On October 4 Duetto took part in an informative webinar on how to connect the dots between guest experience and revenue. The event saw John Lingos-Webb from Duetto, Clément Dénarié from Oaky, and Danica Smith from ReviewPro join forces to discuss the role of data and the operational impacts on the hotel. The panel was joined by mutual customer Miguel Plantier from Pestana Hotels who talked about his integrated tech stack and how he makes a connected ecosystem work for his properties.
The conversation centered around three key themes: data, the impact on guest experience and revenue, and the importance of integrations.
Data
The discussion started with data: its role in guest experience and its ultimate role in driving revenue. There are a lot of angles to how the triangulation of data, guest experience, and revenue can be discussed, but what we ultimately want to know is what data sources hoteliers have available to them and how should they use them in their revenue strategies.
Smith commented: “Big data is more relevant than ever before. Data in the guest experience is a commercial priority for hoteliers. PMS data and guest intelligence combined gives us critical trends in our revenue strategy that we can then use for upselling and driving ancillary services, which ultimately drives additional RevPAR.”
Lingos-Webb highlighted how data can be talked about in three ways:
- The need for clean data
- Utilizing the right sources of data, and optimizing based off all available data
- Using data that informs the guest experience, and the opportunity to maximize revenue based on this knowledge.
Denarie added: “We need to look at upselling as part of the guest journey. Upselling is both a clear revenue driver and a clear guest experience driver. If we take simple segmentation data we can understand the purpose of stay, and then we can personalize not only the offer but also the pricing. Through our integration with Duetto, we can do exactly this, and we have seen an uplift in 40% RevPAR through this industry-first pricing initiative.”
Plantier added: “We want platforms that can aggregate data on guest experience so that we can make informed decisions. At Pestana, we use consolidated data sources to aggregate data and make sense of it and then set a revenue strategy that focuses on individual guest needs.”
The Impact
Discussing the impact of building a strategy for guest experience and revenue, Denarie explained: “In 2022, guests have high expectations and we are seeing a direct correlation between guest experience and review scores, which has a direct impact on RevPAR.
“There is a positive impact of higher room categories on average review score and even more positive impact when upselling is offered. It’s a way to excite your guests before they even arrive and showcase what differentiates your hotel from competitors.”
Lingos-Webb added: “The review score impact is important to Duetto customers as it is one of the many sources of data that we pull into the system to allow them to price accurately and forecast with confidence.”
Talking about measuring the success of guest experience, Smith said: “The key here is setting multiple forms of KPIs for revenue managers - GRI, NPS, pre-arrival score and other non-financial KPIs. This might seem counterintuitive, but we know that review scores then in turn increase customer loyalty, direct bookings, and ultimately, revenue.”
Proving the impact of reputation on revenue, it’s been proven that a one-point increase in a hotel’s global review index (GRI) equals up to +0.89% in ADR, +0.54% in occupancy, and +1.42% in RevPAR*. Happy guests make more profitable hotels!
The Power Of Integrations
So how do we make the data, strategy and the impact work together? Plantier answered by discussing the role of integrations of the PMS, RMS, and upselling software and how they work together to improve the guest experience and ultimately drive revenue at Pestana Hotels.
He said: “Our systems need to be integrated with our PMS. It can take a while to make sure all systems are talking to each other seamlessly and it's important to ensure your whole team understands why you’re using this solution to drive adoption before you see results.
“To drive revenue there are three groups that have to be on board with revenue tech - guests, staff, and owners. Ultimately, revenue technology and automating systems free up staff to concentrate on what really matters – the guest!
“Revenue technology reduces human error. When we have full visibility and oversight of our data it becomes easier to understand both our guest experience and our opportunities for revenue optimization.”
Key Takeaways
When asked for their key takeaways, Denarie from Oaky said: “Start quick, keep it simple and prove the impact fast, then optimize on top of that.”
Smith from ReviewPro added: “Ensure that your revenue initiatives are delivered with operational excellence, bring in all departments of the hotel to increase adoption and buy-in.”
Plantier from Pestana Hotels said: “Do not underestimate the power of data in guest experience, upselling and converting both these into profit. You need revenue technology systems to drive revenue.”
And Duetto’s Lingos-Webb concluded with: “Don’t forget the importance of ingesting multiple data sources. Forward-looking data is one of the most powerful tools we have in connecting guest experiences and revenue. Good clean data that flows into your integrated tech stack will output additional revenue.”
Missed the webinar? Don’t worry, the event can still be watched on-demand. Simply register here.
*(Study: ReviewPro, Cornell University, STR)