How Torre Santamaria Skyrocketed Revenue, Starting from Scratch

REVENUE MANAGEMENT

Torre Santamaria is an elegant 32-room resort located in Mattinata, in the heart of the Gargano area (Puglia, Italy), just 300 meters from the sea. The property, opened in 2017, was created from the restoration of a 17th-century farmhouse/tower and blends seamlessly with the surrounding natural environment thanks to its eco-friendly architecture. Since the opening they decided to implement revenue management to capitalise on their strong USPs.

Why it matters: Torre Santamaria owners faced a significant challenge: starting from scratch in a highly competitive market with no prior experience in the hospitality industry. The property had to build a solid client base and establish a market presence quickly, while simultaneously tackling the complexities of the tourism sector. Working with the team of Franco Grasso allowed Torre Santamaria to effectively overcome these challenges and successfully navigate the competitive landscape.

The collaboration enabled the resort to kickstart its sales in the best possible way, leveraging the team's expertise in revenue management to achieve tangible results early on.

Top 3 Core Objectives: When Torre Santamaria opened in 2017, the main objectives were to build a market presence, maximize revenue, and extend the seasonal opening to increase profitability throughout the year. These goals were addressed through targeted strategies that focused on optimizing revenue, visibility, and operational efficiency.

Building a Market Presence: The resort's main challenge was to establish its presence in a competitive market from scratch. To address this, the team of Franco Grasso focused on creating a tailored revenue management strategy. This included dynamic rate and inventory management to optimize revenue, ensuring Torre Santamaria was visible and attractive to potential guests across various online channels. The focus was on building brand reputation and reaching a broader customer base to start generating demand early on.
Maximizing Revenue: Maximizing revenue was central to the resort's strategy, achieved through a streamlined approach to its offerings. By simplifying the product offering with just two room types and a single rate plan, the team optimized conversion rates. This no-frills approach allowed Torre Santamaria to attract guests without unnecessary complexities. Through careful monitoring and adjustments to pricing, revenue was maximized, especially during the peak periods.
Extending the Seasonal Opening: The Gargano area, historically, had a short tourism season, typically limited to about 4 months. Torre Santamaria distinguished itself by extending its opening period to 6 months, helping to improve profitability year-round. The addition of included services in the rate helped increase conversions during the shoulder periods, allowing the resort to attract guests even outside the peak season.

"The human value of the relationship with the team was key to achieving the results we see today. There’s no way we could have achieved this with just a piece of software. Their advice went beyond traditional revenue management and helped us improve performance in ways we hadn’t even considered."

Marco Notarangelo

Hotel Manager

Innovators Mentioned

Hotel Torre Santamaria Resort

Revolution Plus by Franco Grasso

Marco Notarangelo

Hotel Manager

Hotel Torre Santamaria Resort

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👍 Hotel Manager Marco Notarangelo said that "The professionalism of everyone, the possibility of interacting directly with a member dedicated to a particular sector, the friendliness of all those who work there and the ability to maximize revenues thanks to their method and AI-driven software Revolution Plus have been critical for our choice.":

"The human value of the relationship with the team was key to achieving the results we see today. There’s no way we could have achieved this with just a piece of software. Their advice went beyond traditional revenue management and helped us improve performance in ways we hadn’t even considered."

⚖️ The selection process: During their research process, Marco Notarangelo evaluated Revolution Plus by Franco Grasso's product differentiators, customer support, and holistic value as a strategic partner and ultimately decided that Revolution Plus by Franco Grasso was the best fit solution:

Hotel Manager Marco Notarangelo said, about their decision: "We were confident that they had the expertise needed to make the most of our property. From day one, there’s been complete alignment between us, and the team’s advice and guidance have always been spot-on."

📈 The results: Thanks to the support of the team of Franco Grasso, the resort achieved strong performance improvements, with significant growth in revenue, direct bookings, and overall seasonality.

Between 2017 and 2022, revenue and RevPAR more than doubled. Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, which affected many businesses, the collaboration with the team of Franco Grasso enabled the property to achieve the best possible results even during these difficult years. That being said, without the pandemic, these increases would likely have been reached in an even shorter period of time.
The percentage of direct bookings increased significantly, rising from 33% of total bookings in 2017 to 58% in 2023. This impressive growth in direct bookings contributed to the resort’s overall profit optimization.
The resort successfully extended its season from 4 months to 6 months, allowing it to benefit from greater profitability year-round, even during the shoulder season.