Global Hospitality Study Exposes Critical 'Aspiration-Reality Gap' in Measuring Per-Guest Revenue Beyond the Room

Today at the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s The Hospitality Show being held in San Antonio, Texas, Agilysys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGYS), a leading global provider of hospitality software solutions and services, released the findings of its 2024 Global Hospitality Impact Study: Unlocking Revenue Beyond the Room.

This comprehensive survey of 489 hospitality executives and technology decision-makers across North America, Europe and APAC unveils critical insights into the industry's readiness to embrace Revenue per Available Guest (RevPAG) strategies, while highlighting significant challenges holding back adoption.

The potential of adding RevPAG initiatives to traditional Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) measures is reflected in the current trend of travellers seeking personalized and unique experiences, with luxury properties already generating up to 40% of revenue from non-room sources. However, while 82% of hospitality executives are interested in proactively identifying and expanding revenue opportunities at the per-guest level, 56% believe they are unprepared technologically and operationally to do so.

“Properties have a compelling opportunity to lean into growing traveller desires to receive personalized offers and enjoy unique experiences curated just for them. However, technology equipped to identify and serve up these opportunities – whether in advance or real-time during a guest’s stay – is not pervasive,” said Terrie O'Hanlon, Senior Vice President at Agilysys.

“While there is overwhelming interest in capitalizing on RevPAG's potential to drive both revenue growth and guest loyalty, our research reveals a concerning readiness gap,” Ms. O’Hanlon continued. “Properties that fail to bridge this gap not only risk leaving substantial revenue on the table in a promising and expanding market, but also increase the probability they will fall behind new properties and others investing in technology, operating processes and cultural dynamics geared toward understanding revenue potential at the per-guest level,” she warned.

Key findings include:

• Critical “Aspiration-Reality Gap”: While 82% of hospitality executives recognize the potential of optimizing RevPAG, 56% feel totally unprepared to do so.
• Technology Transformation Considerations: To enable optimizing RevPAG, 72% of executives are willing to enhance current technology infrastructure, with two-thirds willing to consider switching PMS systems, providers or both.
• Technology Review Gap: Only 12% of properties review their system capabilities against market innovations multiple times yearly, while 38% wait four or more years between doing so, contributing to blind spots with respect to leveraging new technology to optimize revenue at the per-guest level.
• Dual Role of Technology: 68% of executives believe property technology must balance day-to-day operations with future innovation needs.
• Priority Inertia: Most properties have traditional priorities at the head of their day-to-day operating mandates as opposed to having made a shift to putting the ability to identify and optimize per-guest revenue first. While “enhancing guest experiences” is the leading priority at 68%, doing so is not specifically revenue-per-guest focused. Acquiring new guests (67%) and increasing re-bookings (63%) round out the top priorities. While it is true that these advantages can result from optimizing per-guest revenue, cultures have not evolved to make RevPAG a property-wide focus even though there is high agreement (82%) about the value of doing so.

The 2024 Global Hospitality Impact Study highlights the advantages of expanding room-revenue-focused mindsets shaped by RevPAR and Average Daily Rate (ADR) metrics to broader, guest-centric revenue sensibilities. Adding RevPAG goals and capabilities to traditional performance expectations equips properties to capture the full spectrum of guest spending and the added revenue upside derived by tailoring offerings to individual guest desires.

“The path to High Return Hospitality – a state in which financial and emotional returns are optimized by perfectly aligning individual guest desires with property offerings and staff capabilities – becomes easier when hospitality executives broaden how they measure and create value,” noted Ms. O'Hanlon. “RevPAG is not just another metric—it is a reimagining of how properties and brands relate to each guest and monetize the moments that matter most. Properties that undertake this transition will set new standards for delivering personal, profitable guest experiences and for elevating operating advantages,” she concluded.

This study offers a roadmap for hospitality executives to optimize revenue at the per-guest level, elevate guest experiences and stay competitive in the evolving global hospitality market. To access the full report, please visit: https://info.agilysys.com/global-hospitality-impact-study-2024

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Jen Reeves
Director, Events & Communications