Three approaches to revenue management for independent hotels compared

Exely has analyzed the most common reasons why independent hotels lag behind chain hotels in revenue management and has laid out three options side by side to close this gap.

According to the company's conclusion, the main problem is the lack of staff and systems: while chains have a separate team making price and occupancy decisions, in small hotels this work often falls on the manager.

The first option is to hire an in-house specialist — control remains entirely with the hotel, but there are labor costs and difficulties in finding staff. The second is the implementation of a revenue management system (RMS): decisions become automated, but setting up the system and using it correctly requires a separate skill set. The third way is to use external support — a faster start, but the hotel's control over its own data decreases.

In Azerbaijan, dozens of independent hotels and guesthouses operate with seasonal occupancy, and prices are often set based on experience. For such properties, the most realistic step is to first determine which decision rests on which data, and then choose one of the three options that fits the budget and staffing capacity.