15 effective ways to increase hotel revenue and profits in 2023 (2023)

Every hotelier and host is faced with the questionhow to increase sales and profitswithout raising prices or spending more. When you're immersed in day-to-day business, it can be difficult to see the big picture and it can be difficult to get the right answers. While there are many ways to increase yourshotel revenuedepending on the needs of your property,Here are 15+ tactics to get you started.

1. Create a script

Before you begin your revenue strategy, you need to know where your business is today: from your results and revenue streams to your marketing efforts and online review results. Knowing the fixed cost of an available room is important to calculate how much it costsSet the right tariff plans, dates of actions and offers for groups and whether to invest time and effortspecific OTA channels. With this information, you can create an accurate, personalized roadmap to help guide your sales strategy in the right direction.

Your roadmap doesn't have to be formal, but it should accurately reflect the current state of your business in terms of finances, bookings, revenue and expenses so you can plan reasonable goals for the future. In addition, your script orHotel business planit needs to be reviewed and revised every year to achieve the best results.

2. Segment your target market

A key component of hotel marketing is guest profiling so you can tailor your marketing efforts accordingly. You need to understand who your guests are, why they book with you, and why they travel so you can understand how to focus your marketing efforts. The answers to these questions will help youDevelop guest segmentsand provide meaningful data to optimize yoursmarketing strategyand sales activity.

For example, you may find that your listing caters primarily to business travelers between the ages of 35 and 45, and that these guests choose to stay at your property because of its proximity to a convention center that hosts many corporate events. Armed with this knowledge, you can run unique marketing campaigns and paid ads that promote your business' ideal location and target business travelers directly.

You may find that you have different guest demographics depending on the season. If that's the case, you can add another guest persona and create an appropriate marketing campaign to target that specific group. Segmenting your guest market and creating targeted campaigns are strategies and give you new ideas to increase your hotel's revenue.

3. Sell the transactional experience

In the saturated travel market, it's important for hotel properties to showcase what makes them unique. As a hotelier, you need to put the best and most differentiating aspects of your hotel front and center on your website and social media accounts so potential guests can begin their experience before they even arrive for their stay. You might think this is difficult when you have small, basic accommodation, but the real difference is offering a transaction (basic accommodation and meals) and an experience (a memorable stay). This can often be achieved with superior service and more, rather than relying on fancy design.

Provision of aunique guest experienceit can become part of your hotel's value proposition. The team should listen to their customers' unmet needs and problems and strive to make them feel special. You also need real-world evidence or customer reviews to promote the unique offering you offer. When you find something that sets your property apart, you will attract more hotel guests and increase sales.

4. Maximize your online reach with a channel manager

How to increase online bookings? FORHotel-Channel-ManagerThe main function is to distribute your room inventory to several different Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) at the same time and to synchronize reservations with your Property Management System (PMS) in real-time to optimize occupancy and avoid overbooking. This means you can sell the same room on different OTAsBooking.com, Expedia, TripAdvisor etc. and once a room is booked the availability of the other channels is removed. A channel manager can bring your rooms to a wider audience, give you more visibility, reach more travelers and ultimately increase your hotel's revenue and occupancy.

While using a channel manager is a great way to sell your room availability, you do have to pay commission to OTAs.

5. Build your direct channel with a booking engine

You can use onebooking engineto balance bookings you receive through OTAs and to encourage commission-free direct bookings processed through your hotel website. A booking engine allows visitors to book directly on your website or on social channels like your Facebook page. Optimize your hotel website pages for SEO to drive as much direct traffic to your website as possible.

With an integrated booking engine, potential guests have an easy way to make their reservations or add-ons (room upgrades, late check-out, breakfast, and more). Always use cross-selling opportunities on your website.

Always follow a direct booking with a confirmation email to reassure guests that your hotel is legitimate and send communications just before check-in, e.g. B. A greeting with detailed instructions.

6. Partnership with local businesses

Building strong relationships with other businesses in the local community is another great way for your hotel to generate more revenue.

First, find out about local businesses and who could benefit from a joint marketing arrangement. Many companies and organizations can recommend your accommodation, such as small travel agencies, tour operators, conference centers, schools and many more. See if you can strike a deal where they will recommend your property for a commission fee.

Then improve your hotel packages. For example, you can promote partnerships with local tour operators and offer add-ons. The joint development of intelligent packaging in cooperation with local suppliers can lead to new additional revenue streams.

7. Try dynamic pricing

Regardless of your hotel type, you should regularly review your pricing plans and occupancy forecasts. Because demand is ever-changing, you need to be able to adapt and respond to changing market conditions. This is where dynamic pricing can help.

Dynamic pricing in hospitalityIt is the practice of using a flexible pricing strategy for a room or hotel service based on market demand, often used to increase the price as demand increases. The basic concept behind dynamic pricing in a revenue management strategy is simple: the price of a hotel room or hostel bed is set based on supply and demand. Typically, room rates should be increased when demand exceeds supply (to benefit from ADR) and decreased when demand is weak (to increase occupancy).

Keeping track of upcoming events will help you with your estimates and allow you to realize your earning potential, especially in the off-season. It also doesn't hurt to check your competitors' prices; This can help you better predict demand and give you a competitive edge when deciding how to adjust your price.

8. Optimized for mobile devices

Making your website responsive and mobile responsive is no longer an option but a necessity.63% of travelerssay using smartphones to plan or book their trip is extremely important, while 58% use them to book accommodation. Simply put, if you want to get more bookings and increase hotel sales, a mobile-friendly website is essential.

The ubiquitous nature of mobile technology is also changing consumer expectations. It's not enough to have a scaled-down version of your website as a mobile page. Your mobile website must have a unique design. Millennials and Gen Z expect a fast, elegant and personalized mobile experience. If you don't optimize your website for mobile devices, you're missing a great opportunity to increase your hotel's occupancy rate.

9. Up your digital marketing game

Make sure you cover all critical digital marketing channels. First, make sure your information is accurate and up-to-date wherever potential guests find it. From yousocial mediaand your website to your Google My Business listing and OTA profiles, modern travelers search for your business online to read reviews or find specific information. Look up your property name on any search engine to see it your way.

Second, you can use digital marketing tools to your advantage. You can create engaging social media campaigns, try or automate a new social channel like TikTokThe Email Campaignis aimed at returning guests or corporate partners.

To get the most out of your various social channels, be sure to track certain metrics like engagement, impressions, and reach to see which strategies are working well. Test and iterate continuously to run successful digital marketing campaigns.

10. Use high quality images

Few things will captivate potential guests more than quality images. Your real estate images have the potential to visually tell a story and entice travelers to book. Research has shown that67% of consumersRemember that clear, detailed images carry more weight than a long description (54%) and customer ratings and reviews (53%). Not to mention that many OTA sites will reject low-quality images, making it difficult to get your listing approved.

Your photos should help potential guests introduce themselves to your space. This emotional appeal will draw more people to your listing and help increase your income. In fact, a study conducted by Visual Web Optimizer showed that larger imagesHotel bookings up 9.46%. So when it comes to images, remember that the higher the quality, the higher your direct sales.

11. Win business from the group

Depending on your property, youcould attract large groupswho prefer to book larger hotels or smaller groups looking for a more personalized experience. Here's how you can target these three types of groups:

intimate wedding– Many people have smaller wedding parties with fewer than 30 guests. Use photos from past events to showcase your property's potential.

family meeting- Develop meeting-specific packages that can include custom menus and discounted room rates for groups.

corporate groups– Connect your property to aglobal distribution system (GDS)This will present your inventory to business travelers and your booking partners.

12. Use hotel revenue management analytics

Reliable revenue management technology can give hoteliers a competitive edge. These systems are beneficial for independent properties where yield improvements can have a significant impact on overall sales. See how revenue management software can improve your profit margin:

Competitive advantage– Automatically monitor your competitors’ tariffs, occupancy and sales channels.

demand forecasts- Get real-time access to consumer demand and update your rates or room types.

Avoid errors -Revenue management systems also prevent errors such as over- or under-billing rooms.

Automatic price updates– Define rules and triggers that the system executes automatically.

13. Implement residency restrictions

Instead of increasing prices or selling out quickly on busy nights, consider adding stay restrictions like closing on arrival or a minimum stay to increase occupancy on the nights in between.

Residence restrictions can be beneficial when your city is hosting events such as concerts, conferences or festivals, and during periods such as bank holiday weekends or spring break.

14. Optimize your inventory

Identify your different room types and rank them to increase your revenue per available room (RevPar). It calculates rewards not only for popular suites and rooms, but also for value-added features like larger rooms, better views, preferred bedding configurations, and attributes like balconies, fireplaces, wet bars, and pool access.

In addition to room inventory, properties need to know your secondary inventory or other items that you make available to guests. This ranges from toiletries to on-site gift shops and restaurants. Monitor this stock carefully to make sure you don't waste it and order more than you need.

15. Earn extra income

There are many additional ways in the hospitality industry to increase guest spend through upselling and selling room amenities, room service, amenities and special services. Consider adding more services like:

• Transport to the airport
• Mini fridge with drinks and snacks for sale
• internal laundry
• paid breakfast
• Coworking Spaces
• guides

final thoughts

When it comes to increasing your hotel's revenue, there are many different tools and ways to put together a customized plan that you can create either yourself or with the help of a professional revenue manager. With the tools and tactics listed above, you can start increasing your profits today.