How will the hotel industry shape up in 2023? We’ve spoken to hoteliers and industry leaders from around the world to find out what they are predicting will be the trends to watch out for in the year ahead.
Continued investment in technology, the return of business travel and groups business, and short booking windows were just some of the major trends expected to play out in the upcoming 12 months.
Technology Investment
US hotel owner/operator Bridgeton recently replaced its property management system (PMS) and revenue management system (RMS) to streamline operations and drive efficiencies.
“Being able to accomplish the same amount of work in fewer hours is invaluable to making your business more profitable right now and to help protect you from a downturn in the long run. Duetto has helped us accomplish this by making us much more efficient as a revenue management team so we can accomplish more with fewer people,” said Lucas R. Proffitt, Director, Revenue & E-commerce, Bridgeton.
Business Travel
“The big one for 2023 is the return of business transient,” said Nick Knight, National Director of Revenue and Distribution, ASH Hotels – a small independent owner/operator hotel group based out of New York City with ambitious expansion plans, has business transient firmly in his sights.
“That market is coming back. Some of our hotels have already exceeded 2019 levels because we perform in that segment. I foresee next year definitely surpassing it,” he adds.
For ASH, which doubled its portfolio during the pandemic and opened its fifth hotel, Ulysses, in Baltimore in the fall, another focus for 2023 is on driving customer experience.
“Now that we're maximizing revenue, we're looking at our offerings and making sure that our service and amenities match that rate rise and exceed it,” said Knight.
Groups Business
Linchris Hotel Corporation is focusing on the groups' segment to help build out a solid base of business for the year to come.
“We are starting to see some associations and groups come back and look forward to more growth in those segments. We are also focusing on ways to grow hotel revenues as a whole across all profit centers within the hotel and working towards revenue management strategies for those other revenue sources within our hotels,” said Jenna M Bergamino, Corporate Director of Revenue Management, Linchris Hotel Corporation.
“We are focusing on market and pricing trends and looking at group base business to reduce our inventory in our hotels. We are looking for group-based business that will still be in business and have travel needs during a recession, if one should occur,” added John P Argonish, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Linchris Hotel Corporation.
Short-term Booking Window
Duetto’s latest Pulse Report data shows that the short-term booking window looks set to continue into 2023, as consumers stick to a 8-12 week booking window. But this is not necessarily a bad thing.
“Increasingly, a short-term booking window represents an opportunity to connect with a more mobile, more astute, and engaged traveler, switching seamlessly between business and leisure profiles,” said Chris Crowley, Chief Revenue Officer, Duetto.
“Hotels are learning to integrate customer data and loyalty profiles across the entire spend onsite to curate personalized offers for a more discerning guest. A guest that is used to shopping in a short-term booking window and to making direct decisions with their hotel supplier,” he added.
Share your thoughts
What do you think the major trends will be in 2023? We want to hear from hoteliers from around the world - Duetto users and non-users alike – about what they predict will be the trends and challenges in revenue management in the year ahead.
We have today launched our second annual online survey, Revenue Management Outlook & Trends Survey 2023, to help us and the wider hotel industry gauge what are the trends to be aware of and start planning for in the year to come.
The survey takes just 5 minutes to complete, and if you share your details with us we will enter you into a draw to win a $100 Amazon gift card! If you would rather remain anonymous, that is also fine.
Whether you manage revenue for 1 property, 100 or 1000, please give us just 5 minutes of your time.
Fill out the survey here and tell us more about what trends you see shaping revenue management in 2022: https://duettocloud.typeform.com/outlook-trend23
