Do Revenue Managers Still Matter In The Age Of AI Pricing?

“Communication skills will become increasingly important for Revenue Managers. Revenue Management does not operate in isolation and requires close cooperation with all departments within the hotel, operational, management, commercial. The best strategy is often determined by combining insights from all these departments. A Revenue Manager therefore needs to be able to explain data, present recommendations and influence decision-making across the business.

As technology continues to advance, I believe we should hire and develop Revenue Managers with a broader commercial mindset. Data analysis will remain a key part of the role, but modern Revenue Management systems are increasingly capable of generating forecasts, pricing recommendations and market insights automatically. So, the skills of a Revenue Manager requires change.

Compared to 15 years ago when I started, Revenue Managers need to spend less time building reports and more time interpreting information, communicating recommendations and help build commercial strategy. This should also be reflected in hospitality education. While analytical skills remain important, more focus should be placed on presentation skills, stakeholder management, communication and commercial decision-making. The Revenue Manager who will be most successful is not necessarily the one who can build the most detailed forecast, but the one who can translate data and AI-driven insights into actions that support overall strategy of the hotel.”

“I believe that AI definitely helps the revenue manager by simplifying and streamlining the work, especially through the management of repetitive tasks. For example, with autopilot, AI can analyse vast datasets, suggest the best possible rates, and even send updates to portals when the revenue manager is absent. However, it is important to emphasise that AI does not replace the revenue manager but enhances their role, allowing them to focus less on operational tasks and more on strategic elements, such as business strategy, sales conditions, choice of relevant data, segmentation, etc., which are instrumental for the RMS and AI to make accurate decisions.

AI is certainly more efficient than a human in repetitive tasks based on consolidated patterns, but it must always be supervised and guided by an experienced revenue manager to feed it with the correct data and strategy, and to manage unforeseen variables (e.g., Covid, wars, natural disasters, etc.).”

“As AI continues to outperform humans in rate optimisation, forecasting and real-time pricing, the role of the Revenue Manager is evolving rather than diminishing. The technical aspects of pricing are increasingly automated, but the true value of RM now sits in strategy, distribution and commercial judgement.

A strong Revenue Manager does far more than analyse data. While systems can recommend the “right” price, that price is only valuable if it is visible and bookable. This places distribution at the centre of the role. Ensuring the right rate is available at the right time, on the right channel, to the right customer remains a fundamentally human responsibility. AI can optimise price, but it cannot guarantee effective channel strategy, content accuracy or visibility across complex distribution networks.

As the industry becomes more reliant on revenue management systems and integrations, another critical capability is emerging: troubleshooting and technology oversight. Revenue Managers are increasingly required to:

• Identify when systems are misaligned or producing flawed outputs
• Resolve distribution errors across channels
• Ensure connectivity between PMS, RMS, CRS and third-party platforms is functioning correctly

In this environment, RM becomes the bridge between strategy and execution, ensuring that technology delivers commercially viable outcomes.
At the same time, human skills remain essential in areas where AI cannot replicate judgement or context. This includes:

• Evaluating the true value of business beyond rate alone
• Influencing stakeholders and aligning commercial decisions
• Applying market intuition to interpret trends not yet visible in data
• Creating new strategies rather than optimising existing ones

This evolution signals a shift in how revenue talent should be viewed and developed. The future Revenue Manager is not just a technical analyst but a commercial strategist and distribution expert, capable of working across systems, teams and business functions.”
In simple terms, the role is returning to a core principle:
the right price, visible at the right time, on the right channel.
Those who can combine pricing expertise with distribution knowledge, strategic thinking and the ability to troubleshoot complex systems will define the next generation of high-performing Revenue Managers.

“The machine of course will always be faster. It can watch a thousand rate movements while a human watches ten. But speed isn’t the job. Someone still has to look the owner in the eye and explain why rates came down before a big weekend. Someone still has to negotiate a group deal where the real value is the relationship, or sense that a local event will play out differently than the data says. In actuality, the job stops being about producing numbers and starts being about questioning them. Which means we should hire for judgment and the ability to explain, not for spreadsheet skills, and train people to push back on the system rather than just click accept or approve.”