8.15.2025
Starfleet Research, the leading provider of best practices IT market research for the hospitality industry, announced the release of The 2025 Smart Decision Guide to Hospitality Revenue Management. Now in its sixth edition—and the first to be released since the 2019 pre-pandemic version—the highly anticipated report provides hoteliers with a practical, data-driven roadmap for improving revenue performance and capitalizing on the latest innovations in AI-powered forecasting and pricing.
Earlier editions of this Smart Decision Guide title have been downloaded thousands of times by hotel executives, general managers, revenue managers and IT leaders seeking to modernize their commercial capabilities. In fact, 94% of hotel executives rated the previous edition as “valuable” or “very valuable.” With the global hospitality industry now operating under dramatically different market conditions, the 2025 edition arrives at a critical moment.
Completely redesigned and written from the ground up, the 2025 edition is not a simple refresh of previous versions. It reflects a fundamentally different operating environment — one in which AI-driven decisioning, shrinking booking windows, rising acquisition costs and multi-channel guest journeys have permanently reshaped revenue strategy.
In that sense, the timing of this all-new edition couldn’t be more relevant. It delivers timely, actionable guidance at a moment when many hotel organizations are reassessing their commercial playbooks and making long-term investments in next-generation forecasting, pricing and analytics capabilities.
“Revenue management has entered a new era,” said Jeff Zabin, Research Director at Starfleet Research. “Since the last edition in 2019, the technology landscape has fundamentally changed, booking behaviors have become more volatile, and AI has gone from an emerging concept to an operational requirement. This new guide reflects those shifts and lays out a practical roadmap for hoteliers looking to compete on data, speed and strategy.”
Based on best-practices research involving more than 350 hotel IT, finance and commercial leaders, the 50-page report highlights how revenue management has evolved into a cross-functional discipline that touches every aspect of the guest journey and why the stakes have never been higher.
Among the new research findings:
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89% of hotel executives now use some form of AI-enabled or automation-based technology in their revenue strategies
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83% report RevPAR gains of 5–15% following implementation of a next-generation RMS
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96% say AI-powered tools have helped them reduce the time and costs associated with manual pricing tactics
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69% report improved guest satisfaction as a result of more personalized and better-timed offers
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Nearly 40% of incremental revenue growth is now coming from non-room sources, including F&B, spa and ancillary services
The new Smart Decision Guide is intended for owners, general managers, revenue leaders, asset managers, technology buyers and commercial strategy teams across all property types and geographies. With booking windows shrinking, labor costs rising, and real-time market signals changing daily, the report emphasizes the urgency of embracing data-driven decision platforms and cross-department collaboration.
Each chapter explores a critical component of modern revenue strategy:
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Chapter 1 explains how AI and predictive analytics are transforming revenue management from a rate-setting function into a core business strategy
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Chapter 2 offers a detailed evaluation framework and checklist to help hoteliers prioritize platform capabilities (e.g., integration, predictive modeling, scenario analysis, total revenue optimization)
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Chapter 3 outlines the must-ask questions that decision-makers should use when comparing RMS providers
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Chapter 4 provides a roadmap of proven best practices for aligning people, processes and technology to maximize ROI
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Chapter 5 includes first-hand perspectives from senior revenue and commercial leaders
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Chapter 6 summarizes the research methodology and provides respondent profile details
The 2025 Smart Decision Guide to Hospitality Revenue Management (now available for complimentary download) was independently produced and published by Starfleet Research, a world leader in hospitality technology market research and thought leadership. Widely recognized for its fact-based, vendor-agnostic content, Starfleet Research helps hotel executives make smarter, data-driven decisions. This latest edition was made possible through the sponsorship support of Cloudbeds, Infor, Revenue Analytics and TakeUp — four industry leaders whose ongoing commitment to innovation and education continues to advance the state of hospitality revenue management.
Download the complimentary Smart Decision Guide: https://get.smartdecisionguides.com/25sdg-hrm/