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Revenue: Believe your hotel is worth the price
Vaarten worked at Van der Valk Hotel Amsterdam Zuidas, among other places.

Revenue: Believe your hotel is worth the price

"What I enjoy most about my job is analysing and interacting with the commercial departments," says Marieke Vaarten. As a revenue management professional, she has now gained broad experience in hotels. She spoke to Hotelvak about her experiences and the differences with her current employer: Center Parcs.

Center Parcs Zandvoort copy
Center Parcs Zandvoort.

Vaarten's interest in the hotel industry arose when she was doing a completely different education. "I didn't like my studies in pedagogy, but my part-time job in a hotel was just right," she says. A full switch to the hotel industry was the obvious choice, via an MBO course from De Rooi Pannen to Hotel Management School Maastricht.

"When I started at Kruisherenhotel Maastricht behind the reception desk, I learned why hotel room prices fluctuate, what different channels there are to reach guests, but also why a hotel can be overbooked. I found it very interesting." Vaarten immediately applied this knowledge in approaching a guest. "A guest found a lower price online than he had paid himself. I then showed him the different room types so he could see the differences. In the end, the guest was very happy with the price he had paid. The focus is often initially on the price, as a company you should try to shift that focus to the product. Discussions about prices I still really enjoy."

Center Parcs Zandvoort Hotel copy
A luxury hotel suite at Center Parcs Zandvoort.

Following up offers creates relationships

After completing a minor in Revenue Management, Vaarten started at Intercontinental Hotel Group in Amsterdam. "Here I was able to get acquainted with the different revenue and reservation systems," he says. Then came the challenge of starting as Revenue Manager for the opening of the Van der Valk Hotel Amsterdam Zuidas. "Although Van der Valk uses the same programmes for all hotels, I was given the freedom to set up the revenue system and PMS myself. Furthermore, I am enormously proud of what we have set up with the meeting & events team. After all, you have to follow up on quotations. This takes a lot of time, but by making personal contact as early as possible, you create long-term relationships."

Comfort Room copy
Different room types call for different prices. A comfort room at Van de Valk Hotel Amsterdam Zuidas.

In 2022, Vaarten started at the Odyssey Hotel Group. Here, she was responsible for Revenue Management of three Marriott hotels. "During the time I worked there, several new hotels were opened. There was huge scope for own initiative. One important project was dealing with group bookings. Often groups get discounts at hotels, but if the hotel's occupancy is already good, this can actually be detrimental. I therefore chose to limit the discounts and this has worked very well. Many companies are just looking for a nice place where they are well taken care of. So believe that your hotel is worth the price. If a company does object to the price then you can offer alternatives in leeper periods."

Marieke Vaarten
Revenue management professional, Marieke Vaarten.

Peak in summer

After a few years, Vaarten wanted to do something completely different. "Some great conversations later, I ended up at Center Parcs. One of the main differences between hotel and leisure is that hotels work with daily rates, while Center Parcs works on the basis of lenght of stay and offers a minimum three-day stay. Because most parks are large, we switch a lot with housekeeping, to be flexible with check-in and check-out. This is nice for guests and prevents us from needing very many staff at peak times." Peak times also vary a lot between hotels and holiday parks. "For hotels, the summer period is the low season, while Center Parcs has to really peak then. This summer is already looking very busy. Another difference is that at hotels the focus is more on total revenue management, while at Center Parcs the focus is more on length of stay management and room type management." In her new position, Vaarten finds collaboration with other departments very enjoyable. "You can analyse Excel sheets, but you can also make personal contact with sales, marketing and operations, to do things better together. In the end, it's all about people, you have to know what's going on within the company and be open to guest feedback."  

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