The evolution of competitor data collection in the hotel industry and its application to revenue management and pricing

This article explores the move towards the collection and processing of hotel competitor set data since the late 1970s. It identifies a shift from using internal metrics to measure the revenue-generating capabilities of a hotel, such as performance against budget, to the use of large amounts of detailed competitor set data processed for hotels by third parties. It analyses the impacts of these changes on the way pricing and revenue decisions are made and suggests that the modern manager may have become over focussed on competitor data, potentially diverting the focus from hospitality-specific success factors such as customer service. © 2016 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.