The Latest in Hotel Marketing & Distribution

📈 Higher occupancy and revenue growth in hotels might not translate to increased profitability due to rising costs and distribution fees. Traditional metrics like occupancy and RevPAR fall short, urging a shift to profit-first strategies such as margin protection and value-aware leadership. For example, a hotel with 85% occupancy and a 210€ ADR can achieve 140€ profit per room, outperforming a 95% occupancy at 180€ ADR which results in 110€ profit per room, potentially adding over 75,000€ annually.

🏖 Pitchup.com, a leading online booking platform, surpassed £500 million in global bookings as of 2026, ranking 36th globally and 6th in Europe for OTAs. Valentine's weekend bookings rose 25% year-on-year. In January, South West England was the most affordable region at £57.14 per night. European demand surged with Portugal up 134% and Hungary and Germany up 70%. Shorter stays with a 4% decrease in duration and 5% decline in booking lead times highlight changing travel trends.

💸 RevPAR, a key hotel metric, can mislead when used in isolation. Higher RevPAR may coincide with stagnant profits due to rising costs or discounting strategies. Operational stress, such as overtime and service delays, isn't reflected in RevPAR. Short-term discounts boost RevPAR but can harm long-term pricing. Owners focus on metrics like GOP and NOI instead. RevPAR indicates performance, but true success is seen in flow-through, cost discipline, and sustainability.

💳 RMS; one year post-launch; global. RMS Pay processes over €1 billion in transactions. Operators see faster cash flow, 99.95% dispute-free rate, saving 10+ hours weekly. Roomzzz Aparthotels benefits from automation. RMS Pay, integrated into RMS, allows quick payment setup, supporting digital wallets and Buy Now, Pay Later. Popular features include Pay by Link and Charge to Room. PCI DSS-certified with fraud monitoring. RMS serves 7,000+ businesses in 70 countries.

📈 GetYourGuide's launch of multi-day tour sales faces challenges. Operators struggle with selling high-priced tours (€2,000–€7,000) due to a 30% commission, akin to cheaper activities (€50–€100). Standard 24-hour cancellation policies threaten profitability, potentially leading to significant losses from prepaid expenses like hotels and logistics. One operator paused a 5-day Italy tour. The industry is queried about successfully negotiating better terms for multi-day offerings. Are others facing similar challenges?

🏨 Amid global uncertainty, Canadian hotels achieved 66% occupancy with nearly 70 million rooms filled. Average daily rates rose by 3.5%, boosting RevPAR by 4.2%. The luxury segment excelled with an 8.7% RevPAR increase. HVS and CoStar's report covers six major markets. For comprehensive data, subscribe to the Canadian Hotel Review. Reach out to CoStar at +1 (800) 613-1303. HVS, established in 1980, offers 4,500+ yearly assignments worldwide.

💸 Medium-sized hotel chains face revenue silos due to disjointed tools and manual workarounds, creating inconsistencies and eroding confidence. Cluster Revenue Managers handle 5-10 properties without increased staff, making alignment crucial. A unified strategy with shared metrics, demand signals, and market context enhances decision-making. Duetto's platform supports multi-property coordination, reducing manual consolidation. The transition to shared outcomes fosters faster decisions, proactive planning, and sustainable growth.

📈 Fairmas, established in 2003, aids over 5,500 hotels globally with accrual accounting through software for financial planning and analysis. Accrual accounting captures revenues and expenses when incurred, not paid, providing a truer performance view. Challenges include managing multiple departments, delayed invoices, and manual adjustments. Fairmas simplifies accrual management, supports precise profit-and-loss analysis, and enhances decision-making through integrated financial insights, ensuring reliable, transparent reporting across hotel portfolios.

📈 Hoteliers are losing around 6% of revenue due to rate leakage, with OTA commissions between 15–25% worsening margins. The Hotel Revenue Leak Diagnostic identifies and quantifies revenue leaks caused by misaligned pricing, reliance on high-cost channels, missed demand signals, and poor operational practices. The tool provides insights into channel and pricing imbalances and potential financial impacts. It's ideal for independent hotels and operators seeking clarity on revenue issues before further investments.

📍 In December, European hotels saw a RevPAR increase of +6.1% to €80.2, with occupancy rising by +2.2 percentage points to 63.7% and average rates increasing by +2.4% to €125.8. The Spain–France–Italy trio and the Alpine arc drove this growth, while corporate markets like Germany and parts of Benelux showed mixed results. December acted as a year-end boost for hoteliers, benefiting from high-demand periods and premium customers.