Budget time again! 🙃
Well, let me tell you something:
The budget isn’t just numbers. It’s a story.
I have sat in enough ownership presentations to know one thing:
💡 No one buys into a spreadsheet. They buy into the thinking behind it.
And when we walk into budget season armed with just rows, columns, and formulas, we miss the opportunity to lead.
Because strong budget presentations don’t (only) just say:
➡️ Here’s the forecast
➡️ Here’s the RevPAR
➡️ Here’s the EBITDA
They answer the real questions ownership cares about:
– What’s changed since last year?
– What assumptions are you making?
– What risks are you managing and how?
– Where’s the upside, and whats the plan to capture it?
– What’s your vision for the property for next year? For the next 10 years?
In my experience, the best decks are part numbers, part narrative.
Not fluff. Just context.
Tell the story:
– How guest behaviour is shifting
– What’s happening with booking windows
– Where your compset is losing ground
– Why this is the year to invest (or pull back)
📌 So before diving into spreadsheets, ask yourself:
What’s the story I want to communicate for 2026? What’s the vision?
Then build your budget from there.
That simple shift turns your numbers into strategy.
How are you telling the story behind your 2026 numbers?
Or if you’re ownership: what do you wish more GMs and Rev teams included in their presentations?
#HotelStrategy #BudgetSeason #RevenueLeadership #HospitalityFinance #OwnerRelations #HotelRevenue
