It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Yes, the holiday season, but more exciting is that hoteliers everywhere are planning for next year. After what’s expected to be a record breaking year, according to STR, in the hotel business, hoteliers are hopeful next year will be powerfully profitable too.
Lance Jones, Sales Engineer Business Development with SkyTouch, says “It’s rate season for hotels. This is the time of year when hoteliers are creating rates for next year.” And with holidays coming fast and furious such as Valentine’s Day, it’s important to think beyond rates and focus on smart packaging too.
It’s not a perfect panacea though, and rate setting needs to be thoughtful. One challenge, supply is starting to outstrip demand in most cases, making this exercise even more critical this year than in recent years.
Fortunately, hoteliers using a cloud based PMS such as the SkyTouch OS property management system, are getting some help with rate setting.
Flexibility is Key
Jones says the SkyTouch system allows hoteliers to quickly and easily create rates for the year, and seasonally too, which allows for adjustments during peak and shallow demand periods. In fact, he says the system has the flexibility to attach a rate for every demand type a hotel experiences throughout the year.
“There are many different Best Available Rate (BAR) levels, up to nine, as well as four demand types and unlimited seasons,” says Jones.
Of course, rates never remain static throughout the year, or even week to week in some cases, so the system compensates with flexible hotel rate management. The SkyTouch OS allows for derivative rates based on BAR rates, which adjust automatically every time the BAR rate changes. It’s a simplified approach to rate management, ensuring all rates change when you want them to.
Special Events
The year is chockablock full of special events. And one market’s special event can be another market’s slow period, so it’s important for a property management system to understand regionally relevant special events. Be sure your PMS computer system can replicate the same special event each year. With SkyTouch, users can simply copy events such as New Year’s Eve or that annual festival with a couple of clicks.
Jones says simply put in the date range and guarantee policy, and it’s all set. “Rate buckets are based off BAR rate. There is an option to click allowing the revenue manager to either accept a discount or not during that date range,” he says.
Packages Made Simple
“If you talk rates right now, packages are important,” says Jones. He’s right, packaging is a great way to achieve higher profits. When rates are bundled as part of a package, people are less price sensitive.
Take Valentine’s Day for example. Creating a package with special rates for a certain date range is a simple process taking less than five minutes to create, says Jones. It can be defined with a special room type, perhaps a special suite. Or maybe the package also comes with a special amenity such as wine and chocolate.
“It is extremely quick to create packages and set revenue management rules,” says Jones.
He notes the SkyTouch OS cloud based PMS will automatically adjust BAR based on occupancy for a given evening, or number of rooms sold for a specific night. Plus, the system allows for the creation of local only rates available by calling or visiting the property, or special rates designed for OTAs or other channels.
It’s also simple to transfer rates from one bucket to another. And setting up specific policies and restrictions for a rate plan too. Say, for example, a rate available during a special date range, or only specific days of the week.
Overall, rate setting season doesn’t have to impact your holiday season. With easy to enact rate setting solutions, hoteliers are finding more time to get out of the back office and connect with their customers front of house. It is indeed the most wonderful time of the year.
