TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ... 1
1. INTRODUCTION ... 2
1.1 Background of the thesis ... 2
1.2 Limitations of the thesis ... 3
1.3 Objectives and research questions ... 3
1.4 Theoretical framework ... 4
1.5 Research method ... 4
2. THEORETICAL PART OF THE THESIS ... 5
2.1 History and definition of Revenue management ... 5
2.2 Revenue Management application ... 8
2.2.1 Service Marketing Mix ... 10
2.3 Fundamental questions of Revenue management ... 13
2.4 The importance of costs in Revenue Management ... 16
2.5 Revenue Management Tools ... 19
2.6 Forecast and Historical data ... 23
2.7 Forecast of Direct Sales... 25
2.8 Tourism market segmentation and Nesting ... 27
3. PRACTICAL APPLICATION ... 33
3.1. Executive summary ... 33
3.2. Market segmentation in case of Piano di Sorrento ... 34
3.3 4P's (7P’s) analysis ... 41
3.4 Distribution channels ... 47
3.5 Competitive set ... 49
3.6 Customer satisfaction analysis ... 57
3.7. Revenue analysis ... 61
3.8. SWOT analysis ... 63
4. RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 68
4.1 TOWS matrix ... 68
4.2 Solutions to increase occupation in case of the La Ripetta Hotel ... 73
4.2.2 The internet as a powerful providing tool ... 79
4.2.3 Dynamic packaging ... 85
5. SUMMARY ... 90
REFERENCES ... 91
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Candidato: Maria Zadorozhnaya Matricola: 470812
Abstract:
This thesis is dedicated to the study of revenue management tools for small hotels of Italy. In my work, I tried to determine useful and correct revenue management techniques to maximise the hotel profit. I have chosen the La Ripetta hotel, situate in Piano di Sorrento, as a case company. Analysing the fundamental marketing and revenue characteristics I was suggested the efficient tools to run the business more profitably.
At the theoretical part of the thesis, I took a look at the fundamental revenue tools and ways of its application to the hotel business. These techniques are suitable for the hotels that never used revenue management tools before.
During the analytical part of my thesis, I reviewed different analysis types to determine the appropriate and correct revenue management policy suitable for the La Ripetta hotel. I used marketing analysis such as marketing mix and 7P's analysis, competitive set analysis, customer satisfaction analysis, SWOT analysis and revenue management analysis.
Studying these hotel features helped me to determine some solutions at the last part of my thesis. I adduced the solutions that can be used for creating a pricing policy of the hotel and a simple revenue management system. Using the SWOT analysis information I performed the TOWS matrix to understand better what strategies should be used to minimise threats and eliminate weaknesses.
I was complete my work by consideration of opportunities that small hotels of Italy have to run the profitable hotel business.
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1. INTRODUCTION
This thesis is to analyse and understand how small hotels of Italy are managed to develop recommendations and suggestions to introduce revenue management tools. The La Ripetta hotel was chosen like a case company to analyse and study. The objective of this work is to suggest some revenue management tools to introduce in small hotel business of Italy to create a stable foundation for the revenue management policy.
During the introduction of this thesis, I would like to explain more about the general background of the paper, some descriptions on how this topic was chosen and why I choose the La Ripetta hotel as the case study. Furthermore, I explain the limitations, aims and objectives more deeply. At the last parts of the thesis, the forms of the collection of the research data will be mentioned.
1.1 Background of the thesis
This thesis looks at the managing and organisation of the La Ripetta hotel, the present situation on the tourism market of the destination and opportunities that hotel has to evolve the business. Furthermore, this paper looks at the best selection of revenue management tools that could help to run the business more efficiently.
The main reason that motivated me to choose this subject was the practical work in the La Ripetta hotel as a promoter of the hotel service. During the work, I would out that the improvements are necessary to develop the hotel business and to make it more profitable.
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1.2 Limitations of the thesis
This thesis will focus on the marketing and revenue analysis of the hotel. It is not aimed in focusing on the economics part of the hotel. This work will focus, basically, on studying and explaining the fundamental marketing analysis, such as 4P's analysis, competitive set analysis, SWOT analysis and others for proceeding to the main revenue management techniques to an improvement of the La Ripetta hotel position at the tourist market.
1.3 Objectives and research questions
The objective of this thesis is to study the main marketing and revenue analysis based on the information collected in the hotel and during the information research. One of the research questions of this thesis is to know how the La Ripetta hotel conducts their marketing processes and research. How is it communicate with the target market? What the target market of the hotel is and what shares or the tourist market is interesting for the hotel. How these market shares could be attracted? Who the hotel competitors are and what competitive advantages hotel has? How can the hotel manage their opportunities and advantages to create a fundamental revenue management policy?
The scope of this thesis is to determine recommendations and suggestions to introduce fundamental revenue management techniques into the La Ripetta hotel. Furthermore, to study the suggestions that can be involved into small hotels of Italy operating at the same situation as the case company.
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1.4 Theoretical framework
The theoretical part of the thesis consists of the main information about the Revenue Management, the history of its developing and main definitions. There is also discussed its importance and methods of its application into the service business. During the theoretical part of the paper, fundamental questions of the revenue management and principal revenue management tools were mentioned. Furthermore, the marketing methods of service analysis were referred, like the basics of every revenue management policy application. The theoretical part of the thesis giving a principal information and lead logically to the practical application.
The empirical part of the thesis describe the case company the La Ripetta hotel and its position on the tourism market. In addition, it presents a various quantity of analysis necessary to understand the current situation of the service business of the hotel. This studying will be used to determine recommendation at the last part of the work.
1.5 Research method
The research method is data collection conducted the research. Also, the research during the interview with front-office and back-office departments of the La Ripetta hotel. The interviewers were the hotel administrators and front-office managers. Written sources are references to rely on revenue management and marketing books and special journal articles. Furthermore, internet sources and statistics sites.
The data about service prices, hotel occupation and registration book data are collected in the hotel with the hotel administration approval.
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2. THEORETICAL PART OF THE THESIS
2.1 History and definition of Revenue management
The Revenue Management was born from the Yield Management traditions.
Perhaps the first recognized innovation in the development of Revenue Management was the experimental offering of differentiated fare products for essentially the same seats during the early 1970s. In 1972, British Overseas Airways Corporation (now British Airways) offered capacity controlled ‘Earlybird’ discounts to stimulate demand for seats that would otherwise fly empty (McGill and van Ryzin, 1999).1
Originally, it was used by the airline industry for managing the tariffs and initially was based on two variables:
• Low-cost seats to price-sensitive travelers (usually the leisure segment)
• High-cost seats to time-sensitive travelers (usually on business)
On the base of these two variables, the Revenue Management was developed and it was some kind of Yield Management evolution, which applied at a tourism and hotel market. It is useful to note here the difference between the Revenue Management and its “predecessor” the Yield Management. First of all some authors make the difference underlying that Revenue Management is more customer driving while Yield Management just describing the wide range of techniques practically used. According to Weatherford and Bodily (1992) the term yield management had limitations in describing the broad range of techniques practically used.2
1 Robert G. Cross, Jon A. Higbie and Zachary N. Cross, Milestones in the application of analytical pricing
and revenue management, Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, USA, Revenue Analytics, Inc.,
2010, 8-18.
2Aurelio G. Mauri, Hotel Revenue Management: Principles and Practices, Milano-Torino, Pearson Italia,
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A starting definition of revenue management may be the one developed by American Airlines: revenue management is the maximization of revenue by “selling the right seats to the right customers at the right time”. This definition was subsequently modified to include “and at the right price”.3
So what is the meaning of Revenue Management?
Selling the Right Room to the Right Client at the Right Moment at the Right Price
On the Right Distribution Channel with the best commission efficiency4 Moreover, Revenue Management is looking for influence and condition the demand by using the rate like an instrument. It is not just about the using the dates but the dynamic combination of base elements of the market such as price, marketing, and distribution. Using all the potency of these elements Revenue Management is setting increase of sale and peak occupancy at a low season as a principal object.
Overall, it can be say that Revenue Management is the evolution of Yield Management, realized with the Dynamic Pricing impact at a tourism international market and the influence that it can have on Brand Reputation online, using the demand for particular hotel as a lever.
It does not mean that if we apply some good Revenue Management policy at a determined destination we will get the maximum tourism flow there.
It will be useful to mention here that we are going to analyze the situation of Revenue management in Italy. Therefore, the important key to remember is that all support and technologies of dynamic rate policy and all Revenue Management policies were arrived in Italy recently. This fact creates some confusion and the
3 Aurelio G. Mauri, Hotel Revenue Management: Principles and Practices, Milano-Torino, Pearson Italia,
2012, 15.
4 Patrick Landman, What is the Definition of Revenue Management Again?, article 4634,
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main idea of Revenue Management was understood as a “minimization of under the date rate through web canals” for accelerating the reservations at the moment of low occupation.
Having said that, I would like to clear some important moments. With all existing techniques and levers of Revenue Management, it is still difficult to achieve the perfect Revenue Management model suiting for any type of hotel. Moreover, it is not enough just to apply correctly the “instrument-rate”.
The motive of this dualism, Revenue Management = minimization of rate, arise because of incredibly strong impact that some rate variation can get using the web-cannel, which is apparently amplified in an incredible manner. Therefore, without knowing the fundamentals of the correct application of the dynamic rate policy, hotelier simply minimize the date rate. In addition, unfortunately, this fact has the disastrous result.
After that, let us try to emphasize some useful and important moments, which suggest some effective instrument for hoteliers in Italy for providing better results, satisfy the operators and give a chance to represent excellent business.
In conclusion, I would like to define fundamental aspects of Revenue Management:
Pricing – dynamic or not, but always contextualized on segment and target group which is traveling in the specific period of year, the week of the month, the day of the week - Immediate reaction by the market.
Product marketing to identify in a precise manner, what can we offer and to what target group and of which segment. Moreover, in what day or period of the year – Correct positioning.
Direct marketing and FO to develop the opportunity of the 1to1 contact, thanks to the mail marketing technologies, but especially thanks to Front Office operators, it is the way to implement some effective disintermediation.
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Distribution - electronic, traditional, alternative, thanks to technologies and a wide variation of offers. We need to create “Marketing mix” which will cover also the markets unknown for us or was considered to be appropriate just for TO. Smart distribution can bring important economic benefits.
“NonRoom” departments like Food&Beverages (bar, restaurant, and mini-bar), Wellness or Spa center, congress halls, conduce to the increase of revenue thanks to the higher media occupancy. During some periods when we cannot count on a profitable rate, the client will be more willing to pay for the “nonroom” departments.
Dynamic pricing means that a hotel will change its room rates daily or even within a day if up-to-the-minute market information reveals the need for adjustments. It is based on the recognition that the right rate to charge for a room night is what the customer is able and willing to pay.5
2.2 Revenue Management application
At the first part we saw how Revenue Management was born, now let us try to understand what induce the administration of some hotel to trust to the politic of RM. What are the elements, which are an influence on this choice? The most important motivation is surely the actual crisis, which the tourism sector endured. This fact changed many tourists’ habits and made stays shorter but frequently, travels of short-range and inside the country. That results to the reduction of average stay and per person spending. For example, the family, which booked the Full Board stay of 5-7 days now, is booking 3-4 days and prefer to choose between diner and supper.
On the one hand, this situation on the market can be very profitable for hotels because even if clients spend less money their travels are much more frequent. On the other hand, the hoteliers habituated to use the pre-crisis techniques of
5 Dr. Gabor Forgacs, Revenue Management: Dynamic Pricing, Revenue Management: Maximizing
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Revenue Management and they lose more than profit. One of the most important rules of Revenue Management is that it should be flexible and timely. Change the habit is a big stress and it seems to be risky, but it is the unique right solution in the existent crisis.
Obviously, that new generation of tourists mostly has habits different from habits of the elder generation, those who was born at the century of Internet. They prefer to book cheaper and travel more often. Consider that we can conclude that the increase of individual travels, last minute bookings, browsing for special offers and economic solutions has a fundamental importance.
Saying that does not have to discourage the hotels because it does not mean that the change of habits and in consequence the policy of Revenue Management will minimize revenues. Quite the contrary the situation can be also profitable for the hotel. For example, short but frequent stays can result as an increase of occupancy even at a low season what is, no doubt, favorable thing for a hotel. Here come the moment where the dynamic rates management is attending. It is a correct segmentation and careful analysis of booking history. Using this instrument correctly, getting possible to forecast market tendencies and as a result work with the rate, making it attractive for clients or profitable for a hotel or raise it in case of high demand.
The key is an adaptation of marketing, commerce policy, rate and distribution policies to market trend and new tourist’s habits discovering the needs that are changes during the time and which are often different depends on the reference market. For adding these aspects efficiently, it is necessary to use a marketing mix tool. Marketing mix analyze is effective both for running a new tourism business or for the business almost existed. I would like to study the question of service marketing mix more detail.
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2.2.1 Service Marketing Mix
The definition of the marketing mix is similar to the definition of revenue management and obviously, the successful revenue management policy strictly depends on a careful and correct marketing mix definition. The marketing mix is about putting the right product in the right place, at the right price, at the right time. Therefore, we just need to create a product or service that some group of people wants, put it in a place, which this group of people visit regularly and adjust a price that this group of customers is ready to pay for product or service you are offering. The strategy seems easy, but the problem is that if one of those aspects go wrong the whole business crushes.
Marketing mix is good as to understand opportunities and defects first to run a business and both when you are looking to make your business more profitable.
Most popular way to define the marketing mix is 4P's that first expressed in 1960 by E J McCarthy. It is called 4P's because consist of Product, Price, Promotion and Place. These four aspects made to help a businessperson to define clearly all necessary information to run their work successfully.
In case of a service, it becomes more difficult to define this information because as it shown a practice they are not enough. A service in contrast of a product is intangible, heterogeneous and perishable, what makes its "production" more complicated. Moreover, its production and consumption is inseparable. Therefore, the service marketing mix uses a 7P's tool with besides 4P's listed below includes also People, Process and Physical evidence.
Let us consider each of them to better understanding and using then in hotel analyses.
Product/Service
The product (service in that case) is intangible in nature, as we have said below. It cannot be measure like any other physical product. The tourism industry is an excellent example of using a service marketing mix. Other important
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characteristics of a service product are that it cannot be own, is heterogeneous and perishable. Therefore, a service should be design carefully and attentively.
Price
Pricing in case of services is much more difficult consider to a product. Because in case of a service an executive set the price not just to a service but also to aspects which accompany it. So in case of a restaurant a client pay not just for dishes but also for the location of this restaurant, nice ambience and friendly service. All this aspects have to be taken in consideration while costing.
Place
In case of a service, a place is determined where the service has to be located. The best place to run a leisure hotel business is the seaside in a country with a warm climate. The aim is to locate a service in a place that can become a competitive advantage for your service and increase a profit of your company. In a tourism business, it is also important how easily accessible is a hotel or restaurant.
Promotion
Nowadays a competition between services has reached a huge dimension and best method to compete successfully on the market is to promote a service effectively and carefully. Managers invest heavily in this significant for a service aspect, but big contributions are not enough, it always need to pay attention to a distribution channels and market segmentation. In a modern world, it is not even necessary to have an excellent product or service but to promote it right and intensively.
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Here on we start to examine extended service marketing mix.
People
People are one of the service marketing mix aspects. People define the service, in a hotel business the staff is a first thing what customer see entering the hotel. Without a friendly service, a restaurant cannot run a business profitable and clearly. Many companies nowadays are paying attention to a training their staff skills to focus towards customer satisfaction. In case of service, people can make or crush any business.
Process
Service process is a way of delivering the service to a customer. Nowadays marketing managers use a blueprint to define carefully and step by step all the way of the delivering a service to a client. It is a useful fact to offer a high-quality service even when a number of customers are growing. Such a tool helps to develop strategies to follow which can guide the staff even in greeting guests.
Physical evidence
The last but not less important aspect of service marketing mix is physical evidence. As we have said below a service in intangible in nature, so manager have to try a method to surround it with some tangible elements. For example, a customer will prefer a restaurant with delicious cuisine in a beautiful place with live music to a restaurant with the same delicious cuisine but in a dark small building. That is a physical evidence. An hotelier has to offer not just a bad in a room, but a room with a sea view, well-furnished and with a breakfast in a room.
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2.3 Fundamental questions of Revenue management
Why tourists have to choose our hotel? This is the most asking question, which has a fundamental importance in a hotel success.
As we recently told, variables which are an influence on the popularity of a hotel are numerous and much different among them. Certainly, the geographical position has its importance, most of all it is one of the principal distinguishing features which are an influence on the client choice. However, with a geographical position, like in the case of weather the hotel has no power.
Therefore, how should hotelier act to attract clients in his hotel, what should he do to be chosen?
The most important lever is a price, the unique variable what we can work to achieve the results immediately. However, it is necessary to remember that the Revenue Management is not just about to increase or minimize the rate. The rate is just a lever that is faster than others are and which result from thanks to the powerful amplifier of Web. Nevertheless, it is important to stay very attentive with the usage of this lever, otherwise we are risking make big errors, confuse it with Revenue Management.
Another significant thing to remember is that a customer is not just looking for the convenience, when he prefer one hotel to another his pick is also based on the opinions of another clients visited this hotel and left their comment by the web. Have positive feedback is another one variable, which a hotel needs to manage skillfully for getting satisfactory results in terms of occupation and especially in terms of revenue. Here would be appropriate to talk some words about Brand Reputation, which consist on opinions and sharing of these opinions among the clients. Therefore, we can say, that price and quality are related, but it does not mean that a high price is a synonym of a high level of quality or that quality related to amount of stars that a hotel has. Rather than quality is a primary element so that we can think about managing of the rate increase.
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It does not mean that we can offer rooms of a low quality on an exaggerated high price. Revenue Management is about to understand when and how much a market is willing to pay for the quality of our product and for our reception service. This is a very delicate point and nowadays it is a weak point of Revenue Management of Italy.
A market is an object and to understand it means to comprehend the need. Needs are the key of success in terms of occupancy, productivity, and hotel reputation. Consequently, to adapt price to customer needs and market requests is a solution.
Here we have some solutions that can help to clear key points:
a precise definition of the product/hotel: not all hotels can have an excellent location, in a city center or on a beachfront, it can’t be always new and relevant or always technologically advanced.
the proper target identification: determining our product/hotel, we are proceeding to realize who is our client, who are looking for exactly this type of hotel, on this rate and for all those characteristics suitable for his needs.
the market of the origins: it is useful to understand what is the geographical market of the origins which is interested in our product/hotel, what period of the year it is more requested, what day of the week. The key importance has also it is willing to pay, how much this market is ready to pay for our product/hotel.
distribution channels: it is about to understand how our clients are buying the product, using what operator or they are purchasing online or directly in a hotel, may be they prefer opaque channels.
Knowing all of these factors has a fundamental importance. They are the basics to know first of conjecture any rate politic.
Another important fact is that free room is as if a room sold on zero, so it bring us just a cost. In that case, the more effective choice is to sell it on a lower rate
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instead of sell it free. However, here goes another question - this rate should be lower than our competitors’ rate or lower than a rate we had last year? Probably our competitors have empty hotels and the market of the last year was different or we had the low occupancy rate compared to this year.
Looking forward variables that have an influence to the clients’ choice is necessary to mention the Internet because nowadays is a favorite searching and booking tool. It is growing fast and have get a dimension and complexity so huge that it is even difficult to imagine. It is obvious that the fact of booking online changed the clients’ habits completely, but there is always a choice to search the Web lengthwise looking for the best offer or just looking for the hotel with the highest rating focusing on the best relation of quality to price. Here is the moment when we bring to game our system of dynamic and flexible rate, segmenting the offer. The able to satisfy all segments of the market and all the difference of needs leads to an increase of conversion ratio and then revenues.
The Conversion Ratio is one of the most important indicators of success in a hotel business. It refers to the total number of reservations inquiries received as compared with the number of reservations booked.
Conversion Ratio = Number of reservations/Total Reservations Call Received6
Mentioned this we are ready to set up the "departure" rate well in advance and lower than our average rate of the last year which did not allow us to replenish the hotel. Because we need to remember clearly that the sensitivity of the rate is higher farther is the date of booking.
This fact is bringing us some important benefits. Such as:
6 Doug Kennedy, What is a good hotel reservation call conversion ratio?, www.hotelmarketing.com ,
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The strong visibility online and offline: first of all the tourist make a selection based on a price on OTA (Online Tourist Agencies). Quite probably, he will be curious about our profitable tariff and then we can have a great opportunity to realize the "direct reservation".
The increase of ALOS (Average Lengths of Stay): the increase of ALOS can be achieve in the case of a client was enticed to book more nights of stay attracted by the profitable tariff we offer.
The increase of "Booking Window": taking in consideration the high sensitivity of the rate that it has on research in an advanced date of stay, it have the sense to book ahead. This fact can give us also a double average Booking Window and then to program better our activity, to manage better our costs and generally optimize the result.
Running Revenue Management means to increase revenues in a short period and enlarge its own commercial base to improve the short-term and long-term results. It means to adapt to the market but at the same time be able to understand when and how to condition it.
So, let us give a definition of Revenue Management. According to Wikipedia Revenue Management is the application of disciplined analytics that predict consumer behavior at the micro-market level and optimize product availability and price to maximize revenue growth. The primary aim of Revenue Management is selling the right product to the right customer at the right time for the right price and with the right pack.
2.4 The importance of costs in Revenue Management
The profit or target of every hotel consists of costs and revenues. Revenues generated of the sails of "Room Division" and the sails of "Non Room" division. The last one developed weakly in Italy, but it can be very interesting and profitable for the hotel. Let us define it like an opportunity to sell auxiliary services or
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accessory services. Presently it is a weak point of Italian tourism market but it has a great potentiality in future. The costs, instead, have a different composition, that is why some errors and incorrectly counting happen. Firstly, it is necessary to understand how costs of the tourism sector structured, as regards the room division.
The most important division is which divide costs to fixed and variable. First, one are costs that do not change when the occupancy changes while variable costs are those, which depends on the occupation. So here, we have the report, which unify costs and the volume of production.
Let us make some examples. Among fixed costs (or indirect costs) there are financing, rates, and loans; staff rewards; insurance; loads related to fixed shares; special services; purchase or modernization of facilities.
While variable costs (direct costs) consist of costs, which are also called marginal costs. They are a share of utilities; laundry; courtesies and services; breakfast service; maintenance by order; stuff if they have a contract with an external company.
The marginal cost defined as a cost for each unit sold. Consequently, the fixed cost remains the same regardless of high or low hotel occupancy. While the variable cost changes with an alteration of the occupancy and will be present just in case of room sold.
Optimized analysis of variable costs and especially of the marginal cost we are able to calculate our "minimum rate". It is a rate, which is different a lot from the average selling price; we are talking about our Bottom Rate. The Bottom Rate is a selling price below which it becomes uneconomical to sell out. It should be mention that the Bottom Rate is not a rate what we are selling rooms and it has no in common with the Break Even Point. Opposite, the Break Even Point is more bound to a final analysis of accounting calculation. Firstly, we need to divide two things to take a clarity about the argument:
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Break Even Point: a rate formed by fixed and variable costs where the margin of profit starts, but it cannot be taken like the average selling price. Bottom Rate: minimum rate under which it is unprofitable to sell and which
is not the average selling price.
As we can see both of these two rates are not the average selling price.
In fact, we have not considered the unique right variable, which determine what rate use - it is the tourism target market.
The next step is to define the initial daily rate using the bottom rate like a target base. Another aspect that can make a lot of confusion is that the bottom rate on certain dates can coincide to the starting rate, but on the other, the last one can be higher. Here our target market can give us the right indications one more time. Therefore, the starting rate is a function of the demand of current period/day is always the same or higher than the bottom rate and should be published well in advance at the moment of publication of the rate for the subsequent year.
Let us make a conclusion. The price of the room defined on the base of needs and requests of the market at a precise moment. Often it is not matched to needs and real value of a hotel, then we need to attain to the level of the perceived value of a market and, therefore, of the willingness to pay for our service at a current moment.
Another important thing to dwell is that the bottom rate is not the selling price but always remember that to sell on overly high price often results as a "not sold room" what bring to a hotel just fixed costs which are always exists. The unsold room involves a failure of room sales, possible sales of "non room" division, brand reputation progress and last but not the least, a failure for the led territory.
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2.5 Revenue Management Tools
Before developing other important aspects of Revenue Management, which are revenue management tools, let us look back to the definition of RM.
As we said firstly, the RM is a manner of selling the right product (room, service, etc.) at a right price, in a right moment, to a right client and nowadays by a right channel.
Revenue Management is a set of elements interlocked together which get to one target - a revenue. It is not just about a dynamic rate, declining or increasing rate, but about all of the variables which get to an improvement, to an optimization of the profit of the company, the profit of all the units and not just of room division.
For getting better results, Revenue Management uses some certain tools, such as Revenue Oriented calendar, Forecast, and Historical data. All this tools take us back to the definition previously given because all of them related to a target market, a period and a context. Now let us study the importance of each of these tools.
Revenue Oriented Calendar. It is a combination of all dates indicated possible variations of occupancy and which support the fact of dynamic pricing, which finally indicate a possible increase of the demand at a certain period/day. They are Date Event, RevPar, Occupancy Rate, ADR, Nesting, Pick up and Cancellation Policy.
Talking about Date Event, we have in view all events organized on this destination, which repeats regularly or occasionally, and have a big attraction. Such events catalyze an interest and increase a demand at the destination. For example, it can be local, religious or national festivals, conferences, exhibitions or manifestations. Among these events, we can also include events organized by the hotel, group bookings or deals with special services. An attendance of any type event in our calendar involves a different price approach. It can change the starting price and the proceeding of possible increases. For instance, in a case
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of a national festival the booking rhythm can be faster and, as a result, require more attention to the process of booking. Here we find two risks:
to sell rooms on a low price when we can sell them on a higher price to increase the price too fast or initially have a starting price too high to sell
rooms
This is the most widespread errors that can have a place in a case of using the dynamic pricing or prices highly segmented based on a demand flow. Events considered as distorting variables because they involve these two risks. Distorting variables are some outside events which do not depend on us and cannot be controlled and which can involve the increase or decrease of a touristic flow.
Another data that have a fundamental importance for the revenue management analysis is indexes and averages. It allows us have an idea about the current situation or a previous situation. It gives us a necessary information about how we need to set up the future business policy.
We are talking about RevPar, Occupancy Rate, ADR that are basic and need be defined correctly.
RevPar: Revenue per Available Room. It has a fundamental importance to
understanding the progress of a hotel. Is a performance metric in the hotel industry that is calculated by dividing a hotel's total guestroom revenue by the room count and the number of days in the period being measured (Wikipedia.com). It indicates the progress of the production relation to the occupation. In addition, is useful for evaluating any changes of the business policy.
Occupancy Rate: the percentage of all rental units (as in hotels) occupied or
rented at a given time. Usually, values, which we are interested in, is those that related to last 2 or 3 years.
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Occupancy percentage expresses the success of management in attracting guests to a particular hotel property.7
ADR: Average Daily Rate is an index, which provides the information on the
average selling price. The number represents the average rental income per paid occupied room in a given time period. Is useful for evaluating a possibility of the target rate policy.
Then when the occupancy overcome a certain percentage (minimum 85%), it is necessary to take into account another useful data: type of client, Nesting, Pick up.
Two first are the values that related to the type of a client:
The first type is a client with a low contribution who is not book because of the high price. In case of this value is too high means that were not clear with the specification of our target market. Mainly it caused by Spoilage attitudes, for example, a sudden increase of a price or too high initial price. All this facts leads to the high price and it means that we have reached the "resistance price".
Second type is a client who are ready to book but do not find an available room. It represents a customer with a high contribution who booked under the date. It usually caused by Spillage attitudes. Probably we have had a too low price or decreased the initial price too much or may be the distorting variable was not evaluated clearly (some event was not take in consideration or was not considered clearly) what resulted to all rooms sale in advance and to big quantity of tourists who are require an availability of rooms.
In case of a last situation, there are three aspects which we need to take in consideration to avoid the most unpleasant state when the important share of the
7 Aurelio G. Mauri, Hotel Revenue Management: Principles and Practices, Milano-Torino, Pearson Italia,
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revenue is about to lose. Due to the fact, that the sensibility of an under the date price falling off so the perceived value of our room increases importantly.
The first aspect to measure is a correct using of the Nesting which permit to make an advance segmentation of our offer and then of our price policy based on the demand of past years. Then it involves a thorough presentment about our target market and a proper management and interpretation of our historical data.
The second aspect to keep under account is a Pick Up what is a rapidity of reservations received at a certain period of time.
Finally, a Cancellation Policy what is an accurate management of cancelation terms and a treatment in case if a no-show policy helps to avoid risks related to a type of client with a low contribution who is not book because of the high price. Generally, it helps to manage properly the date event, especially if it is of a great attraction.
Let's suppose that there is a date event which develop a great touristic flow in our destination, probably it will be a big amount of reservations and a high pick up and also a great number of cancellations. In this case, it will be useful to toughen a cancelation policy. In addition, it has a sense just on the dates of high flow but not on a normal flow. Issues of a high cancelation rate usually represented on two different types of date/period events:
Business events like exhibitions of a great importance
August holiday periods for see destinations, where the target market is mainly from south Europe, especially Italian.
To hold the calendar always updated is one of the fundamental elements to have in future a historical data accurate as possible, but especially to know how to react daily and in a short-term for maximize our revenue.
It should be mentioned that it is important to remember that studying the dates of past years is necessary to take in account the day of a week, but not the date of
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a month. Then to control timely and correctly the events if they are regular or occasional, annual or biennial. Also, is necessary to pay attention at trends of increase or decline of an occupancy and finally to have a detailed and correct agenda.
2.6 Forecast and Historical data
As we have seen before, the importance of a development of a Calendar is huge. In addition, we have seen all necessary values for optimizing the commercial policy.
First, let us define what a Forecast is. It is a calendar where we are going to insert all the data related to an occupancy and reservations. To make a Forecasting means to make a prediction of reservations by analyzing its progress, for conjecture a trend for the ongoing year and to decide how to run a price policy (increasing or declining). The Forecast also based on historical data of a past year.
The basic tool of Forecast is Planning which represents a table with days of a month in lines and types of rooms in columns, where we are going to set up a selling price for an appropriate day. Other columns which show a number of occupied or reserved resources, related to types of rooms, day by day. The adding of columns with unsold rooms, ADR and RevPar of the past year permit to have an information about how was a situation last year and to make a decision about an increase of a price and if it a right time to increase. For instance, if we set up the starting price higher than an ADR of the past year and we are notice that reservations are not much, realistically we have set a starting price too elevated.
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Forecast tool is important because if it is compiled correctly is a start point to maximize an occupation and a profit.8
Just with adjusting of all the dates in a planning, we can extrapolate statistics and forecasts that have a fundamental importance for Revenue Oriented and that permit us to make our current Forecast the powerful tool of historical data for the next year. We are talking about the importance of realizing how proceeding reservations, average occupancy rate and RevPar.
For a proper setting of a price policy, is necessary to understand how many rooms and with what price sold in the past to expect a current trend and to work with a price at correct periods. Increases and declines based on a correct trend analysis, on historical data and on a competitor analysis. The last one criteria depends on a market segment, traveling in a current period/day). If values set into or Forecast don’t reflect the real situation of the hotel there is a risk to make errors which can result as an application of a distorted price or commercial policy at an ongoing and next year.
Forecast and Historical data are tools that strictly related, the second could not be built without the first one. Forecast of the end of a year is our Historical data for the following year. Is an initial base for creating new prices, so now it is necessary to define how to form a historical data.
To form a simple and useful historical data it does not want much. We just need to create lines and columns and insert the most important dates for our purpose. Each line and column have to reproduce the real hotel situation closely as possible. As we have seen above, in lines we are going to add days of a week, highlighting the weekend and in columns values which are helpful for us, such as:
sold rooms
occupation in percentage
8 Van Ryzin G.J and McGill J.I., Revenue Management without Forecasting or Optimization, Management
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ADR RevPar
Here we can see the importance of all values that we have told above at practice. To obtain them is enough to use a formula made with another data inserted in a table. For realize it, we can use simple Excel method, which is plain to use what is total important for economics. Then it can be improve with all new technologies existing nowadays. However, for an analysis that we are going to do is enough.
All Revenue tools can be imagine like a circle - a correct usage of one involves a correct exploitation of another. One is a result of another. Is necessary to remember that all tools are related because we take in consideration just one of them is not enough for achieving our goals.
2.7 Forecast of Direct Sales
Keep talking about a Forecast but particularly about Direct Sales. Talking about direct sales, we are taking in account bookings by phone and via mail. The importance of direct sales is evident; they are unique reservations without commissions, so the whole price goes to a profit. Often hoteliers are looking to run their business without intermediaries what is a fundamentally important fact. However, usually this argument related to tools such as websites and booking engine, it is clear, but not enough. If a Front Office of a hotel not trained and prepared enough if it is not competent and professional, effective and hyperactive, the rate of a direct sale will be low. Because a client often calls back to a hotel after being informed about an offer on Booking.com. In addition, here is a turn of the front office operator to realize this reservation. Nevertheless, unfortunately, the operator is not able to realize the reservation because usually the direct price in a hotel is higher than a price on the booking engine.
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So, let us try to understand how to create a forecast of direct sales. Which is a tool what allows to have under control all requests and related information about booking principles those without a cost of sale.
If we are able to track all this information, this forecast will make the main piece of our historical data. Therefore, it is helpful to study how to manage the price at the Web and Direct levels, as well as starting to make a Nesting.
Let us presume that every week for a year we have a good direct request (by phone, via Mail and Walk In). If we will increase a price at Web channels, we will receive a slowdown of reservations on this channel, but will not lose the occupancy considering that we can realize an important quantity of direct bookings, which will be realize with a lower price respect on a price on Web channels. So, if then will enter Web bookings on a high rate it will not damage our product aims. That technique allows us to use the web like a channel of marketing and promotion and to optimize the productivity of our hotel.
Using Excel, we can also create a sort of daily record. We will insert there all the data related to received requests and confirmed reservations to mark out then a helpful information to realize the conversation rate (the percentage of requests, which then became factual reservations).
It is useful to insert the data related to client types: Walk-In
requests and reservations by phone requests and reservations via mail
The Director of Sales and Marketing, in conjunction with the Revenue Manager and the General Manager should set target goals for the sales team down to how many group rooms should be/can be booked on any given day in the year and what rate they can offer.9
9 Glenn Pedersen, Maximizing Direct Sales Force Revenue, review 2470, http://hotelexecutive.com/,
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It has to be mention here, that there are two factors, which have a fundamental importance for the forecast. They are the type of client that we talking about above. They are necessary to get the clear vision of a situation.
For example, client who are ready to book but do not find an available room related to the Spillage phenomenon when rooms sold in advance on a low rate, so reservations of potential customers with high contribution refused.
The client with a low contribution who is not book because of the high price related to the Spillage phenomenon. In this case or it is reached the resistance rate (the rate beyond which a customer do not purchase or reservations slowing down to a stop) or a starting rate is too high. Accordingly, rooms remain unsold.
The Forecast od direct sales allows to maximize the disintermediation and is a fundamental to get the correct and precise historical data, which consequently allow to set up the overall commercial policy based not on an intuition, but a precise data.
With a correct management of a forecast and historical data, we will be able to analyze better the potentiality of our hotel related to the target market. The purpose is to anticipate requests and to be ready to satisfy all needs of a target market.
2.8 Tourism market segmentation and Nesting
The most difficult characteristic of a tourism business is that all tourists are different. They have different needs, interests and opportunities. Therefore, the crucial action to make for a tourism manager is to understand what segments consist the tourist market of a destination and which of them are important for running his business profitable. The tourism market segmentation is particularly important for setting a correct revenue management policy. How we said above
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one of the keys of a profitable revenue management is to determine distinctly who is a potential customer of the offering service.
Without this knowledge, a successful tourism business cannot exist. Because is a fundamental basis to running any tourist business. The tourism market is huge and heterogeneous and it is an unrealizable object to satisfy needs and requirements of everybody.
Market segmentation exists to facilitate this sophisticated question for managers. It helps to identify tourism customer and to study better their needs and wants. It is an excellent way to know more about clients. In other words, it serves to convert a heterogeneous market into a homogeneous.
Therefore, the marketing segmentation is a process of grouping potential customers with similar needs, requests and interests to avoid a tourist company apply correct market strategy to a certain market segment to make their business operate efficiently. It is necessary to segment the market because a segmented market is easier to manage, to communicate with and to reach it efficiently.
To identify what segment of the market is interested in a particular service it is useful to answer some fundamental questions:
Who? - first of all is logical to understand who is the segment of the market which we are looking to attract. Is an extensive question and to concretize it we need to take in attention other characteristics which we can get through the answering following questions.
What? - the second aspect to know is what are customers are looking for, what are their needs, desires and requirements.
When? - period or time of a service promotion is acting a significant role in the market segmentation. Some client characteristics, such as an age or interests can allow to a manager to collect a better information.
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Where? – a place or destination, where we are going to promote our service, is also very important. As we saw during the 7P's studying, nowadays promotion is almost a perfect method to running a tourism business profitably. Not least is to determine right distribution channels for promoting a service. The diversity of distribution channels is wide and have to be examine in details. This point I would like to study in a particular chapter below.
How? - is the last question necessary to answer to identify the tourist market segmentation. How a manager develops marketing strategies to reach the certain market?
To achieve better results a marketing manager needs to determine market segment carefully. Thus, every segment of a market has to respond of some important characteristics. Among them:
a segment should be good identifiable. While identifying a segment by age or sex is, simply enough it gets more difficult to identify customers who are looking to rest or relax.
it should be distinct. In terms that participants of one segment have to be similar as possible among them and different as possible from participants of other segments.
a segment should match the strengths of the tourism destination
it should be easily reachable in order to be communicated efficiently by the destination management.
a segment of the market should be suitable in size because it is not necessary that the bigger segment is better. A tourism company may decide to concentrate at a small niche segment that represents a big enough market for the certain destination and has the advantage of having well marked requires.
Until now, we mentioned the difference between two macro segments Leisure and Business. Let us try to understand better what are they and how they acting at a market. To detect their needs we need to pay a maximum attention to their
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comportment, so it allows us to react in an adequate manner and to make solutions suitable for their needs.
Leisure is a segment of travelers those who are traveling for pleasure, fun or just to get away from the daily routine. These stays are differed by the duration; they can be very short or long enough. It can be a City Break of 3 nights (usually the destination is some European capital) or a stay until to 14 nights (especially summertime holidays or winter holidays).
Now it should be useful to analyze technic characteristics of this macro segment. First is a segment highly sensible to a price, the final price should be highly variable and an RM policy should perfectly fit a situation.
If the sensibility to the price is high then the flexibility of date’s choice is high too. Often travels by pleasure do not have particular needs in a choice. Surely, they bound by a holiday period or according to a long holiday period, but it is a difference of a few days. In fact if we notice some booking of low-cost airlines, there is always the another display with all dates matching the date you choose for showing you the rates of other flights. It is because in case of you are looking to change the date of arrival or departure you will chose the date with a lower price.
The reason of low prices is a benefit, which have an airline replenishing a flight, which still has many available seats.
Another important fact to take in account is a flow of two these segments, which is different. The touristic flow of a leisure segment can be define as endless while a business segment as limited. This difference between main two segments is fundamental and strictly related to price levels to apply. In fact, thanks to Web channels the leisure customer can decide to travel to some town/region/country rather than in another, for example due to an advantageous price of a destination or a hotel. It happens because a decision process of leisure trip began with a desire to travel and with a need of a certain trip type (sea, mountains, culture,
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amusement etc.). Therefore, a destination that can satisfy all needs requested and has a more profitable price/quality relation will be chosen for sure.
The Business segment operates conversely. A business tourist has a meeting or some business activity in a certain town at a certain time and a profitable offer of some other destination or hotel cannot change his decision to visit this certain destination. Because in this case the decision process of a tourist begins with a choosing of a destination.
Accordingly, this is a basic motivation of price diversification, which should be realize during the week. When we are talking about a period of a year assigned to a business (not a summer period or holiday period), a business tourist traveling from Monday to Thursday has a higher willingness to pay. While the weekend for having a high occupancy level we need to have a low rate to attract in our hotel touristic flows which probably are not even looking to visit our destination.
Keep on talking about the leisure segment and how to develop it. The main part of leisure segment reservations come from a Web channel. So is necessary to point on a development of single online channels on their correct content management (texts and especially images) and apparently on a commercial and rate politics that will help us to attract customers and develop a "word of mouth" which has a fundamental importance at this sector.
Another important part of leisure segment revenue of a hotel comes from reservations by direct clients, resulted by a proper communication and marketing policy, but especially by a strong fidelity role. Probably a client who for a first time booked a room by a web channel next time reserve a room calling directly to a hotel or by the official site. It happens only if a client was stimulated and encouraged to do it.
The Business macro segment is significantly different. Is a complicated segment and has a top importance both for hotels and especially for destinations located in commercial zone. For describing a business client, we can say that he is difficult to pick up, difficult to fill with confidence and easy to forfeit. This segment,
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in contrast to a leisure segment, characterized by a low sensibility related to date choice. Business trips usually scheduled on fixed dates according to company needs.
A business traveler prefers weekdays, especially central days of a week. That because we need to remember that inside a middle week there are strong and weak days. Monday and Thursday are weak days; they are days where business trips normally do not take place. Because these two days are more rationally to spend in an office. Trips for a work are usually concentrated on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
This segmentation is fundamental for managing different rate levels inside of the same week for the same segment clearly. If some day of a week a demand towards our hotel is higher than in, another there is no sense to set up the same price for both. How it said above, a business client is higher demanding, it wants to be gained and cuddled, attended and followed at his choice, much more compared to a leisure tourist.
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3. PRACTICAL APPLICATION
The practical part of the thesis dedicated to various analysis of the tourism market of a destination that helps us to understand the general situation where the case company operates. Onwards, I would like to make a revenue analysis based on the collected information about the market and a hotel and complete the analytical part with a SWOT analysis based on the obtained information. The SWOT analysis will get a feature of the logical crossing to the third part of the thesis.
The case company of my research is the La Ripetta Hotel, the hotel of three stars situated on Amalfi coast in Piano di Sorrento.
I would like to start my research with an executive information about the hotel.
3.1. Executive summary
The La Ripetta Hotel is a small charming hotel situated on an Amalfi Coast in Piano di Sorrento (Naples). It is located on a cliff overlooking the bay of Naples and the beach of Piano di Sorrento. It certified with three stars and have 41 rooms with different views. There are 11 rooms with a street view, 21 rooms with a sea view and 9 inside rooms (four of them have windows).
All rooms are furnished in a classic European design and equipped with all necessary facilities such as air conditioning, satellite TV, telephone, private bath with a shower, free Wi-Fi.
The La Ripetta Hotel has an ample amount of competitive advantages. Among them are sea view rooms with a terrace, breakfast included in a room price, small SPA inside the hotel, solarium with two Jacuzzis, big area relax with TV and a restaurant with a big "Blue Romance" terrace, offering a wide option of Italian and specifically Naples dishes.
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The SPA has a small swimming pool with a whirlpool, a sauna, a Turkish bath and different types of emotional showers. It also has a massage room when clients can have different professional treatments. A price of a room does not include the SPA price and can be booked without a room.
The hotel restaurant is open also separately and is very popular for events organization, such as weddings, birthday parties and baptizing parties. Tables can be reserved freely and it is not necessary to be a hotel's customer. The restaurant has also a wide "Blue Romance" terrace overlooks the beautiful bay of Sorrento and Piano di Sorrento beach. It is also has a BBQ area stylized as a small tavern.
The solarium is a competitive advantage for a hotel like La Ripetta. It equipped by deck chairs and has two Jacuzzi baths one is a little bigger than another has.
Another important competitive advantage of the hotel is a private parking with a satisfactory price. It is difficult to find a hotel with a parking on an Amalfi coast, so the fact to have it at a good price is an utter advantage.
The La Ripetta Hotel turn leads into customers through attention to callers on a phone and through a comprehensive website with all details of the hotel experience listed therein.
3.2. Market segmentation in case of Piano di Sorrento
Piano di Sorrento and generally Amalfi Coast is the place where Mediterranean Sea met mountains. It is rich with gorgeous nature, thermal resorts and beautiful beaches.
Saying that it is obvious that a principal tourism group of the considered destination is leisure. As we know the leisure segment of tourism is characterised by high season dependency, high sensibility to a price and low sensibility to a date and high concentration of arrives on weekends and holidays.
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Now then, the primary touristic segment of the market for the La Ripetta Hotel is, obviously, the leisure share. Studying market segments that the hotel is working with became difficult if the hotel administration is not carrying out about its researching. Since the La Ripetta Hotel is a small hotel as the major part of hotels in that area, they are not interesting about making such a research.
However, the study of tourism market share is necessary for an implementation of my thesis research; therefore, I will use the information available on the statistics sites, OTAs research information and other sources available on the internet.
In this case, OTAs sites are very helpful and can provide necessary information. Making research through OTA, sites I collected the information about tourists groups visited the hotel. These groups are families, couples, individual tourists, groups of friends and business tourists.
It should be saying that such an analysis could be a good alternative to small hotels all over the Italy. It is especially helpful for the tourism market of Italy and for hotels and other accommodation types like the considered case company the La Ripetta Hotel. It does not require high costs and time to analyse and can provide a primary necessary information about the market share interested in hotel services.
To make this analysis more demonstrative, I prefer to present results in figures below.
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Fig. 3.1 The data collected from the TripAdvisor.it
The TripAdvisor.com has the most comprehensive result, based on 227 reviews. It shows distinctly that the major part of hotel guests are couples. The percent of families is not high, but occupy an important part of clients. Noteworthy that there is also the presence of business tourism customers, what can be used in future to evolve the business market share.
Fig. 3.2 The data collected from the Booking.com
The Booking.com confirm the conclusion got earlier and show us the majority of customers travelling in couples. It also reveal a significant tourism group that are groups of friends, because the La Ripetta Hotel has all facilities to organize
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variegated and interesting holiday trip to a different types of friends groups. To increase a presence of this market share the hotel administration can create special offers and service packages depends on the type of a holiday.
Fig. 3.3 The data collected from the Venere.com
The result of the Venere.com is based on 33 reviews and shows the majority of individual tourists and groups of friends. There is also a percentage of customers travelling in couples and a small number of business clients.
Fig. 3.4 The overall results based on data collected through three OTAs
Joining all the information together, we can say with certainty that the main part of the hotel clients hold the customers traveling in couples. Therefore, we can say
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that this share of tourism market developed highly, but to evaluate the profit and occupancy of the hotel other market segments have to be created or evaluated.
Therefore, such an analysis can be very useful to see what tourism market shares are present in the hotel and need to be expanded and which of them are absent and should be attracted to evaluate the hotel revenue.
The tables illustrate clearly the situation on the tourist market segmentation and absolutely confirm the fact that the major market share of the La Ripetta Hotel is a leisure tourism. It is also noteworthy that there is a small percent of business tourists as well, what in future could be exercise and develop to an advantageous share of a hotel profit.
Due to the graph 4, it can be said with certainty, that the major part of the hotel customers are romantic couples. It is caused by the favourable location of the hotel, by SPA centre comfortable for the romantic vacancy and surely by special hotel offers. It should be said here, that this type of tourists travelling in a weekend, so their vacancies are short from one to three days. One of the positive characteristics of this tourist share is that they are local citizens so they are coming again more often than others.
It should be noted that in two minutes from the hotel is situated a city park Villa Fondi the favourite place of the newly wedded for photo sessions after the wedding ceremony. Therefore, it could bring an additional profit to a hotel to conquer this group of tourists. Especially when the hotel is predisposed to such type of vacancy. The presence of a spacious restaurant is another significant advantage in this case. Actually, the La Ripetta Hotel is able to propose a whole service package for newlyweds and this share of the market can earn a substantial profit part.
Another important tourism share presented in a hotel is families. As we can notice they are less, but their vacancies are much longer and can reach two weeks. Consequently, the importance of this market share is not less than a share of couples. Tourists’ families have more queries unlike to other market shares that
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are why to gain this share is complicated. It is determined by the fact that the major part of families travel with children, therefore the hotel has to be able to organize interesting and memorable holidays for children. Now, the La Ripetta Hotel has no special events or animation for little customers but has all resources to evolve it. For this needs can be used a relax zone with a pool, to organize an animation or pool parties with a special children menu. The beach is equipped perfectly for a vacancy with children and it is just in few minutes on foot that is a significant advantageous for this type of tourism groups.
Other tourism groups presented in the hotel are groups of friends, individual tourists and a small part of business tourists. The presence of relaxing zone, SPA centre and spacious restaurant with terrace and BBQ zone make the hotel attractive for the groups of friends as it creates opportunities to diversify holidays. The objective of the hotel, in that case, is to produce a sufficient amount of offers and events to spend time in a hotel.
The La Ripetta Hotel has an opportune location for the business clients. It is located close to the highway leading to Naples. This location permit to business tourists to combine their business trip with a holiday. This new trend of tourism called "bleisure” combined two words business and leisure in one. Taking in account a presence of a small share of business tourists in the hotel we can presume that this amount can be elevated and became a part of the hotel profit.
At the first part of the thesis, we were talking about the theoretical part of a revenue analysis and revenue tools, making an analysis of a hotel more precise and clear. As it told above, these tools and tips help an hotelier to run his business profitable and to have a legible performance about the tourism situation of a particular destination.
Saying that, I would like to dedicate the second part of my thesis to an analysis of the certain hotel, of its position at a tourist market and, finally, of its revenue politics and tools.
