In short:
- Facing declining RevPAR and market pressure, Danubius Hotels Group launched a “total sales” initiative to involve all guest-facing colleagues in conscious, value-driven selling.
- DEVELOR was selected for its hotel industry expertise, tailored approach for 3–4 star hotels, and commitment to guaranteed, measurable business results.
- The Conscious Upselling Program delivered outstanding impact: nearly EUR 300,000 incremental revenue in 9 months, a 98.1% training satisfaction score, and strong foundations for further group-wide rollout.
Danubius Hotels Group (DHG) had to face some serious challenges due to the market situation
Nowadays it is not only the professionals and managers of the hotel business who are aware of its hardships. Some players of the sector fight for survival, others fight for recovering a state of efficiency, while some others fight for market-leader positions with more or less success.
The market situation
During these years similarly to the other hotel chains, the Danubius Hotels Group (DHG) had to face some serious challenges due to the market situation, and decrease in the number of sold guest nights and average room rate, which resulted in lower RevPar (revenue per available room).
The hotel chain has realized in time that it is necessary to launch a program, which has “total sales” in its focus. They set a goal that every colleague, who is in touch with guests, would actively take part in sales in a conscious and planned manner, not only the sales personnel. The management set the improvement of guest satisfaction as an objective parallel with the increase of revenue per guest.
The management has defined as featured expectation that the comprehensive sales deve-lopment program, which targets the set objectives, should accommodate all the specifics of the DHG 3 and 4 hotels.
At the end of the selection process for finding a service provider, which lasted a few months, the decision was made in favor of Develor Consulting and its Conscious Upselling Hotel program.
DHG chose Develor mainly because it was important
- that the appointed professionals had experience in the hotel industry, therefore a high level reliable delivery and consistency was assured along with its professionalism;
- that the training program was unique, tailored to the hotel industry, and even more significantly to the DHG needs, which reacted appropriately to the market situation, to the actual challenges and needs formulated by the management as well;
- that Develor had guaranteed measurable business results apart from excellent delivery quality.
Balázs Kovács“We are proud to say that as a result of the program our sales personnel became much more goal oriented, and are able to better represent the interest of the Danubius Hotels Group.”
The results
300.000 EURO extra profit
Following the launch of the program in April 2011, the 11 participating hotels in Budapest generated a total sum of EUR 283.950 incremental revenue in 9 months.
Balázs Kovács, Vice President of DHG reflected the program and its results as follows: „Participants’ feedbacks are very important, however sales development programs are evaluated based on figures and generated results, therefore the Conscious Upselling Program is a real success story. The program was launched in April, 2011 and Danubius earned HUF 80 million incremental revenue till the end of the year.
It was even more interesting for us to see that although we had n impression that upseling program is working mainly in 5 star hotels, this outstanding result was generated by our 3 and 4 star hotels.
Concerning the Key Account Management program, we experience that even in this market situation where everything is about rates & prices, our sales managers are able to use several techniques and tools so that they lead their selling processes and negotiations successfully along other dimensions ending in measurable results.”
Despite of the initial resistance, participants evaluated the program exceptionally well. It resulted in 98,1% training evaluation score! Written feedbacks emphasized the participants’ and managers’ general satisfaction.
Further plans and steps
Based on the success of the program which highly exceeded expectations, in addition to the ongoing application support processes, DHG management and Develor professionals have already started the preparation and design of next steps.
Among several options there is a Carrier management program aiming to prepare high potentials to overtake even General Manager positions within the chain. Launching of the upselling program to DHG hotels in the whole country and abroad is also in the planning phase which would stabilize the new operations and business results for the whole chain.
“The Conscious Upselling Program is a real success story.”
“There are serious changes behind the business indicators that can also be seen in the everyday activities of the participants.”
Frequently asked questions about hotel upselling programs and revenue growth
Hotel upselling programs can increase RevPAR and incremental revenue by helping guest-facing colleagues recognize and act on sales opportunities in everyday interactions. Instead of relying only on dedicated sales teams, a conscious upselling approach involves reception, front office, reservations and other colleagues who are in direct contact with guests. When employees understand how to offer relevant upgrades or additional services in a value-driven way, the hotel can increase revenue per guest while improving the guest experience. This is especially important in competitive market conditions where room rates and occupancy are under pressure. For HR and L&D professionals, the key is to connect upselling behaviours to measurable business indicators, so training impact can be seen in actual revenue results.
Conscious upselling is relevant for 3- and 4-star hotels because revenue growth does not depend only on luxury positioning or premium hotel categories. Guests in these segments can also be open to higher-value services when the offer is relevant, well-timed and clearly connected to their needs. The Danubius Hotels Group case shows that a structured upselling program can deliver strong results even in 3- and 4-star hotels facing market pressure. The important factor is not the hotel category alone, but whether staff are trained to identify opportunities, communicate value and represent the hotel’s business interests professionally. For hospitality leaders, this means upselling can become a practical tool for both sales performance and service quality across different hotel segments.
Hotels can make upselling training accepted by employees by showing that upselling is not about pushing guests, but about creating better guest experiences and supporting business results. Initial resistance is natural, especially when employees do not see themselves as salespeople or worry that selling could feel uncomfortable. Practical, industry-specific training helps them understand what to say, how to say it and how to keep the conversation service-oriented. Real-life examples, role plays and clear links to measurable outcomes can build confidence and motivation. For HR and L&D teams, acceptance also improves when the program is tailored to the hotel’s reality and supported by managers after the training.
Hotels should measure the success of an upselling training program through both participant feedback and concrete business results. Training satisfaction scores can show whether employees found the program practical and relevant, but the strongest evidence comes from indicators such as incremental revenue, RevPAR improvement, guest satisfaction and employee engagement. In a total sales approach, it is also useful to track whether more guest-facing colleagues actively contribute to sales in a planned and conscious way. Measurement should continue after the training, because behaviour change and revenue impact need application support and management follow-up. For L&D professionals, this makes upselling training more credible because it connects learning activity directly to hotel performance and profit.
