Revenue management has evolved since the emergence of COVID, prompting many property operators to review their outdated, pre-pandemic processes. Maximising revenue at every opportunity has taken on a whole new dimension, with managers making the most of current travel trends, international border closures and staycation booms to introduce a revenue uplift plan.

If you haven't yet got a plan in place, you can start by leveraging what is already at your fingertips and available through your PMS:

Get the most out of every booking

Demand can fluctuate for several reasons, such as season, day of the week or special event. Throw COVID, snap lockdowns and border closures into the mix, and the demand pattern becomes much harder to predict. Comparing against historical data won’t be a great help either, as demand was just as unpredictable this time last year. A great way to determine your pricing is by setting your rates to react to real-time supply and demand. Using the dynamic pricing tool in RMS, you can set your pricing rules to automatically adjust and update depending on your occupancy levels, allowing you to increase yield during peak season and maximise occupancy during low demand.

Add upsells and extras to boost pre-stay revenue

If you use the RMS internet booking engine (IBE), consider adding upsells and extras to the guest booking journey to encourage a higher spend. This will soon be available in the guest portal too, where you’ll be able to customise any number of upsells, including one-offs (such as massages) or daily extras (such as breakfast). This is a great self-serve feature for guests as well as a big revenue generator.

Encourage longer stays

According to Tourism Research Australia’s National Visitor Survey results for March 2021 (quarterly snapshot), nights on trip was up by 6%, with an increase in spend due to travellers staying longer. The results showed that the average number of nights spent on a domestic trip in Australia (year ending March 2021) was four; use this data to your advantage by promoting four-night stays and more in an EDM campaign to past guests or by using the BOGO Discount (Buy One Get One) in RMS, which you can also set as a rate type.

Customise your tech stack

By integrating with technology partners, you can power up your property and create additional revenue-generating streams. Within RMS, you can build an optimised system that serves your business objectives with the right tools at the right time. For example, holiday parks can streamline check-ins with a boom gate integration, while hotels, resorts and serviced apartments can adopt a digital key system, enabling guests to bypass reception and head straight to their room. RMS also connects to a range of revenue management providers that use intuitive algorithms to dive deeper into your data, automatically updating your rates in real-time.

Increase exposure and boost reservations while saving money

Many properties use OTAs to increase their reach, but if you’re using a third-party channel manager, chances are you’re overspending. Using our native channel manager, you can directly connect your inventory to OTAs while saving money on distribution and booking acquisition costs. Plus, everything is located within one centralised platform creating a smarter workflow with full reservation visibility.

With RMS, there are plenty of modules, features and integrations that can help you unlock hidden pockets of revenue. If you’re currently a client, reach out to our support team who will be happy to help you use any of the above. If you’re considered RMS for your next property management solution, send us a message and we’ll schedule a time to take you through the system in more detail.