article recommends front‑loading proposals with room blocks, rates, event dates,...
Why Revenue Management Is Not Enough For Complex Portfolios
Revenue management excels at optimizing rates for individual hotels, but as hotel groups expand, the property‑by‑property approach strains under portfolio complexity. Local pricing moves can cannibalize demand across nearby assets, while forecasts built on disparate assumptions fragment into incoherent aggregates....
Strategic Levers to Turn a Low Season Period Into an Opportunity
The article outlines how hotels can convert low‑season challenges into profit opportunities by leveraging data‑driven direct‑booking strategies, diversified product offerings, and flexible policies. It stresses the importance of analyzing occupancy, ADR and RevPAR to fine‑tune pricing and channel mix. The...
What to Do When Your Hotel Isn’t Pacing Like Last Year
Hotel revenue managers often panic when current pacing falls behind last year’s figures, but the article urges a measured response. It stresses that year‑over‑year pace should be a reference, not a rigid target, because market dynamics, events, and traveler behavior...
Are Revenue Managers Doomed in the Age of RMS and AI?
The article argues that AI‑driven revenue management systems (RMS) are automating routine pricing tasks, but they won’t replace revenue managers. While junior operational roles shrink as a single manager can now oversee 20 properties, the profession is shifting toward strategic,...
5 Post-Stay Strategies to Build Loyalty After Guests Leave
Hotels are moving from purely transactional interactions to long‑term relationship marketing by engaging guests after checkout. The article outlines five post‑stay tactics: a personalized value‑sequence email series, WhatsApp review requests, a “Local Insider” content drip, a public feedback‑loop, and timed...