Duetto welcomed more than 50 hoteliers, revenue strategists and asset managers to our inaugural Revenue Lab, held at the fabulous citizenM Paris Gare de Lyon in Paris on 27 June.
The Paris Revenue Lab looked at ways in which Parisian hotels could transform their approach to revenue in a market where demand is high, but profitability has become stagnant.
Industry experts came together to share a morning packed full of educational content and insightful discussion as we considered how to lead a change in revenue practices.
To start, Gabriel Matar, Founder of Sentinel Hospitality, talked about the current state of the hotel offer in France, and the key supply-demand trends. He also showed how the profitability of hotels in France has been dropping. And explained that hotels needed to either increase revenue or decrease costs if they were to increase their bottom line.
Pauline Billette, Founder of Rev Up, considered the role of the revenue manager and the move from revenue management to revenue strategy. Her presentation also looked at how revenue professionals can use automation, and the importance of having a tech stack that is integrated, with a PMS and channel manager needing a two-way communication.
She shared the minimum features an RMS should offer, such as forecasts, booking curve, pricing strategy and strong BI.
Learning Revenue Strategy from Aviation
Marcé, founder, XMO Consultant, turned attention to the airline industry, showing us how the airlines have been optimising their pricing using automation and tech for many years. It was great to get insight into an industry that has become so adept at revenue strategy.
He explained to the audience how airlines, such as Ryanair, have done well by selling their ancillaries and that travellers now expect price fluctuations in line with demand. The audience actually laughed at the idea of a fixed-price airline ticket. Price parity does not apply in aviation, it appears!
Mona Maamari, VP Pricing and Forecasting, Radisson Hotel Group, who oversees more than 400 hotels in the EMEA region, presented on ‘Why automated revenue management is necessary to optimize pricing.’ She explained the benefits of Open Pricing, where hotels constantly flex room rates up and down to reach the most attractive price point for the market.
Maamari explained to the group how automation enables revenue managers to change rates faster, achieving greater profits.
Duetto’s engineering solutions director, Vincent Lecluze, and customer success manager, Melody Grelat, talked about Open Pricing and how to use it, as well as providing suggestions such as using segmentation within the RMS to price and monitor for specific markets or clientele (for example loyal clients).
Holy Randriamanamihaga took the group through the recent installation of Duetto at the Hotel Marignan and how easy it is to use. She gave us a very energetic and enthusiastic review!
The Revenue Lab came to a conclusion with a panel discussion including Mona Maamari from Radisson Hotel Group; Emmanuel Lacour, Head of Revenue Management at Village Hotels UK; Aurore Poupard, Senior Revenue Manager, Hotels Emeraude; and Gabriella Strasser, Reservations and Revenue Management Manager, Hotel Marignan, all of whom explained what part Duetto had played in improving their business.
All in all, it was a fabulous day of learning, best practice sharing and networking.
See You Next Year!
Paris is a strong, but unpredictable market, especially in recent years with events such as the Yellow Vests having an impact on the market.
For hotels in Paris to succeed they need to be able to sell at the right time, at the right price, to the right people. Therefore, having a tool such as Duetto that can provide real time insight and up to 365 days of forecasting, is critical.
We hope to host another Revenue Lab in Europe in early 2020. Stay tuned for information to follow!