The highly competitive sector of tourist accommodation, Hospitality, is constantly evolving. To stand out in this competitive environment, operators, like everywhere else, seek innovation in various aspects: distribution, communication, services, and products.
"Reinventing hospitality" ... with modesty
The product innovation, which interests us here, is highlighted in the now widespread desire to “reinvent hospitality”, emphasizing the uniqueness of places by moving away from the hotel standardization of the 90s and 2000s, partly represented by the franchise model.
When, to stand out, it was rather common to associate services with the classic hotel service (Spa, F&B, etc.), it is the accommodation itself that now carries part of the innovation!
Dormitories, beds, apartments, canvas bungalows, tiny houses, Cabins, now complete the catalog of rooms and mobile homes. This trend is the subject of regular articles (Capital on Hostels, Le Monde, Perenews: The Rise of Hybrid Hospitality) and is now a strong marker of the times. Sector boundaries are porous or exceeded.
Hybrid groups and establishments
This diversity of offerings is manifested through hybrid establishments (e.g., La Folie Douce Hotels in Chamonix, combining 4* hotels and youth hostel) or by a variety of establishments within the same group, delineating them or not, through well-defined brands (Slow Village,, Resasol,, Toursite,, Biografy Group,, Grape Hospitality).).
Other groups specialize in a single type of accommodation while integrating hotel management codes, such as WeCamp,, Kampaoh,, Coucoo Cabanes, offering Glamping, Highstay,, Gogaille,, Edgar Suites, offering apartments, Meininger,, Generator,, Jost,, Central Hostel, or Slo Hostels offering Hostels.
Standardizing processes
Furthermore, to rationalize costs, staffing, and corporate culture, these groups seek to standardize their working methods and technological environment as much as possible. First and foremost, this is done by standardizing PMS and opting for multi-property platforms with agile inventories, such as Mews,, Thais,, Protel Cloud,, Hotelgest, (partners of revbell).). This is the keystone of standardization, although it is not mandatory. Especially if other technological solutions revolving around the nerve center (the PMS) inherently integrate the diversity of products. This is often where it gets stuck.
Implementing agile Revenue Management
Revenue Management has reached maturity in the accommodation sector. Although methods, practices, and objectives are perfectible and heterogeneous (compared to aviation where high-quality standards are applied to the vast majority), it is now established that RM, whether internalized or outsourced, is a major component of daily management .
In principle, for the actors mentioned above, the issues are the same as in classical hotels: constrained capacity and perishable stock (supply), fluctuating demand. However, their intrinsic particularity significantly complicates their Revenue Management needs.
- An agile RM team (internal or external) capable of applying RM principles to any product
- A need for consolidated reporting (Multi-property, Multi-PMS)
- Specific piloting and reporting granularity (Nights/Weeks, Beds/Rooms)
- An agile and differentiated forecasting system for the same client (e.g., camping and hotel) or for the same establishment (rooms vs. apartments)
Not long ago, this wish list to Santa would have led to having multiple RM teams, choosing 2 or 3 different RMS, creating VBA macros in all directions for reporting, and creating in-house alert systems for sectors not covered by mono-industry RMS.
At N&C, diversity is in the DNA of the firm, and we have supported more than 25 sectors in Revenue Management. We could not think and build revbell differently than as the unique RMS platform Multi-property, Multi-PMS, Multi-Forecast, and Multi-optimization .
Concretely, within each property, you choose the configuration of your choice in a single access: grouping establishments, grouping models, activable optimization levers, tariff grid indexes, occupancy granularity.
You are different, but like others, you aspire to optimization.
Customers and the market tell us, “we are different.” We have no doubt, and this has never been truer in our sectors. It’s good news for the consumer, and now it’s no longer a constraint for Revenue Managers.
Keywords: Yield Management, Revenue Management System, RMS, revbell, hybrid accommodation, Hospitality, hotel
Written by Florent Manotta