Contracted business, meetings, and events will play a central role in the revenue strategy of Minor Hotels Europe and Americas in 2024, as key drivers of revenue, while maintaining a healthy segmentation mix.
“B2B will be a key part of our business mix in 2024, as it can help to mitigate the potential impact of decreasing guest spending on B2C segments. By focusing on managing contracted and group business, we can maintain our advantage and continue to drive demand and optimize results in 2024,” says Cori Galindo, VP Commercial Growth, Minor Hotels Europe and Americas.
“For us, the focus is building the right segmentation for each type of property as it’s the main pillar for creating a successful commercial strategy. A healthy business mix in terms of segments, channels, and feeder markets is the best approach to optimize revenue. In terms of distribution, our focus is on maximizing and improving our profitability through the right distribution model, keeping the focus also on direct digital channels growth,” he adds.
This blog is an excerpt from our latest special report, ‘Trends & Predictions to Advance Your Hotel Revenue Strategy in 2024’. Download your free copy here: https://www.duettocloud.com/special-reports/advance-your-revenue-strategy-in-2024
Galindo and the team are proactively gearing up for the upcoming year, with the anticipation that the strong performance of contracted business and groups can counteract the potential fluctuation in B2C demand.
“From an economic perspective, most of the continents foresee a weaker economy next year and even higher inflation. This could impact customers’ spending behavior which could be reduced for the next year, impacting leisure/holiday activities,” Galindo predicts.
“Also, we should include other uncertain factors such as political instability, changing consumers' preferences, market evolution, etc. which suggest a challenging context. However, the industry will continue recuperating business and maintaining its 2023 advantage in 2024,” he adds.
Digital Investment
Galindo believes technology is key to gaining an advantage in our industry. He urges hotels and technology companies to: “focus on the transformative potential of digitalization in shaping the future of MICE experiences. For example, digitalization on event planning, attendee engagement, technological innovations, and the evolving landscape of MICE. Additionally, improving revenue management through technology, processes, and teams with a total revenue vision can also encourage digitalization.”
Automated Processes
Galindo says that, in a world where demand patterns can change rapidly, hotel companies such as Minor Hotels need to ensure revenue processes are as fast and efficient as possible.
“This can only be done through the support of technology and automated processes. This will allow us to have a competitive advantage thanks to better time to market,” he says.
Working with a technology partner such as Duetto enables Galindo and his team to drive operational efficiency and competitive edge. Rather than focusing on mundane revenue management tasks such as reporting, Revenue Managers can work on strategy.
“Revenue Managers need to work by exception, focusing only on those days where strategy plays a key role. Also, this will allow our Revenue Managers to evolve and apply revenue management techniques in other revenue streams,” Galindo adds.
Valuing the Human Element
While Minor Hotels will continue to focus on its technology investment in 2024, Galindo is quick to point out that the biggest benefits come from combining human talent with automated solutions.
“To deliver the most efficient revenue strategy takes the perfect combination of human expertise and the power of technology,” Galindo says.
“Thanks to technology disruption and artificial intelligence, revenue management will benefit through automation, avoiding manual, high time-consuming tasks, and guaranteeing teams to stay focused on the important decisions.”
- 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.