By Jean Francois Mourier 
December 9, 2011

Late last month as I was updating my list of my year-end hotel industry wishes, I was very happy to read in an LA Times blog that both global and North American October hotel booking rates were soaring.
 
With just a few weeks left until the New Year, hotel and revenue managers can rejoice: Global hotel booking rates for business and leisure travel grew by 4 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively, with even heftier gains in the North American market with 3.3 percent and 6 percent year over year improvement.
 
How’s that for a holiday wish come true? 
 
This positive year-end news fleshes out and confirms predictions from multiple sources throughout the year that hotel occupancy rates would rise – even if continued economic uncertainty in Europe and elsewhere leaves a somewhat murky picture when peering into the 2012 crystal ball. The bottom line is that Europeans and Americans alike, after more than two years of economic belt-tightening, are at least for the moment, inclined to spend just a little bit more on travel.
 
I’m Dreaming of…. A Profitable Christmas
 
This sort of news is exactly the type of encouragement that hotel and revenue managers hope to hear as we plow through the first half of December – that festive and frenetic time of year that follows Thanksgiving in November in the United States and concludes with New Years around the world. And at least for hotel managers and the travel industry at-large, is celebrated as one of the busiest travel times of the year. It’s also the time of year to reflect on what works and what doesn’t work when attracting new guests. There’s been much debate of late as to whether hotels should fully embrace the mobile web and smartphone bandwagon; that 2012 is the year to welcome on-site guest feedback, that hotels cultivate a social media presence and fully tackle the need to design and implement hotel booking apps. I say, with barely three weeks left in 2011, why not start now?
 
Of course, embracing the above is only part of upping the booking rates equation. Adding in a mix of tried and true incentives like package deals and business traveler group discounts is important too, as is the appropriate use of online travel agents, or OTAs. In other words, rely on OTAs to attract or “catch” new guests, ideally turning them from bargain hunters to loyal customers and not as a “crutch,” or overreliance, wrongly assuming that OTAs can do all the guest-attracting heavy lifting. They can’t and they shouldn’t. OTAs are but one booking channel, not the whole game in town.
 
And finally, the holiday season’s feverish early shopping start as reported by numerous outlets during the Thanksgiving weekend and beyond is yet another indication of consumers’ spending health – not to mention the latest news reporting that the United States’ unemployment rate fell to a nearly 3-year low. It’s also a rough indicator of what other types of items and services customers are willing to pay for. This wallet-opening news figures well with the overall booking rate picture –even if economic headwinds remain. As we continue deeper into the holiday travel season, let’s meet or beat October’s booking rate numbers.
 
Doing so will ensure some serious happy holidays and a great New Year – on both sides of the pond.

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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.