Bots have become an important part of human life, both personally and professionally, and their involvement is climbing new peaks with each passing day. They surround us in our daily lives in the form of artificial intelligence, search engines and software. Some of this has also paved the way for smarter, more efficient revenue management for hotels, fueling the debate over whether humans should be replaced entirely with bots for this complex 24/7 function. Although the practice may be in its infancy to draw any conclusions, it has definitely made a mark in the hospitality industry and has become an indispensable part of any hotel revenue management.

AI-powered bots can analyze and synthesize vast amounts of hotel data collected across multiple touchpoints in a fraction of seconds to present meaningful insights into booking pattern, demand, and guest behavior that is impossible to collect or process by any number of human workforce. as effectively as bots. It will not be an exaggeration to say that Artificial Intelligence has revolutionized the hospitality industry worldwide, enabling all businesses to improve on multiple fronts such as hotel pricing, price optimization, revenue management, of the guest experience, reservation management, demand and even the optimization of the capacity of the properties.

In addition, these bots are also capable of analyzing trends and tracking upcoming events in the city to estimate the increase in demand, which provides enough room for revenue managers to modify prices and availability instead of fighting the situation on the spot. the last minute.

Leading hotels have already started betting big on AI-powered bots and are ready to explore new ways to make bots part of their business operations. One significant advantage bots have over humans is that they can work tirelessly 24/7 with equal precision. The hospitality industry requires 24/7 attention and is one of the most dynamic industries with continuous fluctuations in trends, demand and prices. That’s where these robust machines have great value to add to the realm of revenue management. These invisible machines can not only quickly determine the best rates at any given time for your property (room rate optimization), but can also advise revenue managers on which segment to target and the type of promotional offers to target. will be executed to maximize revenue.

Another important area where hotels continue to thrive is direct bookings. Hotels have been continually trying to improve the number of bookings on their own website ever since OTA commissions are skyrocketing, eating up a huge chunk of hotel revenue. Hotels would be surprised to learn that even in this area, bots can up their game and help increase the number of reservations by a decent percentage. With advanced learning capabilities and rigorous analysis of visitor buying behavior, AI-powered bots can refine the visitor experience and personalize each visitor’s journey based on their needs and interests. This increases visitor engagement and reduces the purchase cycle time that leads to conversion on the hotel website.

This again brings us to the juncture of whether revenue managers can be gradually replaced by bots who completely risk their roles and jobs in the industry. Obviously the answer is NO as these micro-machines can only process and analyze only a certain number of parameters in their decision and often neglect external market influences which may not be considered by such bots but only managers Human income can easily identify and this insight is gained by experience.

Therefore, the ideal mix should be machine results mediated and overseen by human revenue managers. For example, pricing is an area that could be automated with a reasonable amount of diligence and control from the revenue manager. Similarly, online reputation management can also be monitored with technology; however, a personalized approach will take you a long way. The key is to automate processes that require minimal human intervention and to involve humans when necessary. This will help revenue managers put on more hats at the same time, such as exploring more avenues to maximize revenue per guest and focusing on other revenue growth strategies.

Thus, by witnessing the scenarios discussed above, we can conclude that the status of bots is that of a companion to revenue managers rather than a successor that will supplement them at every step with lightning-fast market and competitor insights and analysis. , which will allow revenue managers to make informed decisions in a short time and help them optimize revenue and propel the hotel towards new milestones of success.