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While some challenges persist in the hospitality industry, things are looking up in certain areas, as revenue optimization leaders discussed during the HSMAI Brand Chief Revenue Officer Virtual Executive Roundtable. Participants included professionals from: Accor, Auberge Resorts, Best Western International, Choice Hotels International, Dream Hotel Group, G6 Hospitality, Graduate Hotels, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, IHG, Loews Hotels & Co, Margaritaville Enterprises, Omni Hotels & Resorts, Outrigger Hospitality Group, Preferred Hotel Group, Red Roof, Rosewood Hotel Group, Sonesta Hotels, and The Venetian Resort. The roundtable was presented in partnership with The Hotels Network and Uplift.
During this meeting, the leaders in revenue optimization discussed what they’re looking forward to in travel, the vital components of forecasting today, how owner expectations have recently changed, and more. The following shows the insights shared among the group.
Q&A: How would you rate these challenges facing commercial talent in hospitality?
Q&A: In the new talent and work landscape of your corporate team, which of these themes are priorities for you personally in 2022?
Q&A: What are the most vital components of your forecasting today?
- Brand makeup
- Business and market intelligence
- Recent booking trends
- Customer sentiment data; flight data
- International government travel changes
- More understanding that forecasting is an imperfect science
- Daily COVID trends
- Cancellation trends
Q&A: What demand anomalies are your biggest challenge?
- Weekday and shift to shoulder nights
- Short-term cancels
- Unpredictable information from CDC
- Airlines still not at full capacity
- Compression events are so variable
- Higher cancellation rates due to more flexible cxl policies needed
Q&A: How have owner expectations changed in the last six months?
- They’re still reluctant to spend money to make money
- Expecting ADR increases to fix all problems
- Trying to find ways to make up for cost increases
- More confidence with the operator based on where we came from as demand returns
- They’re looking at industry forecasts geared toward investments and expect the same results
- They believe that higher profit margins should be sustainable without increasing staff
Q&A: What are the biggest issues around staffing your team that are still keeping you up at night?
- Talent getting poached by outside industries in droves
- More analytically minded folks who understand big data
- The rise in starting salary
- Lack of technical skills from within the industry
- Preventing burnout of team
- Building a talent bench in case of sudden departures
- Keeping pay increases up with the high inflation and consumer costs