With 2023 now well and truly underway, we look ahead to what the rest of the year holds for the hospitality industry. To get a fresh perspective, we spoke to two of the newest additions to the Duetto family, our new Directors of Hospitality Services EMEA, Erica Delfino, and Andre Santos.
Erica was previously Area Revenue Manager for Melia Hotels, in charge of a portfolio of hotels in Germany, and Andre comes to us from RMCC (Revenue Management Consolidated Center) EMEA for Hilton Worldwide where he worked as a Cluster Revenue Manager overlooking multiple Hilton Owned and Managed properties.
Here, they chat with us about their trends and predictions for 2023.
What are your trends & predictions for the hotel industry in 2023?
Erica: Most travel segments have recovered from the pandemic, however with recession hitting, the focus on costs and maximizing profit will be even higher. In 2022 we saw an ADR increase across the markets and I believe this will be key in 2023 as well. More investments in technology will be needed, not only to help level staffing issues, but most of all if hoteliers are willing to be proactive again, in their strategy and long-term goals.
Andre: In 2023, we can expect more hotels to adopt technology in their day-to-day operations. Revenue Management Systems that allow for customization and personalized revenue in not only rooms but outlets, meeting rooms, other rentals, and, above all, guest experiences, will be vital in driving that change into a total revenue management mindset, ultimately impacting the main goal - which is profitability.
We will also see China’s doors opening up (hopefully) which will flood the market with demand. The big question is whether your hotel will be ready to capture that demand. And whether you have the tools to maximize the revenue in a situation that has never happened before.
What was your experience with Duetto before joining us?
Andre: I started the process of onboarding Duetto in a previous role in Portugal but never ended up using the system myself, so I had little to no experience with Duetto before joining. I have a lot of IDeaS experience from my time at Hilton which I hope will prove useful.
Erica: I was a Duetto user, so I have experienced the system from the customer's perspective for almost five years. It was very interesting and rewarding to see how Duetto evolved in such a short time, with new functionalities and releases, some of which were coming from clients' feedback.
What made you decide to take the leap from hotels to hotel tech? And how are you finding the transition so far?
Erica: After many years in revenue management, I was ready for the next challenge and hotel tech was to me the next logical step; it is a fun, fast-paced environment and constantly growing, almost knowing no limits. You can feel all this at Duetto! The team is great and I am looking forward to giving my contribution.
Andre: This is a change I’ve been wanting to do since I started in hotels nine years ago. I’m very happy I did it now and not before as I think it’s extremely important to have worked on the hotel side first to be able to relate to our clients. I think it was the best decision I’ve made; hotel tech is a lot faster to evolve and a lot more dynamic than the hotel industry and I’m enjoying that.
What do you hope to achieve with Duetto in 2023?
Andre: I’m hoping to learn a lot more about Duetto, understand the market needs and start contributing to improving Duetto’s revenue engine, which is already the best in its class!
Erica: As a first step, I want to further improve my knowledge of the system by learning all the possibilities that Duetto can offer, but my long-term goal is to help hoteliers be successful by building their own strategy with our RMS.
Discover more trends & predictions from industry leaders in our latest eBook: Targeting Greater Profitability In 2023.
Download your FREE copy today: https://www.duettocloud.com/special-reports/targeting-greater-profitability-2023-trends-predictions-to-boost-your-revenue-strategies