By Jean Francois Mourier 
January, 2011

2011, even in these early days, is shaping up to be another year of pronounced recovery for the hotel industry. RevPAR in the U.S. alone is expected to rise an average of 5.5% in 2011, according to Smith Travel Research (STR), and that’s just an average. Meaning that, as always, some hoteliers will do better than others. Wouldn’t you like your establishment or chain to be one of those?
 
If so, take a look at Hotel-Online & REVPAR GURU’s upcoming series of articles, Rethinking Revenue Management. These will run bi-weekly in this space starting on Friday, January 14th, and provide valuable information on how forward-thinking hotels can profit from the growth anticipated for 2011.
 
In these articles, we’ll take a hard look at how technological advances can be harnessed by the wise revenue manager. Traditionally, the hotel industry has been slow to respond to the great leaps in technology over the past few decades; in many ways, it is a business stuck in the past and clinging to outdated revenue generation models. With a good, state-of-the-art revenue management system, a hotel can take a fluid, proactive and flexible approach to making sure guests not only book a room, but also produce revenue from other offerings. And leap ahead of the competition in the process.  Beyond RMS, the series will examine other key issues that will need to take a forefront in any hoteliers’ or revenue managers’ mind in 2011, including the shrinking booking window, key metrics, dynamic pricing, how stock market principles can be integrated into your pricing strategy, and more.
 
So don’t miss this series, Rethinking Revenue Management, which starts Friday, January 14 on Hotel-Online.com. We’re looking forward to helping your hotel profit for 2011 and if you have any questions or need additional advice, please don’t hesitate to contact me at any time – [email protected].
 
Here’s to a successful 2011 for all!

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Jean Francois Mourier is CEO & Founder of RevPar Guru, a company that has developed an alternative type of revenue management and real-time pricing solution (combined with automated online distribution) to help hotels maximize occupancy and increase their profits. The company’s Yield Dynamic Price Engine, an integrated revenue management and pricing solution, adds unprecedented power and real-time adaptability to the pricing process, leaving managers more time to run their hotels. You may reach him through www.revparguru.com or by calling +1.786.478.3500.