Earlier this year I wrote on how #yougetwhatyoumeasure as perhaps the number one defining factor on why Total Revenue Management has not been much more than a talking point with little to no action. I have noticed that Total Revenue Management, TRevPAR and GOPPAR are getting more attention in the social media, yet few companies are working on solutions for managing them efficiently. NRevPAR (Net of distribution cost RevPAR) solutions are also being developed and I am looking forward to hearing about the results.
However, as a second hindering the inclusion of all revenue streams using revenue management techniques I come to realise is exactly that - the lack of intelligent IT solutions. This coupled with the varied operational practices among the companies is not making it any easier to build solutions that match these varied operational needs.
A step forward in this area are the new products that look not just the rooms revenue contribution of the guest, but the total contribution. This naturally requires the property to have the PMS system that can integrate to these services. While this inclusion of the hotel guest’s contribution is a step forward it is still not helping in managing the revenues at the restaurant, conference and spa facilities for the local customers i.e. non-hotel guests.
Interesting development in this area is the Smart Space by IDeaS. Certainly, a step to the right direction. The service assists properties to optimize profits in addition to hotel rooms for event spaces, food and beverage, catering, A/V and other rental.
After several discussions with the experts in the meeting industry I see that the first step would be to start tracking the results on a daily basis as a minimum requirement, e.g. conference rental revenues, F&B revenues, other revenues and the number of delegates per day. These figures have proven to be challenging to obtain for most establishments due to either internal operations or due to the reporting capabilities provided by their chosen systems - or in some cases by both of these factors. These figures would provide some basic metrics, assisting in forecasting efforts and, to which direction the company should dig deeper to find solutions for better profits.
While there are some services available for restaurants, the synchronised Total Revenue platform is still amiss in the industry. In many restaurants there is no daily or hourly tracking in use whether their POS system provides it or not. Additionally, few restaurants are tracking the number of customers which is one of the basis for many KPIs that provide insight into the performance of the restaurant.
A Total Revenue Management system for hotels in my view would need a capability to calculate and help manage the most profitable
1) total revenue and profit contribution of a hotel guests
2) total revenue and profit contribution of a meeting space management with and without accommodation
3) total revenue and profit contribution of restaurant guests with and without accommodation
4) total revenue and profit contribution of spa guests with and without accommodation
5) total revenue and profit contribution of activities and other guests with and without accommodation
In addition the system should include the independent departmental needs of revenue management tactics, such as menu engineering, table mix calculations, spa utilization etc.
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Part 3 on the TRM talent coming up and will be posted on our site first
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