Booking behaviours are changing. Flash sales are losing their impact. Reception teams are evolving into sales machines. And the quiet weeks you used to dread? They’re now opportunities — if you know where to look.
Welcome to the new era of yield management.
In a recent webcast with Lisa Alexander and Calum Gray, we unpacked how holiday parks and marinas can shift from reactive tactics to proactive revenue strategies. The insights flowed fast — from tactical pricing to booking behaviour, from flash-sale fatigue to team empowerment.
Here’s what’s really going on — and what to do about it.
1. Flash Sales Are Fading — And That’s a Good Thing
When occupancy dips, the panic instinct kicks in: slash prices, launch a flash sale, hope for the best. But what are you really communicating?
“A flash sale tells your customers — and your competitors — that you haven’t been looking at your figures.” — Lisa Alexander
Flash sales often reward hesitation and undercut your core value. Worse, they train customers to expect discounts, not to book early.
Instead of defaulting to the red banner and countdown clock, try this: plan offers based on historical quiet periods, bundle upgrades rather than cut prices, and use outbound channels to reach the right people at the right time.
2. Behaviour Is Changing. Your Strategy Should too.
If your lead time used to be 90 days and it’s now 60, that’s not a blip — that’s a shift.
As Lisa said, the only way to understand these patterns is to monitor:
- Booking curves
- Lead times
- Historical vs. real-time data
- Competitor pricing
When Calum’s team introduced abandoned basket recovery — including a follow-up call from the holiday sales team — conversion rates jumped. Why? Because the strategy responded to actual behaviour, not assumptions.
3. Don’t Get Dragged Into Industry-Wide Discount Hype
Trust your data. Summer countdowns, spring savings, boatyard bonanza. The temptation to “join the noise” is strong. But if you’ve done the work — built early-booking momentum, nurtured returning guests, and set up outbound strategies — you don’t need to follow the herd.
“I was able to say: we’re not doing this flash sale. We’re making money already.” — Calum Gray
That’s not arrogance. That’s confidence built on data.
EliteAnalytics: Budget Overview By Month
4. Your Reception Team Could Be Your Best Sales Channel
One of the most powerful ideas from the session? Turning your reception staff into revenue generators — and giving them the tools to succeed.
Calum shared how his team:
- Did post-check-in calls to reduce complaints and build rapport
- Sent automated offers before guests checked out
- Incentivised bookings made on-site with commissions paid to the reception teams
The result? Lower OTA dependency. Higher rebook rates. Happier guests.
You’re already paying for reception. Why not turn that cost into a revenue line?
5. Tactical Pricing Is Quietly Doing the Heavy Lifting
EliteAI and tactical pricing features give you a silent engine for profit. Dynamic adjustments based on demand — all within set thresholds — mean you don’t have to micro-manage pricing. It just works.
Better still, guests never see the levers behind the curtain. They just see a fair price, at the right time.
That’s real strategy — the kind that builds trust and revenue.
6. Marketing and Revenue Teams: You Need Each Other
This isn’t a solo sport. Yield management only works when marketing and revenue teams communicate — daily, weekly, constantly.
Whether it’s pushing out tactical campaigns, segmenting email offers, or simply reacting to a slow week before it becomes a crisis, everyone needs the same data, the same goals, and the same commitment to outcomes — not just outputs.
You’re Not Selling Nights. You’re Selling Strategy.
The future of yield management isn’t about plugging holes. It’s about creating a system that’s confident, data-driven, and tuned in to how your guests actually behave.
It’s a mindset shift — from quick fixes to long plays. From reactive to proactive. From insight… to income.