To make money during a crisis, it is not enough to reduce expenses - you need to increase income. Hoteliers will benefit from dynamic pricing, smart marketing and increased customer loyalty
Focus
In the hotel market, sales departments often work “with everyone” - the hotel does not have a clear positioning and its own established niche in the market. And in this case, it is extremely difficult to compete, bargain with clients, justify the price, and your competitive advantages. By highlighting its own market segment and, accordingly, the format of the target audience, the hotel will be able to offer the best price in its segment and win in the competition for groups and private requests. In our practice, there was an example when a mini-hotel in St. Petersburg, opened like many other objects of this kind, without a clear focus, becoming “family” (services were added to accommodate families with children), increased sales by 21% mainly through direct bookings.
Do clear online promotion
In difficult economic conditions, you cannot cut your marketing budget. Marketing is an investment that is sure to lead to increased sales and income. First of all, this is advertising on the Internet. Contextual advertising, indirect and direct requests, geotargeting management, reducing the number of synonyms and non-targeted requests, changing sites to customer requests, creating landing pages, communicating on the site with potential guests and much more. In our practice, there have been cases when clear online promotion led to an increase in direct bookings by 50%.
Connect new sales channels
Oddly enough, hotels often work the old fashioned way: two or three key travel agents, two or three key corporate partners, one or two online platforms and their own website - that’s all that generates sales consistently over a long period of time. However, there are many other partners and sales channels that can bring new customers. It is necessary to set the sales department the task of studying competitors' clients, studying your guest base in order to find those groups that were not previously paid attention to. And do this not just once, but every month, quarter, year. We had experience when a three-star hotel chose a new sales channel - wedding agencies and portals. Concluded relevant agency agreements, compiled a package of documents and promotional materials and placed them in the offices of new partners. This led to the booking of new banquets in the first three months after the launch in the amount of more than 3 million rubles.
Increase guest loyalty
Everyone knows that attracting a new client is three to five times more expensive than retaining an existing one. Therefore, the most obvious way to reduce the cost of attracting customers is to actively work with old guests, turning them into loyal guests. Convert every visit and online booking into subsequent purchases directly. It is necessary that the guest is satisfied and remembers the hotel. A hotel loyalty program is, first of all, not discounts, but the opportunity to book a room when they are not available anywhere, choose the same room whose window you liked during your previous visit, get a robe and slippers in a category in which this is not standard, or get a room upgrade when you don't expect it. After all, the Pareto principle also works in the hotel business: 20% of guests bring 80% of the income, and the remaining 80% bring only 20%.
At the request of one of the hotels in Voronezh, we compiled a database of guests who were loyal five years ago, but do not visit the hotel now. A sales representative called each of the 62 clients included in the sample with congratulations (the promotion was timed to coincide with the holiday) and a mini-survey: why does the client no longer use the hotel, what is he dissatisfied with, what is he using now? Within two months of calling, 21 clients made reservations. In another case, a country hotel introduced the practice of surveying its guests on check-out, asking them to book their next visit. Conversion into bookings was 8% of the surveyed guests, and into arrivals - 5.5%.
Diversify prices and services
Dynamic pricing in the current conditions is becoming not just a nice marketing ploy, but a vital skill for the sales department of any hotel. It is necessary to adapt the specific price, and not the size of the discount, to the level of demand, competition, loading of the tariff that is declared in different sales channels. Flexible management of indicators: how many people are booking, for what period, are you ready to pay immediately, is food or transfer needed, what target audience does the client belong to - all this will allow you to present the best price to this particular segment and increase the total average cost of a room sold by 16- 18%.
Review hotel standards to ensure they best match guest needs, demand and rate. If your hotel sells a room for 5000+ rubles. per day and according to the standards offers all guests a robe and slippers upon arrival, then if the rate is reduced to 2000 rubles, for example in the low season, you can remove the robe and slippers from the rooms by placing a sign “If you need a robe and slippers, we will We’re happy to provide them for free.” Product consumption and washing will be reduced by at least 50%, but the service will remain. The same can be done with different cotton swabs, caps, combs, shaving accessories, etc.
Manage the price of an hour of employee work
Remove as many employees as possible. Outsourcing is not difficult. The main principle is that staff costs should not exceed 30% of the hotel’s turnover. Involve as many employees as needed at the moment. For example, if four people are needed to serve breakfast, then let these be employees who come to work only in the morning. All non-operational services need to be critically shaken up for the possibility of being outsourced and receiving their services upon request. Thus, a hotel located in the center of Novosibirsk, having introduced the principle of hourly work of employees in the food service in accordance with the workload of the restaurants, reached an indicator of 18% of personnel costs in the food and beverage department.
Conduct an audit of engineering systems
This can be done either by the supplier of equipment installed in the hotel (water consumption audit, for example, offers Grohe), or by an independent service. Within 200 thousand rubles. you will be offered solutions that will allow you to save on utilities. The result will most likely easily cover the cost of the audit. For example, to save water, you may need to replace just a few adapters, or to reduce electricity costs, you may need to change light bulbs and install motion sensors.
Elena Lysenkova CEO of Hospitality Income Consulting- Read 39833 times
- SPECIAL VIDEO ON THE TOPIC:
To fully manage a hotel, it is necessary not only to track its main indicators, but also to compare them with those of competitors. Hotel Advisors Hospitality Management & Consulting company presented a detailed analysis of the hotel market of St. Petersburg for 2014-2015 in terms of occupancy levels, average room price and profitability of rooms in non-chain hotels in the Northern capital of the 3 and 4 star segment.
Analysis of occupancy, average room price (ADR) and room profitability (RevPar) of St. Petersburg hotels in 2015 and 2014
For the analysis, we used statistical data from non-chain hotels with rooms from 30 to 100 rooms (75% of the sample) in the 3 and 4 star segments, which are prevalent in the St. Petersburg market (the number of non-chain hotels in the city is more than 80%).
In 2015, the occupancy of all analyzed hotels increased by 9.29% compared to 2014 and amounted to 73.26%. Hotels in the 3 and 4 star categories also saw an increase of 9.63% and 9.21%, bringing the final occupancy rates to 69.03% and 76.32% respectively. Rice. 1 illustrates changes in 2015 values compared to 2014.
It should be noted that the number of rooms available for sale in 2015 decreased by 1.27% compared to 2014. At the same time, in 2015, in the 3* hotel segment there was an increase in the number of rooms available for sale by 4.71%, while in 4* hotels there was a decline of 5.30%. These indicators may indicate both the introduction of new rooms and the closure of part of the room stock for repairs or for other reasons.
Occupancy rates by month for all analyzed hotels
In 2015, hotel occupancy was higher than the 2014 values: 4.27%-15.01%, depending on the month (Fig. 2). The greatest increase was noticeable from June, which may be due to the onset of the white nights season, as well as a number of political factors. In the second half of the year, market and political conditions continued to influence performance.
Occupancy rates by month for 3* hotels
A positive trend in occupancy was observed in the 3* hotel segment. So in 2015, room occupancy was 69.03%, which is 9.63% more than in 2014, when the average occupancy for the year was 62.97%. Note that the indicators at the beginning and middle of the year were slightly lower than the annual average, but in the last 3 months the largest increase in values from 12.91% to 16.05% was noticeable (Fig. 3).
Occupancy rates by month for 4* hotels
4* hotels were 76.32% occupied in 2015, and 69.89% in 2014. Compared to 3* hotels, the occupancy of “fours” was on average 9.21% higher. The greatest increase in indicators was observed in the period from June to September and in December (Fig. 4).
Average room sales rate (ADR)
The average rate for hotels in 2015 increased by 158.13 rubles, or 4.42%. In 3* hotels the rate increase was 108.18 rubles, or 3.95%, and in 4* hotels 221.84 rubles, or 5.52%. Growth in the 4* hotel segment was 1.57% higher than in the three-star hotel segment (Fig. 5).
ADR by month for all analyzed hotels
As noted above, during the year the ADR indicator increased by 158.13 rubles compared to 2014 from 3581.03 to 3739.16 rubles. At the same time, in February, April, May and December there was a decrease compared to 2014. The most significant decrease was in February by 3.96% and in May by 2.89% (Fig. 6).
ADR of 3* hotels by month
In the 3* hotel segment, the average room sales rate in January, June, July, August, September and November showed an increase, while in other months there was a decrease compared to 2014. During the period from February to May, ADR was lower than last year, which may indicate that hotels are struggling to maintain occupancy in order to prevent a decrease in income and key financial indicators during a period of low demand. The reduction in tariffs in May compared to last year could be mainly due not so much to a decrease in demand (although this factor cannot be discarded), but to the holding of the International Economic Forum in 2014 from May 21 to 24, and not in June, as usual. In December, a reduction in tariffs compared to 2014 could be the reason for the largest increase in load in the segment (Fig. 7).
ADR of 4* hotels by month
In the 4* hotel segment, there was practically no decrease in the average selling price of a room, with the exception of February and May. However, the reduction in tariffs in May can also mainly be explained by the SPIEF being held in June, and not in May, as was the case in 2014. In the remaining months there was a stable increase in ADR depending on the month from 2.24% to 11.62%. The greatest growth of more than 9% was observed in January, June, October, November and December (Fig. 8).
Profitability of room stock (RevPar)
In general, for hotels, the rate of return on rooms (RevPar) compared to 2014 increased by 338.91 rubles, or 14.12%, from 2400.58 rubles to 2739.49. The growth in the 3* hotel segment amounted to 240.77 rubles, or 13.97%, from 1723.91 to 1964.68, and in the 4* hotel segment – 428.09, or 15.23%, from 2810.01 rubles to 3238 ,10 rubles (Fig. 9).
RevPar by month for all analyzed hotels
Figure 10 shows RevPar values for 2015 and 2014. Despite a decrease in the average room sales rate in some months, but due to an increase in occupancy, the RevPar indicator for hotels throughout all months of 2015 showed an increase from 0.15% to 22.77%.
RevPar of 3* hotels by month
As noted above, the increase in the profitability of rooms in the 3* segment amounted to 240.77 rubles, or 13.97%. The greatest increase in the indicator was observed in the period from August to the end of the year from 11.31% to 29.46%. In the period from the beginning of 2015 to June, RevPar growth was insignificant (Figure 11).
RevPar of 4* hotels by month
The growth in profitability of rooms in the 4* segment on average for the year was slightly higher than the growth in the 3* segment and amounted to 428.09 rubles, or 15.23%. The greatest growth, as in the 3* segment, was noticeable in the second half of the year, however, in both January and March there was a more significant increase in the indicator than in the 3* segment. The only month for 4* hotels with a negative result was February -1.01%, but taking into account the statistical error, we can say that the indicator is identical to 2014 (Fig. 12).
General conclusions
Analyzing the key indicators of 2015, we can say that in general, for most hotels, the year was marked by an increase in occupancy, the average selling price of a room and the profitability of the room stock. At the same time, the largest growth in key indicators was in the 4* hotel segment. A comparison of key indicators is presented in Figure 13.
The hotel season is in full swing, but you still have few visitors? A new hotel opened across the street and immediately attracted your clients? No, this doesn't mean we need to close, it's just time to improve the hotel.
Read the material to learn how to improve your hotel and increase its profits to make your business prosperous.
First way: improve the condition of the hotel
Perhaps the small hole in the wall that your son punched at the age of 9 brings sentimental tears to your eyes, and the coffee stain on the wall is not a stain at all, but evidence of a passionate marital relationship, but the guests are not interested.
Don't give them a reason to doubt the level of your hotel. Update your renovation regularly and follow current design trends.
Try to decorate your rooms in an original way to break away from the typical hotels.
Method two: create a reason to visit the hotel
One day, in a small restaurant in Baden-Baden, the orchestra began playing a waltz by Johann Strauss. Today this would not surprise anyone: “well, of course, you have to eat while listening to music.”
But then the visitors were completely delighted, because it was literally the first time they had thought of serving such a sophisticated sauce. A couple of years later, hotelier Caesar Ritz, founder of the Ritz Hotel and Restaurant, was known to literally everyone.
Since then, European rentiers have religiously observed the principle: the hotel is the center of cultural life. Anything that makes you bored is not for the eyes of guests.
What role does this principle play in the modern hotel business?
Help a music group concert so that fans come and stay with you. Celebrity autograph session? Why shouldn't she go to the hotel?
If you know a reason that will attract customers, tell us about it. All significant and high-profile events will ensure an increase in hotel profits.
Another way to improve your hotel: make something out of nothing
It is possible that there is no worthwhile reason. The main season is noisy, the tourists have left, and the local poster reports that the next concert/football match/comic book festival is in two years. What to do?
Create suitable occasions yourself.
Part of the income of American and European hotel companies comes from special weekend tours, often timed to coincide with a generally accepted date.
Tasting wines from local wineries, celebrating Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day (more than 45 thousand people celebrate it in Moscow alone) are suitable.
How to organize? This could be a one-time contract with an event agency or any other company that is no less interested in new guests than you are: a museum, an exhibition, even just a store or pub.
But support from your side will not hurt either. For example, it could be a full-time or specially hired designer or artist who will create a thematic exhibition.
If the theme of the event suits the hotel, form a permanent partnership. Several successful “Architect Days” that really attracted tourists are already a tradition, which implies extraordinary conferences and conventions that will increase the hotel’s occupancy several times.
Of the minuses: event agencies are usually heavily constrained by the budget. Pros: this approach works, does not bring unnecessary risks and does not require special investments. And finally, the banquet hall will no longer be idle.
Method four: Offer your guests something new
Vacationers not only sleep in their rooms or walk around the city. Many of them are ready to have fun with what the hotel has to offer. Allocating an area of 40 or 60 square meters for a classic hotel is not a problem, but this area will perfectly accommodate a questroom with all the equipment.
Use not only someone else's franchise, fashion for it comes and goes, but also your own scenarios, places and adventures. Charge a nominal fee for entertainment. A high price will scare away guests, but a low price, especially coupled with a really interesting quest, will significantly increase the hotel’s profit.
If your budget allows, hire a decorator to create an attraction or escape room that matches the style of the entire hotel. Or sublease the space to a company that suits you.
It is advisable that the quest is not one-time only. Sports-type competitions, which are still gaining popularity, where a team tries to surpass the result of another team or improve its own, are much better suited.
Hotel Improvement Method #5: Give Guests an Incentive to Return
Don't forget to use your old customer base. If you've been in business for several years, a well-designed loyalty system will be more useful than marketing to new customers only.
For example, business trips have nothing to do with seasonality. If you enter into a corporate contract for ongoing service with several companies, you will reliably increase the hotel's occupancy.
Finding such clients is not difficult: as a rule, the payment for the vacation in this case is made by an organization, not an individual. Moreover, non-cash payments are used.
Similarly, pay attention to any group trips and develop interesting offers for joint recreation. The team that once went to a resort or corporate event outside of the “hot” time will come next year if you manage to interest them.
And do not forget that occupancy increasingly depends on how the hotel is presented on social networks and on popular booking sites: a lot of positive reviews with beautiful photographs of clients has been and remains the main key to success!
- 649.25 KbMinistry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
Federal Agency for Education
RUSSIAN STATE UNIVERSITY OF TOURISM B SERVICE
INSTITUTE OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY
(Moscow) (branch)
Course work
in the discipline: "Economics of tourism and hotel business"
Topic: Measures to increase the occupancy of hotel rooms.
Student Petushkova Yulia Antonovna E3-1
Full name, course
Date of delivery to the department
Student's signature
Scientific supervisor Ph.D., Kryukova E. M.
Full name, student degree and title
Date of inspection, assessment
Manager's signature
Moscow
2011
Content
Introduction
1.Theoretical section
1.1. Specifics of the hotel business..…………..…… ..……….……..…….5
1.2. Hotel performance indicators…………………………………12
1.3. Ways to increase hotel occupancy…………..………………………14
2.Analytical section
2.1. Analysis and prospects for the development of the Moscow hotel complex……………………………………………………… …………………..……………….16
2.2. General characteristics and analysis of the activities of the Cosmos Hotel…………………………………………………………………………………………22
2.2.1. General characteristics and history of the development of the Cosmos Hotel ...22
2.2.2. Characteristics and analysis of technical and economic indicators
activities of the Cosmos Hotel………………………………………....32
2.2.3. Analysis of the implementation of the income plan of the Cosmos Hotel in 2009…………......………………… ………………………………… ………35
2.3. SWOT – analysis of the Cosmos Hotel…………………………………38
3. Project section
3.1. Project of measures to increase the occupancy of the rooms at the Cosmos Hotel…………………………………………………… ……….42
Conclusion
List of sources used
Applications
Introduction
Currently, the tourism and hotel business is one of the most promising areas of activity. More and more tourists are coming to Russia from foreign countries, where the hotel business is much better developed, and the service delivery system and quality of service are much higher, but, unfortunately, only a few Russian hotels are able to fully satisfy the client’s needs and provide high-level service.
In recent years, work has been actively carried out to create a positive image of Moscow as an international tourist, cultural and business center. At the same time, the tourism potential of the capital is not used to its full extent and is not effective enough. Further development of the tourism industry is possible only with active government support in a number of areas.
The relevance of the topic of the course work lies in the fact that the development of the hotel business, as well as increasing competition, requires constant improvement of hotel operations and, in particular, an increase in the occupancy of the hotel rooms.
The purpose of the course work is to develop measures to improve the occupancy of the room stock.
In accordance with the goal, the following tasks must be solved:
- analyze the current state and prospects for the development of the hotel business in Moscow;
- consider the organizational structure of the hotel and the place occupied by the reception and accommodation service in it;
- study the business processes occurring in the service and identify on this basis the main “gaps” in its activities;
- conduct a situational analysis of the hotel’s activities, and on its basis set goals and objectives, and develop a hotel development strategy;
- develop a set of measures to improve the activities of the reception and accommodation service based on the analysis and in the context of the selected strategies.
The object of the study is the Cosmos Hotel.
The subject of the study is the business processes taking place in the Cosmos hotel.
The information and statistical base was the official publications of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation, laws and regulations of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Moscow, and corporate documents of the Cosmos Hotel.
The methodological and theoretical basis of the course work was the theories and concepts presented in the works of domestic and foreign authors, specialists in the field of marketing theory in the service sector. During the research process, general scientific methods of system analysis and synthesis were used. The analysis of statistical material was carried out using economic and statistical methods, such as the method of significance criteria, the scoring method and a number of other methods.
The topic of the course work is modern and important for the Cosmos Hotel, which determines its relevance and practical significance.
1.Theoretical section
1.1. Specifics of the hotel business
All hotels are classified according to various criteria, with the most commonly used being the following;
1. By size:
Small (up to 150 rooms);
Medium (from 150 to 300 rooms);
Large (from 300 to 600 rooms);
Mega-hotels (more than 600 rooms).
2. By type of hotel product:
Hotels;
Motels;
Suite - hotels;
Residential hotels (for permanent residence),
B&B hotels (breakfast and bed),
Timeshare hotels
Condominium hotels,
3.At prices (US classification):
Budget – 25 -35 $;
Economical – 35 – 55 $;
Medium – $55 -95;
First-class – 95 -195 $;
Apartment – 65 – 125 $;
Fashionable – 125 – 425 $.
4. By target markets: business hotels, resort hotels, congress centers, youth hotels, tourist camps.
5. By specialization: medical hotels, labor and recreation camps.
6. According to the terms of use: timeshare; condominium; for long stays; for conferences.
7. By form of ownership: state, municipal, joint-stock; departmental, public associations (organizations), joint ventures, private enterprises.
8. By location: urban; resort (in a resort area); airport hotels (transit); roadside (on the road); alpotels;
9. By means of transport: boats, flotels, rotels, flytels.
10.By length of stay:
For long stays;
For a short stay.
Classification of hotels by comfort level plays a vital role in the hotel business.
The comfort level is a complex criterion consisting of:
State of the room stock;
Condition of furniture and equipment;
Number and condition of food establishments;
Condition of the building, access roads, arrangement of the surrounding area;
Technical equipment (availability of telephone, satellite communications, refrigerators, minibars, air conditioners, etc.);
Information Support;
Ensuring the possibility of providing a number of additional services.
Establishing a comfort level is the basis of more than thirty classification systems. However, in each state the level of comfort, as a classification criterion, is understood differently, which is due to cultural, historical, national traditions, as well as a number of economic and other factors
The most common classifications by comfort level are:
1. European, often called the star system. Its classification is based on the French national system, where the class of a hotel is determined based on quantitative characteristics: the number of services provided and the level of comfort, which are awarded by the tourism department.
The system has 5 categories, which are designated by stars.
* - simple hotel, basic comfort; consider the organizational structure of the hotel and the place occupied by the reception and accommodation service in it;
study the business processes occurring in the service and identify on this basis the main “gaps” in its activities;
conduct a situational analysis of the hotel’s activities, and on its basis set goals and objectives, and develop a hotel development strategy;
develop a set of measures to improve the activities of the reception and accommodation service based on the analysis and in the context of the selected strategies.
Content
Introduction
1.Theoretical section
1.1. Specifics of the hotel business..…………..……..……….……..…….5
1.2. Hotel performance indicators…………………………………12
1.3. Ways to increase hotel occupancy…………..………………………14
2.Analytical section
2.1. Analysis and prospects for the development of the Moscow hotel complex………………………………………………………..……………….16
2.2. General characteristics and analysis of the activities of the Cosmos Hotel…………………………………………………………………………………22
2.2.1. General characteristics and history of the development of the Cosmos Hotel ...22
2.2.2. Characteristics and analysis of technical and economic indicators
activities of the Cosmos Hotel………………………………………....32
2.2.3. Analysis of the implementation of the income plan of the Cosmos Hotel in 2009………………......……………………………………………………………… ………35
2.3. SWOT – analysis of the Cosmos Hotel…………………………………38
3. Project section
3.1. Project of measures to increase the occupancy of the rooms at the Cosmos Hotel……………………………………………………………….42
Conclusion
List of sources used
Summing up the year, specialists from the hotel business and tourism department of Cushman & Wakefield note that the volume of the quality supply market in 2016 grew by only 2.8% (471 net rooms, taking into account the closure of a number of hotels for reconstruction), which allowed Moscow hotels improve operating performance against the backdrop of restored demand for accommodation. For many hotels, 2016 was the first period since 2013 when the annual budget was met and even exceeded.
The average market occupancy level for Moscow hotels was 69.6% in 2016 (+5.9% compared to the results of 2015), which was the highest figure since 2006 (72.4%). At the same time, the average price per room (ADR) reached 6,428.8 rubles. (+6.5% to the results of 2015), this made it possible to bring the profitability per available number (RevPAR) to the level of 4,476.4 rubles, which is 12.8% higher than the result of the previous year.
According to the RevPAR indicator, the most impressive results were demonstrated by “luxury” hotels (Luxury) - 19%, as well as hotels in the “above average” price segment (Upscale) - 14.4%, and if in “luxury” hotels the growth of this indicator was ensured by due to an increase in the average price per room (at the end of the year - 13,624.5 rubles with occupancy of 64.7%), then in the Upscale segment - mainly due to an increase in occupancy (at the end of the year the average price per room was 5,745.3 rubles ., and the load is 72.0%).
The most popular hotels in Moscow were hotels in the mid-price category (Midscale), whose average annual occupancy level was 78.2% (+9.2% compared to 2015), while the average price per room in this segment remained virtually unchanged (4,645 .6 rubles, +0.4% compared to 2015). Finally, hotels in the 5-star segment (Upper-Upscale) also actively increased their occupancy (76.1%, 7.5% higher than in the previous year), but at the same time were able to increase the cost of accommodation (8,218.8 rubles. , 4.8% higher than in 2015).
The only segment that showed negative RevPAR results (-4.6% compared to 2015) was the Economy hotel segment. This trend occurred as a result of the titanic efforts of hotels to maintain occupancy (71.0%, 0.4% higher than a year earlier), due to which they had to sacrifice tariffs (average annual ADR level in 2016 - 3,147.1 rubles, 5.0% lower than in 2015).
“If we talk about forecasts for 2017, we expect that the rise in prices for accommodation will continue, perhaps exceeding the average annual inflation rate predicted by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (target inflation in 2017 is 4.0%), this will return hotels to the growth zone income,” comments Marina Usenko, partner, hotel business and tourism department of Cushman & Wakefield. “The main task for hoteliers will be to convert the rate recovery into increased profits.”
