Revenue Strategy Summit 2015 Round-Up

By Kiersten Pearce

Last week’s Revenue Strategy Summit in Washington, DC proved to be a provocative event that stirred up plenty of newsworthy buzz. The summit provided a critical and unique forum for many industry leaders to exchange insights and develop practical approaches for moving their businesses ahead.

We had five captivating speakers starting with Marc Teerlink of Watson (IBM) who explained how innovation in cognitive processing is changing our world and how it will cross over into the hotel industry. Kalibri’s own Rebecca Bucnis shared preliminary data from the upcoming Distribution Channel Analysis, due out in early 2016, which shows that customer acquisition costs are at an all-time high, the costs of doing business are going up and stressed how important it is for hotels to manage these costs. P.K. Kannan, a professor at the University of Maryland, presented findings from a new study he is conducting which found consumer behavior has changed with regards to online hotel bookings and the Billboard effect no longer exists. The day ended with a fascinating closing keynote address from Ethan Hawkes and Sree Ramaswamy from McKinsey & Company uncovering the four disrupting forces reshaping the hospitality industry and how marketing and technology must evolve to meet new demands.

In addition to the five speakers, there were a number of group panels that covered topics such as how content will be the primary driver in the digital economy, what metrics can be tapped to improve hotel profitability, and ways property-level hotel teams can integrate revenue strategy into their daily lives. And it would not be RSS without the always exciting New Player, New Models panel with pitches from BookingSuite, Stayful and HotelsByDay followed by lively discussions.

In the end, RSS uncovered and examined all the latest trends in hotel revenue strategy, touching on the areas of distribution, sales, price optimization, acquisition costs and marketing.

It was a thought-provoking event where hotel owners, managers, and brand executives came together to discuss how this new field of Revenue Strategy can help the industry not only survive, but thrive amidst change and disruption.

We look forward to the fourth annual RSS in 2016 and we hope to see you there.
Until then, below is a roundup of the articles written about RSS, enjoy!

The Billboard Effect is dead, says a study of hotels listed on OTAs
Study: OTAs continue to steal market share
Think like a retailer: 4 tips for hoteliers
Beyond Big Data: Why Watson is the future
Two digital disruptors hurting hotels
Technology Pulse: A roundup of digital news