Marketing Strategies of Alternative Revenue Sources for Full-Service Hotels in the United States and Canada: A Comparative Revenue Management Approach

To fully implement a comprehensive revenue management (RM) system, hotel managers will need to consider all aspects of revenue sources, not just room revenue. Revenue potential from alternative revenue sources such as parking; laundry and dry cleaning; in-room dining; in-hotel restaurant, bar, lounge, coffee shop; health club; golf course; gift and convenience store; banquet hall and conference rooms; business center rentals, office rentals and office supplies; babysitting; and other services, can have a significant impact on making RM decisions. Therefore, the positioning and marketing of these alternative revenue sources can ensure that they are fully integrated in RM systems that will work best for the lodging property. This study provides a comparative analysis of promoting of these alternative revenue sources within an international context as well as exploring the extent of inclusion of these revenue sources in full-service hotels’ marketing strategies.