REVENUE PERSPECTIVES:

QUICK HITS
FOR STRATEGIC
REVENUE
INSIGHTS
Volume 1

www.ideas.com
REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 1
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION_____________________________________ 3

DATA & ANALYTICS

The Analytics Tsunami: Are You Ready to Ride its Wave?______________________________________ 5

A Crystal Ball for Marketing & Revenue Management_________________________________________ 5

The Science of Clean Laundry & Revenue Management_____________________________________ 5

Decisions vs. Recommendations: Its All in the Name__________________________________________ 6

Can Your Data Answer the 5 Ws of Storytelling?______________________________________________ 6

REVENUE & PRICING

Ideal Pricing Delivers Extraordinary Revenues_________________________________________________ 9

Four Considerations for Developing Your Pricing Strategy______________________________________ 9

Ideal Pricing vs. Only Pricing: Revenue Strategy Beyond Price_________________________________ 9

Group Pricing Goes for the Gold_____________________________________________________________ 10

5 Ways to Find the Right Pricing Strategy for Your Hotel________________________________________ 10

IN THE MIX
Four Ways to Increase Your Direct Bookings___________________________________________________ 13

The Walking Dread__________________________________________________________________________ 13

Revenue Managements Cinderella Story____________________________________________________ 13

A Tribute to Revenue Management Past_____________________________________________________ 14

All Day I Dream AboutRevenue____________________________________________________________ 14

ABOUT IDEAS REVENUE SOLUTIONS___________________________ 16

 Taking Revenue Into Perspective
In an industry where there are as many trending topics as there are
hotels, its not always easy to keep up on the freshest hospitality
insights. Thats why IDeaS Revenue Solutions is bringing the hottest
revenue perspectives to you!

This guide provides you with quick access to thought-leading blog

articles around the various components of data, analytics, pricing &
strategy - with a sprinkling of miscellaneous topics such as increasing
direct bookings, overbooking and more!

REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 3

 DATA &
ANALYTICS

REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 4

 The Analytics Tsunami: Are You Ready to Ride its Wave?
With new entrants (think: Airbnb and Google) and growing
powerhouses (such as Expedia and Booking.com) posing a
potential problem for hotel direct business, discussions have
been shaping around how to tackle these mounting revenue
management and distribution challenges. Weve been seeing
an emergence of important concepts like big data, machine
learning and business intelligence landing at the forefront of
many industry conversations, but they can all mean different
things to different people. What they all have in common,
however, is they are all components of todays sophisticated
analytics

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

A Crystal Ball for Marketing & Revenue Management

Owners and operators are dead set on obtaining more direct
bookings for their hotels to maximize their profits. Revenue
management and marketing, more than ever, must align in
order to achieve what their owners are asking for. I recently
had the opportunity to sit down with Clay Jackson, director
of sales for nSight Travel Intelligence, to discuss what travel
intent data is and how hotels can utilize these insights to gain
a competitive advantage and drive more direct bookings

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

The Science of Clean Laundry & Revenue Management

Similar to your clothes, your data needs to be organized in a
way thats best for optimization. For a very long time, and for
a lot of other revenue management systems, this is where you
can run into issues. This is because oftentimes the best way
to organize your data for optimization is not the best way to
report on it from a business perspective...

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 5

 Decisions vs. Recommendations: Its All in the Name
In todays world of innovative technology, its interesting to

think about the automated outputs of our industrys revenue

management systems. All hotels face the challenges of

forecasting occupancy, setting associated pricing strategies,

determining overbooking levels, distributing pricing across

various channels and reporting on the results. However,

hotels should not have to sacrifice time that should be

spent on strategy that is spent instead on reviewing and

implementing their system recommendations

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

Can Your Data Answer the 5 Ws of Storytelling?

Every compelling story a thrilling book, a coworkers wild weekend recount, an upcoming blockbuster

movie contains some very familiar elements. Commonly referred to as the five ws of storytelling, every

strong narrative provides answers to the common inquisitive questions of who, what, where, when

and why

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 6

 From our existing relationship, we
identified IDeaS as the best provider
of revenue management systems
because of its capabilities to increase
automation, handle different KPIs for
each of our three hotels and could
resolve the challenge of selling in
different currencies across different
channels.
The Montenegro Stars Hotel Group

REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 7

 REVENUE
& PRICING

REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 8

 Ideal Pricing Delivers Extraordinary Revenues
Similar to many industry veterans, Ive spent the vast
majority of my adult life working in hotels. From operations
to sales & catering to revenue management, Ive overseen
branded and independent properties, ranging from 500-room
luxury resorts to 80-room limited service inns. Through my
experiences I can say with certainty there has never been
a more comprehensive, flexible revenue management
approach than Ideal Pricing

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

Four Considerations for Developing Your Pricing

Strategy
Hotels devote large portions of their revenue management
strategies around developing and implementing the right
pricing structure for their property and market. But establishing
the right pricing structure isnt a one-off activity and with the
hotels bottom line depending heavily on revenue generat-
ed from the implementation of an proper pricing strategy, it is
critical that hoteliers routinely and thoughtfully evaluate their
pricing options to determine which approach best fits the
needs of their business and technologies

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

Ideal Pricing vs. Only Pricing: Revenue Strategy

Beyond Price
Hospitality experts agree that hotels cant maximize profitability
by managing rates alone. When your revenue strategy only
focuses on managing price, you cant deliver optimal results.
Managing only price works well when your inventory is not
perishable; however, when it comes to hotel rates, your
strategy requires a higher degree of sophistication

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 9

 Group Pricing Goes for the Gold
Remember the days when you would gather around a

table and sales managers would bring their group inquiries

to hash out which business to accept and at what rate?

Sales managers would be anxious to take as much

business as possible, F&B managers would be concerned

if minimums or rental werent high enough, and general

managers would question whether the rates were too low

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

5 Ways to Find the Right Pricing Strategy for Your Hotel

Revenue managers dedicate a big part of their day to managing hotel rates and driving profits. They are

constantly analyzing data and various influencing factors to find that coveted sweet spot and a revenue

managers greatest reward is finding the ideal public pricing that attracts guests and boosts their

organizations bottom line

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 10

 From a strategic point of view, its been
important to us that IDeaS isnt just a
vendor. The fact that they deliver a
solution along with on-going revenue
management business support and
training helps us get the most from
the system.
Grand Hotel Minneapolis

REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 11

 IN THE MIX

REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 12

 Four Ways to Increase Your Direct Bookings
Nary a hospitality conference is found without the token
debate about OTAs and their impact on hotels direct
bookings. This trending topic has become so prevalent
and so fierce, in fact, that the majority of todays hotels
have all become thirsty for the very best ways to quench
their biggest online booking competition

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

The Walking Dread

Many hotels struggle to achieve a perfect sell-out and
often avoid overbooking to evade the ire of the front desk.
The bane of any front desk managers existence? The
walkers. After all, walking a guest is never an extremely
pleasant experience for any hotel (or any guest). But within
the Sanctuary of Revenue Strategy, its often considered
a necessary evil

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

Revenue Managements Cinderella Story

The evolution of the revenue management industry has
been one of 2016s top trending topics. As the industry propels
forward with better insights and more informed strategic
opportunities, theres also been a marked shift in how the role
of revenue management is positioned within the organizational
structure of a hotel

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 13

 A Tribute to Revenue Management Past
Revenue Pioneers, partners and providers continue to blaze

a hot, new trail in our evolving industry, leaving its old and

archaic practices behind in the hazy (and possibly forgotten)

dust. However, if we stop to reflect on those being left behind:

Shouldnt some of these antiquated, once beloved practices

deserve at least a proper goodbye?

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

All Day I Dream AboutRevenue

In an industry full of acronyms (um, ADR, ARI, KPI, OCC, RevPAR, RGI, anyone?), the mere thought of

having to learn two more might just send you over that proverbial edge. But before you go drowning

your woes with a couple of cold pints, it might help to know that our two new terms actually spawned

from the unintended impacts of social media (thanks a lot, Facebook) and are also relatable within your

everyday life

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 14

 I was looking for a revenue management
system that would help me be more
efficient with my time and increase our
revenues by making smarter, quicker
and more responsive decisions. IDeaS
was the most user friendly of all systems
I reviewed and didnt make functionality
overly complicated.
Charming Inns

We want our guests to do their own thing,

and our take on revenue management is
similar. We need to be able to do our own
thing.
Acme Hotel Company

REVENUE PERSPECTIVES: QUICK HITS FOR STRATEGIC REVENUE INSIGHTS 15

 WHO WE ARE
With more than one million rooms priced daily on its advanced systems, IDeaS Revenue Solutions
leads the industry with the latest revenue management software solutions and advisory services.
Powered by SAS and more than 27 years of experience, IDeaS proudly supports more than 8,700
clients in 106 countries and is relentless about providing hoteliers more insightful ways to manage the
data behind hotel pricing.

IDeaS empowers its clients to build and maintain revenue management culturesfrom single entities
to world-renowned estatesby focusing on a simple promise: Driving Better Revenue.

IDeaS has the knowledge, expertise and maturity to build upon proven revenue management
principles with next-generation analytics for more user-friendly, insightful and profitable revenue
opportunitiesnot just for rooms, but across the entire hotel enterprise. For more information, visit
www.ideas.com.

Got time to read more? Visit our blog to subscribe for even more industry articles & insights

27+ 8700+ 1.3M+ 106

years ago we clients later, we are still rooms around the world are countries on six
started helping finding revenue opportunity managed by IDeaS solutions. continents have
clients manage in every situation. hotels and car
their revenue parks that run on
better. IDeaS.

95 + 400+ 18 7 132
%
of our clients still team members PhDs focused offices dedicated product
work with us today. employed across on revenue located development and
the globe. management. worldwide. research team
members.

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