Customer Spotlight: Holiday Inn Express Yerevan
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How the Holiday Inn Express Yerevan uses Rate Insight and Lighthouse Business Intelligence to optimize revenue management and stay competitive
Key Results:
Achieved timely and competitive pricing in a complex market
Gained clear understanding of booking dynamics and competitor strategies
Streamlined decision-making with accurate and user-friendly tools
"These tools are incredibly user-friendly and have saved us so much time. Instead of spending two hours a day preparing a report, I can have all the information I need in 15 minutes and then make decisions much more quickly."
About the Holiday Inn Express Yerevan
Holiday Inn Express Yerevan, part of the IHG Hotels and Resorts brand, is located in the heart of Yerevan, Armenia. The hotel offers 130 standard rooms and caters primarily to business and leisure travelers from Russia and neighboring regions.
Despite facing challenges due to the political situation and economic sanctions, the hotel remains a key player in the local market by maintaining competitive rates and offering high-quality service.
We spoke with Arsen Mkrtchyan, Sales and Marketing Manager at Holiday Inn Express Yerevan, who has been crucial in optimizing the hotel’s revenue management strategy with the help of Lighthouse's Rate Insight and Lighthouse Business Intelligence tools.
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Navigating a challenging market
Challenge
The Yerevan hospitality market is highly dependent on Russian travelers (60 - 70% of their guests are from there) as well as neighboring Georgia, the Middle East, making it vital for the hotel to remain competitive in pricing.
Before using Rate Insight and Lighthouse Business Intelligence, the hotel struggled with time-consuming manual processes for rate comparison and lacked a clear view of competitor pricing strategies.
Solution
Lighthouse's Rate Insight and Lighthouse Business Intelligence have become essential tools for the Holiday Inn Express Yerevan.
Rate Insight allows Arsen and his team to monitor competitor rates and promotions multiple times a day, ensuring their pricing remains within the competitive range.
Lighthouse Business Intelligence provides detailed data on booking dynamics, allowing the hotel to adjust forecasts and strategies based on real-time insights.
Results
The hotel now benefits from more accurate, competitive, and dynamic pricing. Arsen can quickly assess the market and make necessary rate adjustments, helping the hotel maintain its market share.
The ease of use and quick access to data provided by these tools have significantly reduced the time spent on manual rate checks and improved the overall efficiency of the revenue management process.
"Rate Insight and Lighthouse Business Intelligence have streamlined our operations and made it much easier to keep our rates competitive. We used to spend hours manually checking competitor rates and updating our forecasts, but now we can do this 3 or 4 times a day in just a few minutes. The tools are user-friendly and provide all the data we need to make informed decisions quickly."
Improving pricing accuracy and strategy
Challenge
Previously, the hotel relied on outdated tools that provided limited visibility into competitor rates and did not account for promotions or rate variations like breakfast-inclusive options. This led to inconsistencies in pricing and missed opportunities for optimizing revenue.
Solution
With Rate Insight, the team can now filter and compare room rates with and without breakfast across their competitive set, ensuring their pricing strategy is aligned with the market. The tool also helps them understand how different promotions and rate types affect their competitiveness, allowing for more strategic pricing decisions.
Results
By using Rate Insight, the hotel has achieved more accurate pricing relative to its competitors, ensuring that their rates are competitive while still capturing value from additional services like breakfast. This has helped them stay attractive to price-sensitive travelers while maintaining profitability
"Using Rate Insight, we've been able to keep our pricing competitive while ensuring we're not undercutting ourselves. It’s been invaluable in how we approach our rate strategy, especially with the ability to compare different rate types quickly and efficiently."
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Enhancing decision-making with real-time data
Challenge
The hotel needed a better way to anticipate market demand and adjust strategies proactively, rather than reacting to changes after the fact. The lack of forward-looking data made it difficult to plan and optimize pricing for future dates.
Solution
Lighthouse Business Intelligence provides the Holiday Inn Express Yerevan with crucial data on booking pace, cancellations, and market demand, enabling the team to adjust their forecasts and pricing strategies in real-time. The tool's ability to compare current performance against historical data and future forecasts has been instrumental in refining their revenue management approach.
Results
With Lighthouse Business Intelligence, the hotel can now monitor market trends and booking dynamics more closely, allowing them to make proactive adjustments to their pricing and marketing strategies. This has led to better alignment with market demand and improved revenue performance.
"Lighthouse Business Intelligence helps us monitor the dynamic of bookings, compare with last year’s data, and adjust our forecasts accordingly. It shows us which days are active and whether we should decrease or increase the ADR. It’s an essential tool for understanding market trends."
Streamlining operations with user-friendly tools
Challenge
Before adopting Lighthouse's tools, Arsen and his team faced difficulties navigating complex and outdated systems that required extensive time and effort to gather the necessary data for decision-making.
Solution
Rate Insight and Lighthouse Business Intelligence offer intuitive interfaces that make it easy for the team to access and interpret the data they need. The tools' user-friendly design has reduced the time required for training and allowed the team to focus more on strategic decision-making rather than manual data collection.
Results
The simplicity and efficiency of Lighthouse's tools have saved the hotel significant time and improved the speed and accuracy of their decision-making processes. The tools have also empowered the entire team, from sales to reservations, to contribute more effectively to the hotel’s revenue management strategy.
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