Every hotel wants more revenue. But finding ways to engage with guests and develop the perfect offers to increase revenue can be tough. By diving a little deeper into property management system (PMS) analytics, hoteliers can understand more about their guests and how to reach them more effectively.
The PMS brings huge benefits to hotels. It manages bookings and room availability, it enables check-in and check-out, centralises guest information, enables task management across the property, and it supports communication with both guests and staff through email, SMS or other channels. There are clearly good reasons why 86% of hoteliers say the PMS is the most important system for day-to-day operations.
Yet for many hotels, the PMS isn’t fulfilling its potential. It may be improving efficiency, but it’s not always helping hotels gain a competitive edge. Every day, the PMS captures a huge amount of data on guests. And this data can be used to gain valuable insights to refine marketing and pricing strategies, driving revenue and improving profitability.
So what can advanced PMS analytics such as SIHOT.INSIGHTS tell you, and how can you use this information to maximise revenue?
Services used
PMS analytics can show you quickly and clearly which hotel services are most frequently purchased, and by which guests. In F&B alone, you can see which guests added breakfast or a dinner package onto their booking, which guests ordered room service, and who spent money at the bar. This is key for hotels to develop F&B offers that will encourage guests to book, and to identify exactly where F&B upselling opportunities are.
Advanced PMS analytics can be used in the same way for any other services a hotel offers – including spa packages, use of leisure facilities, shuttle services, parking facilities and electric vehicle (EV) charging. This information can be used to send enticing offers to previous guests, and to tailor packages to prospective guests in the same segment. As unbundling services grow in popularity, a list of the top extras typically chosen by guests could be offered, to help guests customise their bookings.
Guest behaviour
Aside from services used, there are other aspects of guest behaviour the PMS captures.
Room preferences is one area of data that can inform your revenue generation strategy. For example, if larger suites or rooms with a particular view are very popular, you may be able to increase your prices. But if you’re consistently struggling to sell other room types, these could be incorporated into enticing packages that include an extra perk. This helps increase occupancy and overall revenue.
Advanced PMS analytics can also help your understanding of the spending habits of particular guests once they’re on-property. Since ancillary revenue is particularly valuable to hotels, this data could be used for focused marketing campaigns targeted at the highest spending previous guests.
Interrogating guest satisfaction and feedback post-stay through analytics also provides vital clues. This information can enable you to improve service offerings, and innovate with offers and upselling opportunities that directly meet guest needs.
Booking patterns
As the hub of hotel bookings, the PMS holds all the data you need to understand booking patterns. Through the analytics, you can identify periods of the highest occupancy and demand, which can feed into better pricing strategies for your hotel’s particular peak and non-peak periods moving forward.
You can also gain insights into channel performance by identifying which booking channels are most effective in driving bookings. This information can enable you to make better decisions on where to market your property, but also where to focus your promotional strategy – for example, if you want to increase your ratio of direct bookings.
Another key data point is how far in advance guests typically book, which helps with inventory management and activating marketing tactics if usual booking volume isn’t reached.
SIHOT.PMS and SIHOT.INSIGHTS can give your hotel the data needed to maximise revenue – contact us to find out more.