When you’re looking to garner additional profits for your hotel, coming up with ways to achieve this can be difficult. Profit margins in the hospitality industry are smaller than most think and generating more revenue doesn’t come without proper planning.
However, one good thing about the hospitality industry is the ability to control room rates based on certain dates. However, this isn’t a guaranteed way for continuous income generation, and results are hit or miss. Hotel profit per room is important, but there isn’t enough wiggle room to count on this as a permanent solution.
This is only one of the challenges when it comes to revenue management for the hospitality industry. The hotel operation expense ratio is extremely tight and finding effective hotel revenue solutions is best done in smaller steps, as you’ll learn in the article ahead.
Luckily, there are small tips and tricks hotel owners can utilize that can slowly but surely increase profits. By leaving your options open and exploring all avenues, the best way to achieve this is to create several smaller income streams that boost your bottom line.
Many of these methods are overlooked, but that’s okay. We remind you of these revenue management practices and income-boosting strategies.
Long or Short-Term?
One of the most important decisions to make is whether you want to aim for a short or long-term strategy. Both have their benefits and pitfalls, depending on your goals as an organization.
These hotel revenue generation ideas show you how to attack from both angles. Why not have short and long-term solutions? Leaving your options open gives you the best odds for success.
Short-Term Strategies to Increase Your Revenue
The methods used below are all possible ways you could produce results in the short term.
Get Staff to Rally Behind You
If your property isn’t completely contactless, host a trial period to challenge your staff to boost their add-on. Give rewards to staff members who promote the spa upsells or restaurant gift certificates. Any program your hotel offers for an additional cost can be incorporated.
Upsell Rooms More
Get your staff fired up when selling room upgrades, room service packages, and late check-outs when guests first arrive at the hotel. You can experience significant revenue increases in just a short period. Use your hotel reservation management system to keep track of availability and offer deals when room availability gets low.
Increase Your Local Influence
One of the most forgotten elements of a hotel stay is collaborating with local businesses or promoting local attractions. This can be done in ways beyond just placing business names and locations on a flyer. Reach out to restaurants or tour operators and ask them if they’d be interested in a cross-promotion. Offer guests discounts for their services in exchange for them offering discounts for yours. Not only does this build better relationships, but it increases your rapport when locals and travellers see your name in more than one place.
Drive More Revenue by The End of The Year
The following strategies can be used to increase revenue within the next few quarters.
Boost Customer Satisfaction and Generate More Online Reviews
The number one goal is keeping your guests happy. But what if you boosted this a little more by offering cool upgrades or unique gifts with a sweet backstory.
Upon checkout, give your guests a nudge toward sharing an in-depth story about their stay. Trivago and similar sites will increase your listings and give you more visibility, leading to more reservations in the end. When you increase your reputation and get the word out that your guest experience is top-notch, you can raise the price of your rooms a little.
Get the Most Out of Low Demand Days
Sometimes slower days can have more benefits than you would think. Look at your hotel property management system to find data regarding slow days in the past. Use this to find out what segment of the market seems to capitalize on deals during slow days and come up with an offer to get them in the door.
Increase Your Online Presence
First thing’s first – you need a decent-looking website to even think about bringing any online attention to yourself. However, this doesn’t have to be an intimidating task. Make sure your design and theme look good. You don’t want them to be too visually stimulating or cause slow load times. Something elegant and simple will do just fine. Images should be high quality and portray the perfect picture of your brand. Tell your brand story through photos on your website. Finally, make sure your on-page SEO is optimized using the most relevant keywords about your hotel.
Increase Revenue in the Next 12-Months and Beyond
These are the long-term strategies we mentioned in the beginning.
Leverage Google Hotels
Google Hotels will be a force when it comes to online bookings. Take this platform seriously and learn all you can about it. If you maximize the advantages of Google Hotels, it’s possible to reduce the heavy dependence on OTAs.
Analyze Your Distribution
Where you decide to sell your inventory has a significant effect on your total profits. If you want to maximize your revenue generation, take a second look at your distribution channels and get a read on how well they’re serving you. If you notice any high-performing OTAs or ones that aren’t serving their purpose, make the appropriate changes to maximize your revenue over the long term.
Look Into Hospitality Technology as An Investment
Most of the hotel technology that hits the market today automates many of the monotonous tasks that take up unnecessary time for employees. This additional time can be spent upselling guests or providing them with higher levels of in-person communication and generally boosting the experience overall.
Coming up with new ways to boost your bottom line is easier than you think. All it takes is a little planning and the right amount of ingenuity, and things should fall in line. Having a motivated staff doesn’t hurt either.
One of the final tips we have is to optimize your website’s booking engine. The more direct bookings you achieve, the fewer commissions you must pay to OTAs.
Luckily, Hotelogix has a Web Booking Engine that allows you to fully control and customize your website’s reservation process in real-time. You can adjust prices instantly according to local rates and availability and offer add-ons to your bookings.
This is just one of many tools Hotelogix has available to optimize your property and maximize profits. If you’re ready to find out how to boost your hotel business, contact Hotelogix today.