While revenue managers often are at the center of pricing decisions for many companies, they often are charged with making decisions they are not empowered to enforce. This is where things must change; revenue managers must have seats at the executive table, writes HotelNewsNow.com columnist Tammy Farley.
Not only must revenue managers be analytical, evaluate market conditions and understand existing demand to make pricing decisions, but also they must be able to interpolate this data in the context of corporate strategy and brand standards in order to determine the best tactical actions to take. Getting it “right” is critical to the success of the profitability of the organization, which means finding the right revenue manager is essential.
The Expedia hotel market management team released in a news release three tips for capturing last-minute holiday bookings:
• Make opaque part of your online strategy today. As holiday plans firm up, value-conscious consumers looking for the best room at the last minute enjoy the element of surprise and the thrill of finding a great deal on an opaque channel.
• Mobile is a must. Mobile shoppers are looking for next-day or same-day deals, so when inventory is available, a hotel should always have a same-day offer posted.
• Expect the unexpected. This year, Christmas and New Year’s fall on weekends, creating great opportunity for hotels to pick up extra room nights from holiday travelers.
Hotel AG closed one hotel transaction every nine days for the 2011 year, the company reported in a news release. The transactions were primarily in two categories: banks and commercial, mortgage-backed securities foreclosures; and the upscale select-service portfolio market.
Today, Hotel AG has 179 hotels on the market in 39 states with a capitalization value of US$1.4 billion. Of those, 78 are under sale agreement with expectations to close in early 2012. This includes 10 portfolios of mostly Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International and InterContinental Hotels Group select-service properties, with the largest portfolio listed at just under the US$300 million range.
“We expect that 2012 will be a solid transaction market for Hotel AG, and we are very encouraged by the activity in the upper select-service segment,” said H. Keith Thompson, principal of the firm.
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Amendments to the Fiscal Code in Romania, which will become effective 1 January, change the hotel tax to flat 1% of the total daily accommodation charge for a stay, collected by the legal entities upon registration of tourists, according to Romania Business Insider. The current tax ranges from 0.5 to 5%.
Also, the new fiscal code reduces by 50% the tax on buildings and lands located at Black Sea seaside that are aimed at tourism activities for at least six months in a year. The amendment is aimed at helping extend tourism season at the seaside.
Two more Mint Hotels properties have fully converted to Hilton’s DoubleTree brand after the eight-hotel portfolio was purchased by Blackstone in mid-September.
The hotels, which are among Central London's largest, are now dubbed the DoubleTree by Hilton London-Tower of London and DoubleTree by Hilton London-Westminster. They join the DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station in the Netherlands, formerly known as the Mint Hotel Amsterdam, which converted last week.
Compiled by Jason Q. Freed.
