Here’s a quick thought experiment:
Put five Revenue Managers in a room. All have similar titles. All know their way around Excel, RMS, and pickup reports. But are they actually the same?
Hell no.
Some come from sales – they get the hustle, the negotiations, the reality of B2B. Some are born in marketing – big on positioning, messaging, and guest behavior. And others are pure data geeks – analysts with SQL tattoos and Python for them is not a snake!.
Each brings strengths. Each has blind spots.
And the biggest mistake we make? We act like every hotel needs the same kind of RM.
The Truth Is: Some Hotels Need More Muscle Than Others
🏨 A busy resort with dynamic market mix and loads of ancillaries? You don’t need a spreadsheet whisperer. You need a commercial swiss army knife with enough tools to handle rooms, F&B, spa, and partnerships and still have one arm left to fend off bad ideas from the GM.
🏨 A city hotel in a predictable market with low group business and stable demand? Give me a solid forecaster who’s methodical, process-driven, and can automate the hell out of tactical decisions.
🏨 A lifestyle brand with fluctuating identity, mismatched segmentation, and a GM who wants “more vibe than RevPAR”? Bring in someone with storytelling chops, brand finesse, and the ability to make a case in the boardroom without pulling out a pivot table.
See where I’m going?
It’s Not About Being a Revenue Manager. It’s About Being the Right One for the Job.
Just like not every guest needs a suite, not every hotel needs a strategist, a tactician, or an AI whisperer.
But every hotel needs clarity about what kind of revenue leadership will move the needle today and not what looked good on the job description in 2012 – yes people, it is 2025, Covid is not an excuse anymore and the iphone is on version 16.
So, What Should You Be Asking?
Not:
“Does this person know how to use the system?”
Ask:
“Can this person see the commercial chessboard, and do they know which piece to move next?”
Not:
“Have they worked with this or that tech before?”
Ask:
“Have they solved problems like ours before—and will they challenge how we’ve always done it?”
Not:
“Have they worked in our market before?”
Ask:
“Do they understand how to make pricing, demand, and distribution work based on data – no matter the market?”
NOTE TO REMEMBER: Copying yesterday’s playbook won’t win tomorrow’s game.
Final Thought: Your Hotel Isn’t Average. So Why Hire an Average RM?
Revenue Managers aren’t interchangeable parts. They’re specialized instruments.
Put the wrong one in the wrong environment, and it’s chaos. But put the right one in the right hotel, with the right team, and they’ll turn a mediocre year into a record-breaking one.
So no: Not all Revenue Managers are created equal.
And that’s a very very very good thing.
Love, Fabi
