Hospitality market report: Upselling results and best-performing deals in the Maldives

After the insights from our last hospitality market report gained so much traction, we decided to analyse our upselling results for each country in the APAC (Asia-Pacific) region.

The APAC region is one of the major markets for Oaky, where we have many amazing customers and big hotel names. As the market is really vast, we thought it would make sense to go over the results for every country to spot the trends and guest preferences per each particular market. So in this blog, we will highlight the upselling results of our customers based in the Maldives.

The state of the hospitality industry in the Maldives after the pandemic

Throughout the pandemic, tourism in the Maldive Islands was far more popular than in other similar tourist destinations because it was one of the few countries welcoming visitors. The Maldive’s geography also allows for visitors to enjoy their holiday only surrounded by the close vicinity of their family.

In 2021, the islands received more than 80% of their pre-pandemic tourist numbers. And as Maldives tourism celebrates its 50th anniversary, the country expects to welcome over 1.6 million tourists this year.

The hospitality market in the Maldives has recovered from the pandemic extremely quickly as a result of relaxed quarantined restrictions and improved marketing efforts. Most importantly, Maldives hotels have sought to leverage the best technology to improve the customer experience.

Are you a hotelier in the Maldives? We’re confident our insights into the best seller deals and room upgrades will help you tailor your offerings to meet your guests’ needs more effectively. This report will shed light on:

• Best-performing hotels in the Maldives in terms of incremental revenue

• Best-performing hotels in terms of pre-arrival email results

• Most popular upselling deals and room upgrades

• Creative deals that have made a hit with guests in the Maldives.

Upselling insights: best-performing hotels in terms of incremental revenue

Calculating the incremental revenue at your hotel can show you how efficient your current upselling process is.

Our hospitality report analyses how effective an upselling process is on the basis of two factors:

• Highest revenue by a hotel in a year

• The average revenue per email sent.

Through our analysis, we found that in a year, a 5-star resort in the Maldives generated an impressive revenue of 55,300 USD through upselling, with an average revenue per email of $63.

Another 5-star resort reached an average revenue of $233 per email and generated a total of 20,000 USD in incremental revenue. The first hotel made a greater annual revenue even while having a lesser average revenue per email.

These numbers show that the revenue potential of a hotel also depends on its inventory. The more services and upselling potential the hotel has, the more revenue their optimised upselling will bring them.

The importance of upselling in hotels is evident as this strategy allows you to set up a solid revenue stream and utilise your hotel potential to the fullest. If you’re curious to learn more about upselling and how it can be implemented in your hotel, talk to one of our upselling experts.

Best-performing upselling deals and room upgrades in the Maldives market

The best-performing upselling deals in hotels in the Maldives were, in order of preference:

• Upgrading to an all-inclusive meal plan

• Paying more to include a sunset yacht ride in the package

• Upgrading the package to include playground access

• Include breakfast throughout the stay

• Paying more for a late checkout.

In order of preference, the five best-performing room upgrades that people chose were

• Garden view room

• Harbour view room

• Pool view room

• Room with jacuzzi

• Family room.

The most creative deals Oaky’s customers offer to their guests

Oaky’s clients designed some extraordinary and personalised deals for their guests in the Maldives.

Given that the Maldives are one of the best places in the world for stargazing, upselling offers such as private stargazing, astronomy tours with food and a bottle of wine, and also “Christmas under the stars” made it to the list of the most creative deals. Other unique upgrade offers were drone shoots on the island, drone videography, private boat rentals and even private cinema.

Concluding Thoughts

As travel restrictions ease up worldwide, and tourists once again flock to popular holiday sites, automated upselling can help you save time and drive revenue at your hotel. Depending on where your hotel is located, your upselling deals might work differently. To get insight into the best-performing deals in other markets such as DACH, Benelux, Nordics, United Kingdom, etc., feel free to download our complete report: