Every year new tourism records - But where does profit remain?

For years, new records have been reported in the different tourist cities. Just recently, ASTAT published the report on the winter season 2015/2016. There are described positive developments and increases compared to the previous year, as well as a new record of overnight stays. But after many talks with hoteliers we ask ourselves: why are not the profits of the tourism sector higher?

In the discussions with our customers and partners, we often find the same reasons why records can be set up, but at the same time most of them remains less profit than more.

High personnel costs and the increase in property taxes and VAT are mentioned again and again. In addition, there are increasing charges and commisions for online travel agencies (OTA) such as booking.com, which will help the hotel to increase its capacity but will not bring any more profit.

In order to counter this development, changes and new regulations in the field of personnel costs are always being demanded, but we believe there are other set-screws.

Here we briefly discuss two possibilities:

1) Detailed data analysis

In order to know exactly where the profit remains on the line, the hotelier must keep all important and up-to-date data and parameters in mind and, for example, compare them with the previous year's data. In this blog article, you'll find tips about how to use your data in the right way.

2) Smart pricing

Many hoteliers till work with the traditional price list. Prices are fixed and published in advance. Many of them have long since ceased to be a winter and a summer season. In some cases a new price is charged for each week, depending on what the hotelier expects for a demand and this is, in our opinion, already a first important step in the right direction.

Nevertheless, the prices are static and give little scope for short-term changes - except last-minute perks. Changes to the upside, if there is an increased demand in the short term, are not possible at all. Therefore, intelligent and dynamic prices hould be the future, to be able to react better to demand. How you can achieve this read here!

Of course, governments and authorities need to create the right conditions for a successful and profitable tourism industry, but we are of the opinion that hoteliers can take this into their own hands.

It is time to face the challenge!