How InterContinental Seoul Uses OTA Insight’s Suite of Business Intelligence Tools to Make More Effective and Informed Pricing Decisions

REVENUE MANAGEMENT

Both the Grand InterContinental Seoul (550 rooms) and the InterContinental Seoul COEX (656 rooms) are set in the Gangnam district, the capital’s most vibrant and modern neighbourhood, offering easy access to the many cultural, business and lifestyle venues nearby. We recently sat down with Jiye Seo, Revenue Manager at Grand InterContinental Seoul & InterContinental Seoul COEX to learn how she has been using OTA Insight’s suite of business intelligence tools to save vast amounts of time, gain access to reliable, real-time market data and make well-informed pricing decisions that have improved her properties’ results.

Why it matters: Before setting up OTA Insight, our competitor research was a tedious manual process. We checked our compsets' websites daily to see their prices for similar room types and analyse their advance purchase and best flexible rates (BFR). Especially during the recovery phase after the pandemic, cancellation policies became another factor we had to examine. This took a lot of time and still only left us with a snapshot that would quickly become outdated.

"Rate Insight displays all the live data we need on a single screen, so we can check our rates against the compset every morning in just minutes"

Top 3 Core Objectives: The pandemic turned well-established trends upside down and made historical data all but obsolete. We needed access to live, reliable market and competitor data in a single platform so that we could be able to focus more on in-depth analysis to find and take advantage of new revenue opportunities. The OTA Insight solutions help to make smart pricing decisions more quickly than ever, and always stay a step ahead of the competition.

Reacting to market changes: I can look at rates by channel or check who has the lowest best flexible rate (BFR). The ability to drill down shows me the discounts our competitors are offering and allows me to easily monitor our positioning. It also lets me gauge how much demand other hotels have. Since we can do this so quickly now, we can better react to changes in the market and make decisions that allow us to keep our rates and conditions competitive.
Understanding the post-pandemic market: In the past, we used a combination of historical data and compset information from our sales managers to predict business development. This worked for us since we knew our market and its patterns well. The pandemic changed that since it turned well-established trends upside down and made historical data all but obsolete. When the recovery phase began in Korea, demand picked up quickly but of course, the majority of the market was focused on winning the same segment. We used Market Insight to see where demand was developing well in advance. The tool’s metasearch analysis and its flight search data revealed the domestic and international source markets where travellers were planning trips to Seoul. We used Revenue Insight to learn that international guests were now booking longer stays.

Innovators Mentioned

InterContinental Seoul

Lighthouse

Jiye Seo

Revenue Manager at Grand InterContinental Seoul & InterContinental Seoul COEX

InterContinental Seoul

"For me, the biggest advantage is that Rate Insight lets me customise the timeframes and datasets I compare. For example, I can look at rates by channel or check who has the lowest best flexible rate (BFR). The ability to drill down shows me the discounts our competitors are offering and allows me to easily monitor our positioning. It also lets me gauge how much demand other hotels have."

Jiye Seo

Revenue Manager at Grand InterContinental Seoul & InterContinental Seoul COEX

👍 Revenue Manager at Grand InterContinental Seoul & InterContinental Seoul COEX Jiye Seo said that The ability to drill down shows me the discounts our competitors are offering and allows me to easily monitor our positioning.:

"For me, the biggest advantage is that Rate Insight lets me customise the timeframes and datasets I compare. For example, I can look at rates by channel or check who has the lowest best flexible rate (BFR). The ability to drill down shows me the discounts our competitors are offering and allows me to easily monitor our positioning. It also lets me gauge how much demand other hotels have."

⚖️ The selection process: During their research process, Jiye Seo evaluated Lighthouse's product differentiators, customer support, and holistic value as a strategic partner and ultimately decided that Lighthouse was the best fit solution:

Revenue Manager at Grand InterContinental Seoul & InterContinental Seoul COEX Jiye Seo said, about their decision: "I recommend all of OTA Insight’s tools to fellow revenue managers. They’ll save you so much time by providing instant access to live, reliable market and competitor data in a single platform. That means you’ll be able to focus more on in-depth analysis to find and take advantage of new revenue opportunities. And since OTA Insight helps you make smart pricing decisions more quickly than ever, you’ll always stay a step ahead of the competition"

📈 The results: We could spot new revenue generating opportunities, capture market share with more targeted actions and helped to align our entire commercial team and work more effectively towards our goals.

We could better react to changes in the market and make decisions that would allow us to keep our rates and booking conditions competitive. This worked particularly well during the early days of recovery. At that time, Rate Insight showed an increase in our compset’s BFR every weekend. Since we also experienced higher demand on these days, we decided to increase our BFR and remove discounts for weekends. That led to a 24% increase in average BFR in a single month. As a result, we are often able to win the top position in our compset.
We used data from Market Insight demand insights to create geo-targeted travel ads and promotions on OTAs. This allowed us to capture a lot of demand early on and set the stage for a successful recovery period. The insights from Revenue Insight allowed us to further refine our targeted ads and create an attractive deal that helped us make the most of new trends.
The revenue team uses OTA Insight’s platform daily to monitor performance and access the data needed for pricing and distribution decisions. But OTA Insight’s information is also helpful for other departments, especially since it’s presented in such a user-friendly way. That’s why we share it with our sales team, the general manager and the rooms division manager during our weekly meetings. This shows them what to expect in the near future, so they can plan their operations accordingly. It also gives us the opportunity to make commercial decisions together and work more effectively towards our goals.