Rate management in the peak season with YieldPlanet’s Channel Manager
Why does YieldPlanet’s Channel Manager help Revenue Managers to reach higher revenues in the peak season
by Sebastian Andruszczak
YieldPlanet’s Channel Manager enables users a simple and organized room price management. Advanced tools make the process completely automatized and the rates and availability of your property are synchronized with all distribution channels, a hotel’s website and the PMS used in a hotel.
Along with the arrival of the peak season, a team in charge of the revenue management of a hotel must be prepared to sell rooms at the highest possible price in order to increase performance of the property. Channel Manager enables to organize work in advance, thanks to what you can take care of months with a high occupancy rate that are crucial from the point of view of hotel revenues.
In reality, manual rates management in OTA channels might leave some huge room for human errors or omission. A publication of a rate that is too high or too low can have a negative impact on financial results of your property. Too large rate differences between booking systems or uncompetitive rates on a hotel’s website can lead to disorientation of customers and, as a result, to a lack of trust that translates into reduction of occupancy rate of the property.
Rates management in the peak season with YieldPlanet’s Channel Manager
One of the most important aspects of proper rates management at the level of Channel Manager is a proper configuration of price policies in the system. Basically, the price management is carried out in the same way throughout a year, in the peak season however, the automation supports an instant reaction and quicker entry of rates changes to the Channel Manager.
A revenue management department can enter different kinds of rates and restrictions that increase revenues within the periods with a higher expected number of reservations, for example through the use of the stay length strategy.
According to the art of revenue management, the rates management within the periods of increased demand should be started far in advance. Therefore, we recommend to use the Dynamic Pricing. Efficient revenue management requires numerous forecasts. The work with the Dynamic Pricing requires estimation of an approximative demand level for each day, whether it is the peak season or low season. When you set up the rate for rooms for the next year, it does not mean that these rates should not be changed. On the contrary, you have to assume that you will follow the demand for your services and modify the rates frequently until the day when the date in question becomes the current day.
In the event when the demand exceeds the supply, the price for hotel services increases, so the ADR increases too. On the other hand, during periods when the demand is weaker, a lower price enables to reach higher occupancy rates. A proper price modification, taking into account or even having influence on the current demand is a key to increase the profitability of the property. YieldPlanet’s Channel Manager supports a fast adjustment of the prices to the market conditions with a proper adjustment of the tool.
Selected functionalities of YieldPlanet’s Channel Manager for rates management in the peak season
YieldPlanet’s Channel Manager offers a series of functionalities making the rates management in the peak season simpler. These are, among others, grids, meaning an option enabling to enter even several dozen defined price strategies corresponding to different market conditions. It is also a possibility to use price formulas automatically converting the basic rate to related rates, as well as a screen for a wholesale prices loading, taking into account a wide range of dates serving for differentiation of prices or availability in different OTA channels.
Let’s have a closer look at certain functionalities:
Rates and availability distribution
The basic task of the Channel Manager is the rates and availability distribution to all channels that are used. The information about the rates and availabilities may originate from the PMS, revenue management systems (RMS), revenue rules configured in the channel manager; they can also be entered to the Channel Manager directly by a user. Its functioning basically consists in the fact that the data saved in the system are immediately sent to all connected channels.
Minimum stay duration, StopSell and other price restrictions
YieldPlanet’s Channel Manager is adapted to receive and forward not only prices and availability, but also to distribute different kinds of restrictions. These restrictions include maximum or minimum duration of the stay, CTA, CTD, Sell/StopSell or an advance reservation parameter. A rule applied in channel manager is the immediate distribution of the data right after their entry or receipt – there is no need for a hotel user to support this process.
Copying, increasing and decreasing of the rates
Copying of the rates makes it simpler for a user to fill out new price plans, using prices and restrictions from other, already existing price plans. Besides, it enables copying the restrictions and prices from the current periods to the next year which allows to save a lot of time. Furthermore, the existing rates can be increased or decreased in any way by a specific percentage or amount, without the need to enter them manually from scratch.
YieldPlanet ‘s Channel Manager provides necessary tools enabling management of hotel rates in the best possible way, but it is also important that revenue management departments monitor the whole process and make conscious, forecast-based decisions that are optimal in terms of revenues. In the framework of preparation for the peak season, it is recommended to review restrictions relating to stay duration, rates and price plans availability, in order to use the acquired experiences in the best possible manner and to increase revenues in next periods.
Prepare yourself for the peak season and configure your Channel Manager in the most automatized way in order to save time and ensure a better work organization. Contact us to get more details on advantages offered by Channel Manager in the peak season and in the low season.
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