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Leonor Stanton is an independent hospitality and spa consultant who specialises in market and commercial assessments and financial planning in the hospitality and spa sectors world- wide. She has previously worked for Deloitte Consulting and Deloitte Corporate Finance in London. tel: +598 95 59 88 54; email: ildrstanton@btinternet.com


only those treatments which generate the highest margins during peak hours. Mourier believes that spas should use


RevPATH (revenue per available treat- ment hour) as a key performance indicator since “it integrates the price and duration of the treatment as factors in the revenue calculation. Spas must also utilise the data they already collect, such as ‘where is the income coming from? Which treatments are most profitable?’ “While spas might not yet be monitor-


ing their prices on a 24/7 basis, installing midweek/weekend pricing, time of day pricing programmes, basing their discounts, promotions and campaigns on available margins will help to optimise rates.”


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More than pricing, yield management is about understanding client behav- iour and adapting strategies accordingly


Greater sophistication will be reached only when spas automate their yield man- agement strategies, not only by interlinking them with hotel systems but also by mon- itoring and acting on prices and level of sales on their own systems, discount deal sites, online travel agent sites, spa sites and travel agent global distribution systems. There’s been significant growth in online


marketing over the last two years – particu- larly in day spas, but also in hotel spas. This is forecast to increase further. As a result, a


vast majority of spa-goers today seek infor- mation and review spas online. Some 51 per cent of spa-goers view an online booking capability as ‘very important’ or ‘important’ according to Coyle Hospitality (SB11/3 p34). Thus, the ability to monitor prices and sale rates from an ever increasing number of online sites can only be properly under- taken by sophisticated automated systems in order to optimise revenues. Yield management strategies should also include greater and appropriately targeted use of social media to drive demand, partic- ularly when there are last minute changes to schedules, weather patterns and bookings. Mourier concludes: “There is a benefit


for automated systems as it gives spas the opportunity for rate parity at all times.” The advantages are clear. The airline


industry introduced travelling to the masses; it didn’t just move demand from high to low periods, it also created a new, mass market. The last consumer research by ISPA in 2006, found that only 25 per cent of Americans and Canadians had been to a spa. That leaves a large potential untapped market. McCarthy adds: “Yield management focuses on revenue growth as opposed to cutting costs.” l


spa business handbook 2012 121


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