It has been a while since we covered this topic, so I thought it would be good to have another look at forecasting in hotels. With reservation lead time changing in key markets we operate in, it is becoming more challenging to forecast accurately.

And still it is essential to give our operational departments a realistic financial outlook to run the day to day operations of the hotel as cost effective as possible. And also owners and investors need to have insight and the right expectations on the financial performance of their hospitality business.

In our last post, we went over some of the successes and challenges of revenue management in the apartment rental business. We came up with a number of elements that we believe need to be applied to take revenue management to the next level.

It has been a few years since Xotels is operating in Italy now. And we wanted to share some of our successes in terms of hotel revenue management strategies with you.

Before entering into the market we were faced with the same hurdles as always. Owners and managers were concerned we did not know the market, and did not have first hand local experience.

Of course as a strategist these concerns are not valid to us, as we analyze demand patterns, performance KPI and and other statistics to optimize a business. And regardless of where it is located, the methodology and best practices of revenue management do not change.

So how did we do? Let me share some case studies of our hotel performance in Italy with you.

It is no news that the vacation rental business has exploded worldwide thanks to the sharing economy. With the industry generating billions and billions of revenue per year, providers for related services have popped up like mushrooms. To be able to separate the wheat from the chaff we have composed a number of basic principles that apply to revenue management for vacation rental business or apartments.

Amsterdam has a problem with over-tourism: we all know that. With 3 Billion € revenue per year generated by travelers, you'd expect search volume for queries such as "Hotels in Amsterdam" to have skyrocketed over the years, wouldn't you? Well, get ready to be disappointed. What if I told you that traffic for such query has, instead, been plummeting, and its volume is now half of what it used to be back in 2014?

So how do you adjust you hotel marketing strategy?

In recent years we have written so many articles with advice on how you can increase your hotel’s revenue. While originally revenue management was restricted only to certain areas, Xotels has been increasingly focusing on total revenue management. Total hotel revenue management includes key methods of improving a hotel’s bottom line by looking at all business areas, including marketing, sales and even concept development. This article provides a collection of over 20 of our most valuable insider tips, which can provide an outstanding platform for you to maximize your hotel’s revenue.