Reports are an essential part of hotel management as they play a huge impact in tracking and analyzing the hotel performance and growth. Reports are important for the management who need information and data handy in order to make decisions that impact the hotel’s performance. Internal reports generated through the data collected during daily operations can help understand the current and past performance. It also helps in forecasting the future strategies. In today’s dynamic market, external factors play a crucial role, therefore external information like competitor analysis, market trends and consumer behavior are some important reports that need to be analyzed on a regular basis as well.
For the internal reports that track progress and check forecasts, having a good property management system can give a clear insight by generating relevant financial and revenue impacting reports. From General Managers to Hotel Owners and Desk Managers; all need the support of a good reporting tool. Even Revenue Management requires reports as an input to sell the right room at the right price and at the right time. Other revenue generating services like Spa, Restaurant and Gift Shop also need careful planning and strategizing for making them profitable revenue streams.
Here are the top 5 reports that can help understand current performance. It can also aid in application of strategies and processes to achieve increase in revenues for a hotel.
1. Reservation Reports – Reservation reports can give insights on key reservation trends. For example, information and data like: Which rooms are selling fast? What rates gained maximum reservations? Can we identify different market segments and their performance?
2. Financial Reports – These would include business intelligence like monthly summary reports, RevPAR, ADR reports. Financial reports help get complete control over financial aspects of operations, sales and marketing. They help cut down operational costs and increase sales.
3. History and Forecasting Reports – These help in analyzing the history and daily, monthly and yearly forecasting. This is important for being prepared for the seasonal market trends. Understanding past and current data is important in setting the right price to sell the right room to the right customer.
4. Pricing Reports – There are powerful revenue management tools available in the market that track and identify pricing trends in real time and make adjustments. However, in the absence of such a tool or even if you have one, it is recommended to regularly check the reports on pricing, rates and packages. The manager should know at the back of their hand, how the market is reacting to different pricing trends. This information should be reaffirmed by looking at the reports. Any change in trend can be identified at the earliest through proper report analysis, thus avoiding losses from lack of intelligence.
5. Business Sources and Market Segment Reports – With multiple channels of revenue generation like GDS, OTAs, Travel Agent Bookings and Corporate Bookings, having information about which business source is most profitable, can be of great benefit. Hotels are not only dealing with diverse revenue generation streams but also varied demographics. And, for this reason, understanding the market segment is imperative. Reports like Guest History reports and Guest Type reports can help in gaining insights on this front.
Knowledge is power. Constant feedback from your hotel staff and internal reports can help understand the current as well as past performance and can also help in forecasting the future strategies.