Owners and staff need performance data and, most importantly, recommendations on what to do with that data.

For example, anyone can look at your PMS and tell you your annual occupancy and RevPAR, but can can they recommend how to improve them? What is your profit margin for each source of revenue and distribution channel and what adjustments can you make to optimize your revenue and profit?  We can provide you with periodic performance reports and recommendations that will allow you be confident about where you stand and where you are headed.  We'll include specific tasks for you and your staff (or ourselves if you need us to chip in).

This is the BIG question for all hospitality businesses in the Branson/Lakes area, right?  The answers include marketing focused on the target market transients and groups most likely to visit during these periods and the reasons why they visit (see our marketing services page for more information).  On the revenue management side, we help you make good group business and partnering financial decisions (see related questions below for more depth).

Room demand is variable and room supply is fixed.  When demand is high and price is too low, you’re losing money.  When demand is low and price is too high, you’re losing money.  We help you determine the right price by forecasting demand based on historical data, competitor data, events, market conditions, etc. Seasons are obvious in the Branson/Lakes area, but it’s not as simple as seasonal and non-seasonal rates for each room.  We make you aware of all factors many of your competitors do not consider.  We help you phase in pricing strategy so you get the revenue you deserve, but not at the cost of losing your most loyal guests.

A property management system (PMS) is essential for analyzing data, forecasting and automating pricing across all channels (website, OTA’s, etc.). If you have a PMS and you and your staff need help understanding how to use it, we can help.  If you don’t have a PMS, we can help you find the right one based on your needs and affordability.  If you don’t have the time or just prefer to focus on other tasks, we can manage the data for you.  We can also help with selection, planning and integration of point of sale (POS) systems for sale of food and beverage, merchandise, etc.

Booking channels include 

1) Direct (website booking engine or phone) 

2) OTAs (Booking.com, Expedia, etc.) 

3) Metasearch Engines (Google Hotel Ads, Kayak, etc.) 

4) GDS (mostly corporate) and 

5) Traditional Travel Agencies. 

In a perfect world, all guests would find your property website and book directly to completely fill your forecasted demand, but for most that is unrealistic.  We can help you periodically optimize your mix of booking channels based on your historical data and forecasted demand.  We can also help you implement marketing and communication methods to convert guests to booking directly with you and keep that well deserved revenue and profit.

For information on group marketing, see our strategic marketing services page.  

Group business decisions start with what percentage of your overall business you want to target for group business.  We can help you set goals based on what you can offer particular target market groups and your historical and forecasted demand.

Next is whether to accept a particular group booking based on the number and type of guests, selected dates and other information.  Since group bookings are typically a discounted, negotiated rate, we can help you calculate your transient displacement based on forecasted demand and all sources of revenue involved.  In simplest terms, you want to fill occupancy with guests who spend the most on all your sources of revenue combined (rooms, meeting spaces, F&B, boat rentals, etc.) and have good behavior.  We can help you plan group offerings, including partnering with other local businesses to maximize your revenue.  For many, it is best to target group business during historically low demand periods (not during periods when transient demand is high).

Last is forecasting demand for your group to help ensure you are not overbooked or undersold based on the particular group behavior in the approach to arrival.