Before we break for the holidays, we asked our staff, client GMs, revenue managers, hotel owners and partners to tell us what’s at the top of their professional holiday wish list.
The answers might surprise you!
– A sympathetic ear:?Many of the?hotel marketers?we surveyed asked for something very simple and poignant: they asked to be heard. Too often, decisions are made by owners or more senior execs without asking the opinion of the sales and marketing team actually responsible for revenue goals. The most common complaint? Budget mandates being passed down with no say in the resources required to achieve the budget
– More corporate accounts:?Even though they get significantly discounted rates, businesses that send a steady flow of travelers are deeply desirable to hotel marketers. Their contracts and year-round arrivals form a healthy baseline for many of the folks who responded to our holiday wish list question.
– Lower OTA fees:?We may solve world peace and find a cure to cancer before most hotel marketers find a way to significantly?reduce their OTA commissions, but this item is a clear indication of the frustration hotel leaders have with their ongoing inability to shift share from OTAs to direct revenue.
– A #1 TripAdvisor ranking:?Unfortunately, Santa’s little elves’ can only conjure up one of these for every market!
– Less fraud on TripAdvisor:?Scoundrels who surreptitiously post false reviews on their comp set’s page is dirty business, but apparently still all too common based on our survey results. TripAdvisor claims they are doing everything they can to resolve the issue
– Automated revenue management software:?Most properties we spoke to have various degrees of manual labor involved in their rate setting and distribution activity. Quite a few told us they would love a more intelligent solution that truly automated competitive analysis, rate updates and dynamic distribution across all channels.
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