Revenue Management Systems (RMS) have become essential tools for optimizing hotel pricing strategies and maximizing revenue. Yet, only 30% of hotels use one, in fact according to a Skift survey only 10% use advanced RMS tools.
Why is adoption still so limited? Many RMS solutions are perceived as too complex, too technical, or requiring extensive training before they can be fully utilized. An effective RMS should not be a burden but a facilitator, enabling hoteliers to make informed decisions quickly and with confidence.
So, what sets a truly high-performing RMS apart? What are the essential criteria for ensuring that a hotel can fully leverage its capabilities without wasting time?
Ease of use, transparency in recommendations, mobile accessibility, and customer support—let’s explore the key factors that define a truly valuable RMS.
Simplicity: A Key Factor for Adoption
A technological tool is only effective if it is actually used. When an RMS is too complicated, it becomes an additional burden for hotel teams rather than a strategic asset.
Ease of Use and Quick Adoption
The effectiveness of an RMS is not just about the power of its algorithms but also about how quickly it can be understood and adopted. Hotel teams do not always have deep expertise in revenue management, yet they need to use these tools daily without spending hours in training.
An RMS should:
- Offer an intuitive interface where key information is immediately visible.
- Guide the user by highlighting the most strategic decisions to make.
- Minimize the learning curve so teams can take full advantage of it from day one.
A hotel general manager or front desk manager cannot spend all day analyzing pricing recommendations. They need to be able to adjust prices in just a few seconds, with a clear view of market trends and demand.
Mobile Accessibility for Greater Reactivity
Today, general managers are rarely behind a desk all day. A modern RMS must integrate seamlessly into their routine, offering easy access via mobile or tablet.
Imagine a GM who, while having their morning coffee, receives a notification with three recommended price adjustments for the day. In just a few seconds, they can approve these decisions without needing to log into a computer or navigate multiple screens.
An RMS should not just be a passive dashboard. It must facilitate decision-making by sending relevant alerts and recommendations at the right time. With smart notifications, hoteliers can adjust prices in real-time without constantly checking their system.
Transparency: Building Trust in Recommendations
One of the main challenges of RMS adoption is understanding how pricing recommendations are made. A system that automatically adjusts prices without explaining why can create mistrust and hesitation among hoteliers.
Understanding the Logic Behind Recommendations
An RMS should not be a “black box” where pricing decisions are generated by an opaque algorithm. Instead, it must provide clear and concrete explanations, allowing hoteliers to understand the rationale behind each adjustment.
Key factors influencing price recommendations should be transparently displayed, such as:
- Changes in demand: increases or decreases in expected reservations.
- The impact of local events: conferences, concerts, or holiday periods affecting the market.
- Competitive trends: pricing adjustments made by similar hotels.
By making this information accessible, an RMS enables hoteliers to make decisions with confidence, knowing why a pricing adjustment is suggested.
An RMS should display relevant and actionable information. Data on demand trends, local events, and competitive positioning should be clear and useful, without cluttering the interface with unnecessary indicators that do not contribute to effective pricing decisions.
Flexibility and Support: Two Often Overlooked Criteria
AI as a Support Tool, Not a Replacement for Human Expertise
Automation and artificial intelligence simplify price management, but they should not eliminate human oversight. An RMS should allow hoteliers to maintain control over their decisions by providing clear recommendations rather than rigid directives. Presenting actionable scenarios and explaining pricing adjustments builds confidence and improves the tool’s effectiveness.
A well-designed system always allows manual price adjustments to account for an establishment’s specificities and the manager’s on-the-ground knowledge.
Customer Support and Onboarding Matter
Technology alone is not enough—an RMS must come with responsive customer support and a smooth onboarding process. Even an intuitive tool can be underutilized if there isn’t enough guidance to help hotels adopt it effectively.
A fast setup and ongoing support ensure that hoteliers can fully benefit from the system without unnecessary delays.
A Well-Designed RMS Benefits the Entire Hotel Industry
When hotels adopt an intuitive and transparent RMS, it benefits not only GMs and revenue management teams but also the entire hospitality market.
- Better price management allows hotels to remain competitive without engaging in destructive price wars.
- Decisions based on clear data reduce discrepancies between hotels and ensure more balanced pricing across the market.
- Greater transparency in price management improves communication between revenue managers, hotel owners, and investors, fostering better alignment in financial strategy.
By optimizing how prices are adjusted, an effective RMS benefits not only hotels but also travelers, who receive fairer and more consistent pricing.
Conclusion: An RMS Should Be a daily ally, Not an Science project
An RMS is not just a software tool—it is a strategic partner that helps hoteliers make informed pricing decisions quickly and with confidence.
To fulfill this mission, it must be:
- Easy to use so that it can be fully leveraged from the start.
- Accessible on mobile to fit seamlessly into hoteliers’ daily operations.
- Transparent in its recommendations to build trust with users.
In an industry where every minute counts, the effectiveness of an RMS is measured by its ability to simplify hoteliers’ lives rather than complicate them. The future of revenue management lies in intuitive tools powered by AI but always under human control.
