There are many companies that offer a variety of revenue management software programs designed for lodging companies. Although the individual tasks of revenue management can be performed manually, the most efficient means of handling data and generating yield statistics is through revenue management software. Revenue management software can integrate room demand and room price statistics to simulate high revenue-producing product scenarios.
Revenue management software does not make decisions for managers. It merely provides information and support for managerial decisions. Since revenue management is often quite complex, front office staff will not have the time to process the voluminous data manually. Fortunately, a computer can store, retrieve, and manipulate large amounts of data on a broad range of factors influencing room revenue. Over time, revenue management software can help management create models that produce probable results of decisions. Decision models are based on historical data, forecasts, and booked business.
RESULTS
In those industries where computer-based revenue management has been applied, the following results have been observed:
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Continuous monitoring: a computerized revenue management system can track and analyze business conditions 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Consistency: software can be programmed to respond to specific changes in the marketplace with specific corporate or local management rules resident in the software.
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Information availability: revenue management software can provide improved management information which, in turn, may help managers make better decisions more quickly.
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Performance tracking: a computer-based system is capable of analyzing sales and revenue transactions occurring within a business period to determine how well revenue management goals are being achieved.
Revenue management software is also able to generate an assortment of special reports. The following are representative of revenue management software output:
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Market segment report: provides information regarding customer mix. This information is important for effective forecasting by market segment.
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Calendar/booking graph : presents room-nights demands and volume of reservations on a daily basis.
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Future arrival dates status reports: furnishes demand data for each day of the week. This report contains a variety of forecasting information that enables the discovery of occupancy trends by comparative analysis of weekdays. It can be designed to cover several future periods.
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Single arrival date history report: indicates the hotel’s booking patterns (trends in reservations). This report relates to the booking graph by documenting how a specific day was constructed on the graph.
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Room statistics tracking sheet: tracks no-shows, guaranteed no-shows, walk-ins, and turn-aways. This information can be instrumental in accurate forecasting.
Since management is interested in revenue enhancement, computer-based revenue management has become a popular hospitality industry software application.