No matter how much the buyer’s decision is influenced by the new hospitality trends, price will always be one of the key factors in whether a guest books a stay in a hotel or not. Thus the need of developing an effective hotel yield management strategy will always be critical. In order to achieve that, a lot of variables should be taken under consideration and huge amounts of data must be analyzed.
Important questions must be answered. When should a hotel lower its rates? How can it guarantee that there will not be a loss of money? How should the hotel offers be promoted? What if the hotel fails to protect its reputation and status?
Hospitality is a sector completely vulnerable to the changes of the social, economical and political environment. For every single season a bunch of new factors arise that affect demand and therefore rates have to be taken under consideration and finally be combined with data and reports in order to define the rate policy of the hotel. Using the correct strategy on promoting hotel rates is as important as planning the rate policy. A mistake in this stage may be catastrophic for the success of the hotel’s sales.
Experience has proven that using offers is the most effective way of promoting hotel rates. The value that the guests perceive is much higher when the discount is obvious and advertised, than when they are just informed about the final rate. If for example, a guest pays for an overnight in a Suite $400 taking advantage of a 20% off the $500 rack rate, he will be much more satisfied than paying for the same overnight $380 without been informed about the initial rate!
Keep in mind that most of your guests – especially the ones coming from abroad – are not aware of your hotel’s value and quality in advance and one of the main ways to estimate it is by checking your rack rates. So, when you decide to offer better rates in order to react to low demand, it is essential to let them know which is your real rate.
And you have to make sure that it will look like a real one! There is no reason to set a huge discount permanently; and beware, your guests know that. Nobody will believe that this is a real discount if you do not promote the restrictions through which one may “earn” this offer. “Flash offer”, “non refundable rate”, “minimum stay” are some of the magic words that will reassure your guests that your offer is a not-to-miss one!
Last, but not least, you have to use the right tool to advertise your hotel rates! Bookwize Booking System promotes your hotel’s offers in a state-of-the-art way. Use a new Rate Plan for every new offer and make it easy for your guests to understand what every plan offers and compare various promotions and rooms at no effort! Bookwize’s reservations funnel guides your website’s visitors smoothly and effectively so that they will convert to guests.