The hospitality industry is expected to reach new heights by 2027. Experts predict that the industry will reach $5 billion, especially backed by groundbreaking advancements in technology. The following top 10 financial strategies to enhance automation may help garner the best results for 2025:
Focusing on cost-controlling
Although revenues are growing in the industry, costs are consistently increasing. For a successful strategy, focusing on cost-controlling is imperative. Hotels have in recent years mainly focused on a top-line approach, where getting more revenue is important. However, with increasing costs, cost controlling becomes a key difference to attain better bottom-line results. Cost control in inventory management, F&B, labor cost control, utilities, waste reduction and revenue management are important. Although the focus on increasing revenues is still important, the way forward is to also focus on cost controlling.
Precise Cash Flow planning
Another highly important aspect of financial stability is precise cash flow planning for hotels. The hospitality industry often experiences fluctuations in demand. Therefore, it is crucial to be fully aware of cash inflow and outflow and correctly implement cash flow planning strategies. Focus on operational stability, debt management, investment opportunities, profitability insights, and crisis preparedness with precise cash flow planning strategies to navigate through any unforeseen financial challenges.
Focus on seamless integration and an API data flow for data-driven decision making
With large amounts of information available at a hotel’s disposal, data is still confined in data silos. The absence of necessary interfaces creates the inability to process data automatically resulting in increased manual calculations. It costs valuable time, creates a loss of quality, and increases data entry errors. Focusing on seamless integration for data-driven decisions boosts automation & efficiency.
Create a Rolling Forecast & opportunistic What if planning for crisis preparedness
Analyzing up to date data by creating a Rolling Forecast helps with better decision-making. Instead of a reaction approach, this encourages a proactive and future-focused approach, allowing hotels to accurately anticipate challenges and opportunities. As the hospitality industry is volatile, opportunistic What if planning is also essential. Creating a Rolling Forecast paired with opportunistic What if planning can help hotels with crisis preparedness and proactive identification of potential opportunities.
Increase accountability by workforce empowerment and enabling staff at all levels to gain confidence and technological proficiency
With an increasingly competitive hospitality environment it is important that all the staff gain confidence and learn technological proficiency for workforce empowerment. This will also allow the workforce to be more accountable and take responsibility for financial results in their area, leading to better financial results throughout the company.
Efficiently plan payrolls & enhance labor management
Optimized payroll planning and managing labor more effectively is also important. AI tools could be used to identify workforce demand patterns in order to effectively plan payrolls and enhance labor management. This will avoid overstaffing and help with proactive decision-making. Monitoring wages and overtime will also help in cost cutting and shift the focus to better suited labor management for proactive financial decision-making.
Diversify revenue streams
To have a competitive edge in the hospitality industry, especially in fluctuating market conditions, and be successful financially, it is imperative to diversify revenue streams. Traditional revenue streams are no longer enough. Hotels need to think one step beyond that and reduce reliance on room revenue alone. Thinking outside the box and incorporating innovative ideas to increase and diversify revenue streams is the way forward. Attracting a broader audience is key for increased profitability.
Anomaly detection using AI
AI can be extremely useful for anomaly detection in data. AI can help identify unusual patterns and deviations in the numbers before inaccurate decisions are made. If AI is not used to flag anomalies, datasets are more prone to manual errors. Flagging anomalies using AI not only prevents possible errors in the datasets but also allows for more accurate and reliable budgeting, forecasting and financial reporting. This leads to more precise decision-making.
Create processes that enable mapping data through AI
Creating processes that enable mapping data through AI will help to automatically identify, match and integrate data from a variety of sources into a unified format, avoiding any discrepancies in the data. This method of data alignment with the use of AI mapping is a foolproof way avoiding manual errors, saving time & money, and providing reliable data for accurate budgeting, forecasting and financial reporting.
Implement AI based financial planning with predictive analytics to enhance financial processes
AI-based predictive analytics can help hotels forecast trends more accurately, optimize budgets, and make more informed data-driven decisions. It not only increases the accuracy of data but also helps with proactive risk mitigation, and personalized property-specific performance metrics, enhancing financial processes.
About Fairmas
Fairmas is a software development company, with a global presence, offering financial planning, management reporting and controlling solutions including data management for hotel assets to hotels. Since our foundation in 2003, our focus has been on the development of innovative, tailor-made hotel software. With our continuous growth and steady expansion of our product range, more than 5,500+ hotels worldwide are satisfied with Fairmas solutions. (www.fairmas.com).
Kinza RaheelInternational Marketing & Communications ManagerFairmas GmbH
