Travelers become “smarter;” they know how to shop around and find the best deal before making a hotel reservation. This MSNBC News video, for example, teaches travelers how to find the best price for a hotel room. Here are some of the advices: haggling, asking for the best available rate rather than a specific discounted price, being loyal to a brand, and joining a hotel’s social networking sites.
Many hotels use yield management or revenue management tactics to maximize revenues. Hotel revenue managers closely monitor the demand, price, room inventory, and distribution channels. They can manipulate one or more of those variables to “yield” the maximum revenue for a hotel. During the recession, I see all kinds of sales and promotion messages. Some hotels offer big discounts attached with a prepaid and non-refundable agreement. Other rely more on its loyalty programs and social networking sites. For example, they offer exclusive discounts to their Facebook fans and Twitter followers.
It is not difficult for hotels to find out which pricing strategy is more effective than others by simply looking at the number of reservations or revenue yielded by a marketing effort. Decades ago, hotels can easily use pricing strategy to target different groups of customers (i.e. different prices for different groups). With the Internet and social media, travelers can easily compare price and share the deals they found. I wonder how the Internet and social media affect a hotel’s pricing strategies. If you are a traveler, how do you find the best price for a hotel room? Do you think this video offers you some useful tips?
Many hotels use yield management or revenue management tactics to maximize revenues. Hotel revenue managers closely monitor the demand, price, room inventory, and distribution channels. They can manipulate one or more of those variables to “yield” the maximum revenue for a hotel. During the recession, I see all kinds of sales and promotion messages. Some hotels offer big discounts attached with a prepaid and non-refundable agreement. Other rely more on its loyalty programs and social networking sites. For example, they offer exclusive discounts to their Facebook fans and Twitter followers.
It is not difficult for hotels to find out which pricing strategy is more effective than others by simply looking at the number of reservations or revenue yielded by a marketing effort. Decades ago, hotels can easily use pricing strategy to target different groups of customers (i.e. different prices for different groups). With the Internet and social media, travelers can easily compare price and share the deals they found. I wonder how the Internet and social media affect a hotel’s pricing strategies. If you are a traveler, how do you find the best price for a hotel room? Do you think this video offers you some useful tips?
Conducting your own research is definitely the best way to find a great deal or rate on a hotel room. Hotels and resorts always have some sort of deal or better rate than the one that you are presented with, you just have to look for it. Many companies post exclusive deals on social networking websites such as facebook or twitter, to reach audiences that may not already be searching for the best deals available.
ReplyDeleteTravel Agency websites like travelocity, hotels.com, & expedia are also a great way to find deals and exclusive offers. When booking a hotelroom, i personally never book a room on the hotels main website, i find using a third party to make hotel reservations results in a better rate with more exclusive offers/ deals.
Wonderful blog & good post.Its really helpful for me, awaiting for more new post. Keep Blogging!
ReplyDeleteHotel Reservation