Imagine this: You’re not managing a city hotel. You’re not next to a convention center. You’re not even competing for the same audience as the resort an hour away.
You’re managing a destination in itselfthat breathtaking, ultra-luxury, middle-of-nowhere property where guests don’t come to “stay.”
They come to feel something rare: time.
And that, my friends, is where normal revenue management breaks down.
🏝️ The Problem: No Market, No Comp Set, No Playbook
Revenue managers love structure. We build our forecasts around competitors, compsets, pick-up curves, and pace. We obsess over “market share.”
But what happens when there is no market? When your closest competitor is an ecosystem, not a hotel, maybe a castle in another country, a private island, or even a yacht charter?
You can’t benchmark that. Because you are the benchmark.
🕰️ Lesson 1: You’re Selling Time, Not Rooms
At $5,000, $10,000, or even $30,000 a night, guests aren’t comparing rate fences. They’re buying time … the one thing money can’t replenish.
So how do you “yield” something that transcends price?
You start by managing moments, not metrics.
- What’s the perceived value of one hour of serenity versus one hour of chaos?
- What’s the worth of a private dinner on a sandbank versus a standard tasting menu?
- How do you monetize “the feeling of being untouchable”?
Revenue management here isn’t about discounts or parity: it’s emotional yield management.
Your guests aren’t rational shoppers; they’re emotional investors. Time is your currency.
🧠 Lesson 2: Forget Competitive Data — Focus on Context
No rate shopper, no STR report, no benchmarking tool will tell you what to do. Because your “market” doesn’t exist in the same zip code and only lives in mindsets.
Instead of comparing to nearby hotels, compare to alternatives to being there at all. For your guest, the question isn’t “Should I stay here or next door?” It’s “Should I stay here or buy time somewhere else such as a yacht, a private villa, a wellness retreat?”
So your comp set becomes cross-category. You’re not fighting hotels, you’re fighting Return Time Invested.
⚙️ Lesson 3: Rethink Your Tech Stack
Every vendor loves to say, “We can optimize your pricing dynamically!” Cool. But dynamic compared to what?
If you have: ✅ Lead times of 100+ days ✅ Direct, loyal guests who find you organically ✅ Limited inventory ✅ Near-zero competition
Then your rate recommendation engine is basically guessing.
What you need instead isn’t more automation. It’s integration.
- A CRM that connects spa, golf, dining, excursions, and even helicopter transfers
- Profiles that merge guest behavior across touchpoints
- Predictive personalization that triggers before the guest even arrives
Because your real “rate optimization” happens through total experience orchestration, not market pricing.
💬 Lesson 4: Your Revenue Manager Becomes a Composer
In these environments, revenue management isn’t about reacting to demand. It’s about composing desire.
The RM becomes part strategist, part storyteller, part orchestra conductor.
They decide what to sell, when to reveal it, and to whom. They interpret tone, rhythm, and flow…
That means asking:
- What sequence of experiences deepens the emotional journey?
- Which add-ons enhance value without breaking immersion?
- How do we price exclusivity without appearing transactional?
Luxury guests want to feel curated, not sold to.
🧩 Lesson 5: So… Do You Even Need Revenue Systems?
Let’s be brutally honest.
If your comp set is irrelevant, if your rate doesn’t need daily fluctuations, and if your guests aren’t booking through OTAs, then you don’t need a “rate recommendation system.”
You need a decision intelligence system, one that blends finance, psychology, and storytelling.
Because in the middle of nowhere, your pricing strategy isn’t an algorithm. It’s a philosophy.
When you’re selling time, exclusivity, and peace your biggest challenge isn’t demand generation. It’s demand refinement.
You’re not chasing guests. You’re choosing them.
And that’s when revenue management turns from science!!!
Love,
Fabi
Bit about me: I’m Fabian Bartnick aka. Fabi – The Commercial Growth Leader. I’ve built and exited hospitality tech companies, trained thousands of leaders worldwide in sales, marketing and revenue management, and helped businesses in multiple industries align their commercial teams for measurable growth.
If you’re ready to align your sales, marketing, and data into one unstoppable growth engine, connect with me on LinkedIn.
TL;DR: I make people better and companies more money.
