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The COVID-19 crisis is unique in many ways, not least of which is that it led the interconnected world of business to experiment with its first global, supply-side disruption. In the hospitality industry, for example, during the first wave of the pandemic (April-May 2020), more than 70 percent of hotels in Europe were closed, international flights were less than 5% compared to the same period in 2019, and restaurants were forced to close and, if lucky, provide takeaway and delivery. The willful and concerted shutting down of the productive capacity of the economy thus forced managers, leaders, and educators to rethink their problem-solving approaches as past perspectives proved, in many cases, to no longer be as relevant as before. This has been shown to be true not only at the macroeconomic level of nations, but in all management fields as industries, firms, and individuals, began to make sense of the likely long-term impacts on their ecosystems.

With the US fully reopened and Europe steadily easing restrictions, Hotel bookings continue to grow significantly and have exceeded 2019 values, according to our industry research conducted in May 2021.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the regional economy has been severe across all traditional lodging demand segments. Within the corporate segment, demand declined significantly as most of the region’s largest employers eliminated corporate travel in 2020. We note that many companies began to reopen offices in the summer of 2020; however, others continue to allow employees to work remotely, including Procter & Gamble and Kroger.

With the Covid-19 pandemic hitting travel and the hospitality industry especially hard, this March Medallia, in collaboration with the School of Hotel Administration’s (SHA) Center for Hospitality Research, launched an online hospitality community to crowdsource ideas with impact. Conceived as a place for hospitality thought leaders—from industry professionals to SHA professors and alumni—to support each other with innovative ideas and solutions to the industry’s most pressing issues and challenges, the community has already grown to 276 members.

The advance of technology and the widespread adoption of smartphones and handheld devices in recent years have enabled us to publish our experience about a product or service through online photo or video sharing and provide a review.

I love seeing visible signs of a customer- and employee-focused culture. My wife and I were on vacation in Mexico. The employees at the resort were amazing. They were upbeat, outgoing and willing to do anything to make their guests’ stay as perfect as it could be. Something I noticed right away was the customer-centric culture that was part of the atmosphere of the resort. You could feel that customer service was at the heart of what they were about.

In simple terms, share of wallet (SOW) is the percentage of a customer’s total spending that is captured by a business. For hoteliers, once a guest has made a booking, the ultimate goal is to maximize the revenues that the guest generates for each stay. The key to achieving this goal is understanding the guest’s continuously shifting mindset around cost. The potential of conversion of every purchase opportunity after initial reservation acquisition is dependent upon finding the right context to present the offer.

Cost-optimization has always been a central notion in revenue management. That being said, the pandemic brought renewed attention to the topic. Today, more than ever, proper cost control is crucial to navigate these difficult waters and prepare for the "new normal." Whether we like it or not, every single decision revenue managers take on a daily basis, has an impact on the bottom line, meaning that revenue management is not only about optimizing the revenue streams, but also about increasing profitability. Favoring the distribution channels with the highest profit has become imperative in our industry. But how can hotels calculate the cost-per-acquisition of each channel? What should be taken into consideration? And how can this analysis influence one's distribution decisions?

Before the website and marketing plan, before listing your meeting space on Cvent, before your sales team responds to that first lead, someone, somewhere, decided on the product. The product?

Many hoteliers struggle with the same revenue management questions, especially during times of significant market uncertainty, like we are currently experiencing. Never fear; I'm here to answer hoteliers’ top 10 questions about revenue management in the times of COVID: