How Can Hotels Sell Their Spaces In Time of Crisis?

The pandemic finally made evident that Revenue Management is not about analytics and crunching numbers only, but a lot about being creative to tackle the evolving needs of our customers’ base and convert demand!

When times get rough, seizing every single revenue opportunity that can positively impact the bottom line can be a lifesaver.

If we change our perception of the hospitality business being less about just selling rooms and more like a retail business, we will look at our Hotels with brand new eyes and we will discover incremental revenue opportunities we did not realize existed before.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, over three-quarters of available rooms have gone unsold every week in Kenya only. With so much unsold space, hotels had to become creative with their offers and packages. Out-of-the-box thinking is the only way to survive this “Black Swan,” but how can hotels get the best out of their spaces? What new ways of selling rooms and ancillary products should the industry implement to be successful in 2021-22?

Hardship sparks creativity. We were forced to fundamentally rethink revenue generation during the Covid crisis. Like so often, many successful concepts started with putting the guest at the center and looking at what (s)he really wants right now, not what it is that we traditionally like to sell (a room night with breakfast).

What our guests needed more than ever in the last year was a quiet space to work, an escape from everyday life, and simply a real experience as soon as quarantine measures started to relax. This has opened the door for great opportunities in renting out rooms or spots in lobbies as office spaces, creating safe in-room dining packages in markets where restaurants were closed but hotels were still allowed to serve food to their guests, and finally, staycation packages with spa or dining experiences included. It’s been amazing to see what’s possible when it has to be. I’d hope to see this mindset survive well beyond Covid times.

To continue to find new sources of revenue and new ways of selling, you need that magical combination of data and creativity. The data will help guide you to the opportunities, the creativity tells you how to take advantage of them. Understanding guests’ needs and desires travel purposes and the value proposition of your property is still the basis for developing products and offers that will resonate.  This part should be straightforward. The challenge in my view will be fostering and sustaining creativity. The extreme challenges and constraints caused by the pandemic required us to look at the business completely differently – and simply not allow us to “fall back” on more well-known and well-tried revenue-generating methods. Keeping this mentality as jurisdictions begin to open up, and more “traditional” use of the space is permitted will be a challenge.

Hoteliers should get as many new voices into the discussion as possible to continue to bring fresh perspectives. It couldn’t hurt to poll a front desk agent or housekeeper, for example, every now and then. “What if” thinking could also replicate the constraints from the pandemic. “What if” our wedding business suddenly went away? “What if” we had to remove half the furniture in the lobby? “What if” we had a terrace instead of a parking lot? Keep pressure on the team to think differently and new opportunities will present themselves.