What’s Different About Revenue Management in Franchised Hotels?

The Lightning Round is a signature program at HSMAI’s ROC event — giving six revenue optimization leaders just six minutes and 40 seconds each to share a best practice, strategic insight, or big idea. At ROC 2019, Sharon Paine, vice president of revenue management for IHG, used her Lightning Round to ask and answer the question “What’s Different About Revenue Management in Franchised Hotels?”

KEY TAKEAWAY: One of the biggest challenges in working with franchises, according to Paine, is the many differences between individual hotels, from upscale to midsize, cities to small towns and suburbs. Because some properties rely on transient guests and last-minute bookings more than others, it can be difficult to forecast, which makes it even more important to get pricing right every single day. That means that revenue optimization professionals have to be resourceful, resilient and flexible. They also need great communication skills, and must be able to build good relationships with their different hotels. And finally, Paine said, they must deliver measurable and sustainable results that the owner can see in order to justify the cost of their job.