Ten years ago the role of the revenue manager in a hotel consisted of compiling historical booking data into complex excel spreadsheets and analyzing this data to predict market demand and dynamically price accordingly.
The role and value to the property of a revenue manager has changed significantly since then. With information available to a hotel customer as quickly as you can say Google, revenue managers now have to take into account groups, channels, market segments, room types, social reviews, weather and competition. This, along with the traditional historical booking data to strategically price their inventory on a daily or hourly basis.
The goal of the revenue manager has always been the same. Find the right customer, through right channel at the right price at the right time.
The introduction of automated, algorithmic revenue management software is being embraced by the independent market now. The competitive edge the brands once had in dynamic pricing is being mitigated by these programs.
The new age revenue manager can now focus on strategy as opposed to technical analysis and tactics. By compiling data in real time, these systems allow revenue managers to see trends much further out and faster so they can yield a significantly higher portion of the booking window.
Two way integration with the PMS is imperative to limit tedious manual uploading between systems. When implementing automated revenue management technology, it is important that they integrate with your current PMS solution.
RoomKeyPMS currently offers two way integration to i-Rates, PriceMatch and very soon Duetto, with all technologies offering various advantages depending on your hotel needs.
