Data is something that will help drive parks to being
much more profitable and assist in areas of operations
as well as RM – for example, its such an advantage for
parks to be able to compare operational and financial
data with other parks of similar sizes or similar
product, and benchmarking groups and organisations
such as Resurg and BDO have done some great work
in this area. It’s the difference between knowing if a
10% in RevPar is good (if everyone else dropped 5%),
or bad (if everyone else increased by 20%).
It is however, important to remember that at the
end of the day, we are in the business of people,
and there is no better way to get market data and
insights than by immersing yourself in the customer
environment – from talking to them informally, to
experiencing the holiday park product for yourself.
Q
Whilst maintaining a balanced approach to
distribution, what is your opinion on loyalty programs and
book direct strategies?
The key here really depends on your park, what your
product is and at what point in your growth cycle you
are at. A park that is running at a low occupancy will
possibly see more value from loyalty programs and a
range of distribution channels, whereas a more
established park can probably take more of a book
direct approach.
There are obviously benefits to encouraging guests
to book direct in terms of costs; and the best way to do
this in the holiday park space is through repeat booking
customers. I would urge operators to focus more on
the customers you have, while you have them in your
park, and find ways you can encourage them to stay
longer (through in-house events, promotions etc) or
to return again, and more often (through benefits and
promotions, and targeted discounting).
You also need to look after the customers that do
stay year on year as well, as this will give you a solid
base to yield off – sometimes this can be a difference of
up to 30% for a month.
Q
What are some suggestions how revenue management
and sales and marketing teams can work together to
influence booking channel mix and demand in general?
I guess for many holiday park operators, the revenue
management team and marketing team are one and
the same; and often encompasses a wide range of
other roles administratively and operationally!
This actually gives the holiday park industry an
advantage over other accommodation sectors to a
degree, as we can take a much more holistic approach to
marketing and RM. Being able to effectively drive
demand is a combination of the administrative functions
– how your park is priced, promoted and what you have
to offer – but also the operational; how the product is
delivered, what the customer sees and feels and the
overall experience. Its important that this experience is
communicated in the sales and marketing, as well as
reflected in, but not compromised by, the pricing.
Q
What do you love most about the discipline of revenue
management and what do you see will be the biggest
obstacles for your industry in the future?
I love the challenge’s that come with it! Revenue
Management is an art; and while you may never get
the mix of the right price and the right occupancy, the
fun is in trying.
I also value the role that revenue management plays
in business strategy, and I think one of the challenges in
our industry will be ensuring that RM is given enough
standing in this area. We need to work on educating
the consumer that demand-based pricing is here to stay
and here for the sustainability of the industry, and also
from a supply perspective educate operators on their
options and opportunities in relation to distribution
mix. I think once we get this right, then we can start
looking at a broader range of markets – especially
internationally – but at the moment there is just too
much disparity between parks for this to be a reality.
All in all though, the holiday park industry has
such a promising future, and I look forward to being
involved in, and seeing how it continues to evolve and
grow.
Better Revenue I Better Industry I APAC I www.revenuemanagement.com.au
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