An interesting reflection on the future of tourism in the coming months comes from Franco Grasso. According to the professor, who is considered one of the leading experts in revenue management in Italy, the economic discipline linked to the dynamic pricing of hotel rooms and services in the tourism sector, the next New Year’s Eve will make a bang for Italian hotels. According to the latest studies carried out on a sample of several hundred accommodation facilities – located both in the mountains and in the cities of art – it emerged that the rooms will be sold at rates never seen before.
The mountain, as already mentioned on other occasions by Grasso, will be stormed for a very simple reason: people have not been skiing for two years and this year they are willing to pay exorbitant amounts to do so. The cities of art are increasing arrivals, and even if they are lacking the foreigners are even more appreciated by domestic tourism, which has been in great turmoil since last summer.
The interesting reflection, however, concerns the strategies for collecting reservations, which Grasso applies to hotels for the New Year period, but which in reality can also be referred to the outdoor tourism sector at other times of the year. According to Grasso, it is essential not to fill the structures well in advance in order not to lose important turnover.
“In the last 16 years, both in Italy and in about 15 countries in Europe, I have found an extremely common characterizing element among the various accommodation facilities: the sale ‘at the worst’ on New Year’s Day,” explains Grasso. “All hotels rush to sell New Year’s Eve with the belief that they are doing it at high prices – and perhaps they are even higher than the average for the season – but certainly not at market prices. And when I say market, I mean not what competitors do: this is not the market”.
Usually, supply and demand in the high season are more likely to meet under date, and this is even more true for New Year’s Eve. According to Grasso, for at least 90% of hotels it would be appropriate to arrive on December 8 with a total of bookings for 31 equals, more or less, to zero.
“I know it’s hard to imagine, and I know that many of the hoteliers are already full and happy, but it’s just the unawareness that makes them so and certainly not the market analysis,” says Grasso. “So, before it’s too late, you need to pay attention to the New Year’s Eve tariff schedule and take a step back (or forward, if we want to consider the sales prices), especially if the structures are located in the mountains or in particularly popular places”.
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