RevOptimum Blog

2021 is almost over; it is time for a new chapter for hotels worldwide. It is safe to say that everyone in the hospitality industry is incredibly hopeful that 2022 will bring a much-needed and much-awaited travel rebound.

As the world reopens and pre-COVID travelers become hungry to get out of their homes, hotel bookings are only quickening. On the World Hotel Index, it seems that eleven countries are now surpassing their pre-pandemic booking volumes, while a further six are just above 90% -- so what is driving this strong performance? The key ingredient in this drastic uptick in international bookings is the final stage of the hotel booking reset = global acceleration.

You have probably heard the term "gig economy" before. You might instantly think of ridesharing or food delivery, but in truth, the gig economy impacts all industries, including oversized, multinational corporations are becoming part of this exploding workforce development.

There is a new age of work-life. A hybrid that is growing in popularity as boundaries begin to blur. Bleisure is quite obviously the combination of business and leisure and refers to combining professional business travel with personal leisure time. Before the pandemic, we heard and saw the digital nomad writing a blog post on a beach or a manager checking their emails on a ski lift. These business travelers usually tried to enjoy the weekend off somewhere they visited for a conference or work. With this new scenario, technology has blurred the barriers between work and play, professional and personal, career and downtime.

For independent properties, revenue management has always been the least understood part of operations. Most hoteliers accept that decent revenue management strategies can boost occupancy; however, they don't consider it crucial to their hotel's success. On top of this, because of independent's strict budgets, hotel owners and general managers stick to a basic, cheap, and frankly unfruitful revenue management service or a trainee who doesn't know the in-depth strategies for maximum profit.

For those operating in the hotel industry, to hoteliers and general managers, maximizing revenue is a top priority. However, achieving this goal requires the optimal pricing strategy at the right time. Thus, pricing plays a critical role in the hyper-competitive industry that is hotel and travel.

The competitive hotel market is driving revenues for the large brands due to their high budgets to attract guests. Small hotel chains and independent hotel brands are becoming concerned about their position in the aggressive marketplace and determine to convert to a branded hotel chain.

Independent hoteliers with no budgets for expensive digital hotel revenue systems can now compete with large hotel chains. Independent revenue management companies can help independents ramp up profit without the need of purchasing an expensive revenue management software.