The must-read book provides hoteliers with the latest updates on the digital market, how hotel performance has changed post-pandemic and introduces ways to operate more profitably given the realities of the technology-driven world.

Kalibri Labs, the hospitality industry’s leading authority on market intelligence and hotel benchmarking in the digital marketplace, has advanced its commitment to sustaining the health of the hotel ecosystem with the release of “Demystifying the Digital Market & Guide to Commercial Strategy.” The book, published in partnership with Hotel Business, explores digital disruption, explains how it affects the economics of hotels and defines a framework for the emerging discipline of Commercial Strategy which is designed around the objective of growing hotel asset values.

The book was a collaborative effort led by Cindy Estis Green, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Kalibri Labs; with coauthors Mark Lomanno, Partner & Senior Advisor at Kalibri Labs; and Dave Roberts, professor at Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and former Marriott revenue optimization executive. The author trio utilized Kalibri Labs’ platform to mine data from nearly 35,000 hotels, revealing revenue performance, demand metrics and trends by segment, channel, geography and chain scale across the US hotel industry. The book identifies the implications for hotel owners, operators and brands based on the significant changes in the giant digital technology platform companies.

"In this time of rapid change as we face post-pandemic realities, it was the right time to release the 6th and latest edition of the Demystifying series to help hotels take advantage of the new market dynamics,” Estis Green said. “We know how essential it is to go beyond the 'what' to provide practical guidance on the ‘how’ for industry leaders to confront the complex challenges in this space. Grounded in data and case studies, this book provides context for why things are changing and equips readers with practical tools and strategies to adapt to the digital disruption, reframe how performance is measured, and shift the focus to the central driver of hospitality industry growth: techniques to improve profit contribution and thereby grow asset value.”

As a part of the 2023 release, there is a new section on the emerging discipline of commercial strategy. Over several years, the Kalibri Labs team gathered extensive input from owners, operators and brands who have a shared interest in sustaining the health of the hotel ecosystem; the resulting approach to commercial strategy focuses on the importance of measuring performance based on profit contribution and utilizing efficient customer acquisition methods to increase asset value. Along with the new “Guide to Commercial Strategy,” Kalibri Labs and its association partners will offer a commercial strategy certification to enable on-property and above-property operations and finance teams, commercial teams including revenue management, sales and digital leaders and asset managers and owners to gain a deeper expertise in this new approach.

As with all previous editions in the Demystifying book series, prominent industry associations have sponsored it to ensure it reaches a wide range of stakeholders. AAHOA, the largest association of hotel owners representing almost 60% of the U.S. hotels, the IHG Owners Association and the Hotel Asset Managers Association (HAMA) have taken a leadership role in recognizing the need to raise awareness throughout the hotel community on methods to improve asset values. In addition, key organizations with a global perspective, including HFTP and HSMAI, representing financial, technology and commercial teams are all supporting efforts to build effective tools for commercial strategy to meet the challenges of the coming decades.

“Many industries have experienced digital disruption and struggled to survive—this publication will provide a comprehensive view of the new market drivers to enable hoteliers to develop strategies to thrive,” said Christina Trauthwein, VP, Content & Partnerships, Hotel Business. “Many aspects of the hospitality ecosystem are affected by the dynamics in the digital market—from new approaches to underwriting for real estate development to changing consumer behavior to updated techniques in hotel performance evaluation—and owners, operators, brand executives and financial and commercial teams will all benefit from understanding the sea change underway.”

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