Published Articles

Published Articles in ehotelier.com

Demand and Pricing, How to Strike the Right Balance 

Jul 05, 12 | 12:08 am 
By Taoufik Haraketi 

In today’s competitive landscape, hospitality organisations face great daily challenges related to pricing their products and services. What is the optimal price to charge a guest who picked up the phone to enquire about your hotel’s rates? Is it time to renegotiate your contracted rates? What about your online rates? Should you price high to generate a large margin, or low aiming to increase demand? Which strategy will be more profitable?  

Furthermore, the rise of the Internet, social media and user-generated content (UGC) has made it even more complex and challenging for hoteliers to manage their rates online and offline, to maintain rate parity and to resist discounts. In order to increase their visibility, hotels use hundreds and hundreds of third-party re-seller channels; travel wholesalers, online travel agencies (OTAs), portals, computer reservations systems and global distribution systems (GDS). Read more at www.eyefortravel.com

5 Common Fallacies about Hotel Revenue Management
Jul 05, 12 | 12:08 am 
By Taoufik Haraketi

If you are a frequent web surfer, and if you enjoy digging into the news and articles about hotel management like I do, then you probably came across an overwhelming amount of information about the application of revenue management in the hotel industry. From RMS marketers to revenue optimization firms, everybody has an input on how to increase revenues! Sadly, some revenue management specialists describe it as a means of making more money through the usage of price optimization techniques and costs control....Read more at www.ehotelier.com



Complaints Management in the Hotel Industry
Aug 31, 11 | 12:06 am 
By Taoufik Haraketi

I don't want to state the obvious but the economic downturn of 2008 and the renewed fears from a double dip recession that have been highlighted lately leave hospitality managers with no choice but to focus on ways to attract and win customers in today's hyper-competitive....Read more at www.ehotelier.com



Overbooking from the Hotelier’s Perspective
Jul 26, 11 | 12:09 am
By Taoufik Haraketi

Certainly during the high season and especially major events, overbooking in hotels is almost inevitable. From the hotelier's perspective, overbooking is the means to optimizing room's revenues. It is the oldest and one of the most commonly used revenue strategies implemented in hotels' operation management to maximize revenue at a particular point in time...Read more at www.ehotelier.com



Discriminating Against Guests as a Result of Their Booking Channel
Jun 22, 11 | 12:06 am
By Taoufik Haraketi

It is true that some hoteliers are literally discriminating patrons by their booking channels. Sadly, this practice exists in the hospitality business. For some reason or another, in some cases, hotel guests who book through an online travel agency do not get the same ‘'attention'' and hospitality that a guest who booked his/her stay with a Tour Operator would have. OTAs tourists almost always come from different countries and places. In addition they usually book short-stay holidays, so in terms of return on investment this type of guest is relatively expensive. Read more at www.ehotelier.com



How to Convert Telephone Enquiries Calls into Bookings?
Jun 15, 11 | 12:04 am
By Taoufik Haraketi

Handling bookings enquiries calls is the most important aspect of room reservations management. The way the room reservations manager or the booking agent handles these calls could be the difference between getting the booking or loosing it. Read more at www.ehotelier.com



Effective Hotel Distribution Channels Management
Jun 13, 11 | 12:07 am  
By Taoufik Haraketi

Technology has created a massive change in the hotel industry, the days where there was no reliable way to guarantee an arrival date - guests arrived, if there was a room, they stayed - are well and truly gone. Today guests book their rooms with their iPads months in advance. Read more at www.ehotelier.com