NASHVILLE, Tennessee — The revenue management and strategy landscape in the hotel industry has changed in recent years, both in terms of internal teams and how guests are booking.
In a video interview, Jenna Fishel, senior vice president of commercial strategy at First Hospitality, said to be successful, revenue managers must be empowered to prescribe solutions for the entire property sales team.
"It's important that they can really command the team and influence decisions, whether that be through a mix of sales, pricing, marketing spend or sales deployment," she said.
Hotel demand has been stabilizing over the past year, Fishel said. While business travel has been returning to pre-COVID-19 levels, full recovery will likely take another year or two. First Hospitality's hotel portfolio has seen a significant increase in leisure demand, and group demand continues to be strong.
"We continue to be up year over year double-digits in group, and we see strong pace throughout the rest of the year," she said.
While it's starting the lengthen, the booking window is still relatively short, Fishel said. Guest behavior is changing, and the question is how hoteliers are training guests to book their stays.
"It is really important that we understand the merchandising of our properties and how they're available for sale online and really understanding and investing in marketing teams that are going to have a huge influence and impact on shifting from competing hotels to our own hotels," she said.