English Lakes Harnesses Domestic Demand

REVENUE MANAGEMENT

The Lake District National Park is England’s largest tourism destination outside of London. In 2020, it proved a magnet for those travelers wanting to get away without jumping on an airplane. English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues, used Duetto to capitalize on the staycation market.

Why it matters: Duetto enabled the team to react profitably to spikes in demand and navigate the new short-term booking pattern, with reservations usually being made within six weeks of arrival.

Length of stay also changed, as travelers swapped out their week-long holiday in Spain for a stay closer to home. Length of stay across the English Lakes portfolio was 1.9 nights prior to COVID, in summer 2020 it reached five nights. Duetto helped the portfolio price on length of stay to best attract guests.

Top 3 Core Objectives: English Lakes needed to optimize on rates to make up for revenue lost during lockdown and to take full advantage of the staycation boom.

Optimizing Rates: Using GameChanger’s AutoPilot gave English Lakes phenomenal results on optimized rates, with prices reaching record levels on some nights.
Tracking Market Demand: Monitoring changes in booking curves and pre-empting sudden spikes due to travel restrictions in other markets helped the team optimize opportunities when they arrived.
Strategizing Ahead: By working with Duetto, English Lakes is now looking to increase the direct bookings share of the total mix, which is something they have always done well with.

Innovators Mentioned

English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues

Duetto

Ben Berry

Director of Sales and Purchasing

English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues

"We had months where we had nothing. We were closed with fixed costs. But year to date we are making up for a lot of lost time and revenue. The room rates we have achieved through automated pricing has made up for that and we have seen record weeks in terms of rates and occupancy."

Ben Berry

Director of Sales and Purchasing

👍 Director of Sales and Purchasing Ben Berry said that Optimizing rates enabled English Lakes to recoup lost revenue from lockdown with record rates and occupancy.:

"We had months where we had nothing. We were closed with fixed costs. But year to date we are making up for a lot of lost time and revenue. The room rates we have achieved through automated pricing has made up for that and we have seen record weeks in terms of rates and occupancy."

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

Director of Sales and Purchasing Ben Berry said, about their decision: "Duetto’s most powerful feature is that we have it's all automated. I place full trust in Duetto. Rate changes are made instantly and automated across all our systems. A few clicks and it’s on our site and Booking.com within minutes."

📈 The results: English Lakes saw an increase in all metrics; room rates increased by up to 40%, length of stay grew from 1.9 to 5 nights, and occupancy levels exceeded STLY during the summer of 2020.

At the group’s Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa in Windermere rates increased by 40% (excluding the VAT change).
In addition to seeing sharp increases in room rates, English Lakes looked at optimizing other revenue streams, including F&B.
Monitoring changes to booking curves and correlating those to travel restrictions in other markets enabled the team to make the most of increases in demand.