Personalized pricing and profit management are key topics in revenue management for hotels in Germany this year, according to Anna Heuer, Managing Director of HSMA Germany.
Duetto is a long-term Premium Partner with HSMA Germany, a trade association for the hospitality industry with a network of over 1600 members, as well as a knowledge pool for all relevant specialist areas. We recently caught up with Heuer, the association’s managing director, to find out what she sees as the biggest trends and challenges facing hoteliers this year, and what developments we can expect from HSMA in the coming months.
Heuer believes that cost pressure is a major issue for hotels at the moment. She says, “Hotels have to take care of their profit management to survive in the market in the long-term, and to be able to invest in the future.”
However, she is confident that hotel technology spending will continue to increase. “Many individual areas of the tech stack will be purchased for much shorter-term use in the future. Processes will be constantly reviewed and optimized. This will shift priorities, so that significantly more time and money is spent,” she says.
“At the same time, the even greater use of different technologies will simplify and improve the day-to-day work of our employees, which will then also pay dividends in terms of satisfaction and attractiveness,” she adds.
Industry digitalization
Heuer believes that more can be done to further educate the hotel industry on digitalization, but that this needs to be tailored to each hotel or hotel company.
“Not everything is suitable for every hotel or every group. I would like to see more individuality and further development based on the needs of hotels,” she says.
She also believes that automated processes in revenue management, such as for pricing, restrictions, or strategy, will be very important during the year ahead. She says:
“Automated processes will play an increasingly important role, especially in pricing and forecasting. The development in this area is extremely advanced and therefore the effect is enormous, especially in terms of efficiency and return on investment. More and more hoteliers will see and understand this.
“The area of strategy certainly requires the most human input, but the relief of approaching and making strategic decisions based on automated processes cannot be overlooked,” she added.
HSMA developments in 2024
It’s already a busy year for HSMA, with new ideas and projects earmarked for implementation.
“The topics of sales and marketing are once again becoming more important and we’re continuing to drive forward networking in these individual specialist areas,” Heuer explains.
“In revenue management and distribution, we’re focusing heavily on direct sales and supporting hotels with tips and tricks on positioning themselves independently and sustainably,” she adds.
- Discover what other industry experts believe are the revenue trends to look out for in 2024. Download our latest special report ‘Trends & Predictions to Advance Your Hotel Revenue Strategy in 2024’: https://www.duettocloud.com/special-reports/advance-your-revenue-strategy-in-2024