NB: This is a guest article by Daniel Edward Craig, a former general manager turned hotel consultant specializing in social media strategy and reputation management.
In this first part, we will look at the concept of the guest satisfaction index: the next big measure of hotel performance.
Traditionally, hotels have made pricing decisions based on a combination of demand forecasts, supply, operating costs, competitor activity, and gut feel.
Market performance is measured in terms of indexes of occupancy, rate, and revPAR from data provided by companies like PKF Consulting and STR Global.
In terms of guest satisfaction, however, hotels have known little about how they fare against competitors.
Social media has changed that by bringing reviews and feedback into the open, enabling an important new measure of market performance: the Guest Satisfaction Index (GSI).
Why important? Increasingly, travel shoppers are bypassing traditional sources of information and advice and turning to other travelers on review sites and in social networks.
Read the full story at: http://www.tnooz.com/2011/04/07/how-to/part-one-of-two-hotel-revenue-management-meet-reputation-management/
