Fulvio Giannetti of Lybra Tells Us How Real-time Machine Learning Helps Hoteliers Manage their Revenue

How does Lybra innovate? 

Fulvio Giannetti: Lybra’s real-time, machine learning, demand-centric Assistant RMS is a sophisticated, flexible, module-based machine learning revenue management system, which will simplify and automate your property’s daily revenue management operations to boost occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR – even in times of depressed demand, like the COVID-19 pandemic.

We use market info – i.e., price compset, reputation, events, flight searches, hotel ranking, and historical reservation data (coming from the hotels) to provide hoteliers with the room rate that will earn them the most bookings and the most revenue off of each booking.

Our platform is 100% online, enabling hoteliers to have access to the optimal selling price at any time, based on real-time data, through the RMS’ dashboard. In fact, Lybra’s Assistant RMS is the only RMS on the market that provides real-time data, which is a HUGE advantage over our competitors’ solutions. 

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

Fulvio Giannetti: For hoteliers around the world, the ‘new normal’ feels more like the ‘new confusion’; from ongoing border openings – and closings, and openings… – and the disparity between the ways that countries are responding to the virus, the travel industry, as a whole, is chaotic and filled with a great deal of uncertainty. Most hotels are closed, or they are experiencing cash flow problems. 

The hospitality industry is suffering the pandemic’s effects since people are not traveling anymore due to restrictions and fear; as such, travel demand has decreased dramatically, so hotels are competing for a much smaller pool of potential guests and against hotels that would never have been in their pre-COVID comp set.

So, combine the inefficacy of traditional RMS with the chaos that the entire world is now experiencing, and revenue managers are facing a huge crisis: the inability to understand and accurately forecast the future of their business – and the future of travel demand – in order to make appropriate business decisions and develop an effective revenue management strategy.

Traditional RM technology was based upon algorithms that primarily used historical demand patterns – such as booking lead times, booking pickup by segments, and seasonal stay patterns – as a basis for determining the best possible room rate at any given time; as such, revenue management systems (RMS) reliant on historical data have now become obsolete, simply because our current market conditions are completely unheard of in our lifetimes.

The best way to remain competitive in a depressed market is to use an RMS that uses the right data to provide the most accurate pricing suggestions – and that’s where Lybra’s Assistant RMS beats the rest. Our solution, the Assistant RMS, is the only RMS that is effective during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Lybra’s Assistant RMS uses machine learning to effectively analyze all available Big Data – prioritizing market and competition data, instead of historical ­– to more accurately determine a property’s demand and offer price suggestions that will help hotels get more bookings and increase revenue.  

Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?

Fulvio Giannetti: As many entrepreneurs do, we’ve had many difficult choices and, at times, have made mistakes. One of the important lessons that I learned is that making choices is an important part of my role, and it’s ok to make mistakes; the most important thing is to have a plan B ready at all times, so you can pivot quickly if something goes wrong. 

How do you deal with stress and anxiety?

Fulvio Giannetti: I cope well with stress and anxiety. I try not to worry about things that are outside of my control, which helps manage my stress and anxiety. Also, I always make sure that I have plan B, C, D, etc., in case my original plan doesn’t work out as planned. 

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Fulvio Giannetti: My competitors are Ideas, Duetto, and other RMS companies. We have a very good opportunity; the market potential is very high since only 16% of the hotel worldwide use an RMS. The need for this kind of tool is increasing exponentially – especially during the depressed demand due to COVID-19. In 2020, we were acquired by the Zucchetti Group, one of the market leaders in travel technology. We have a bright future ahead of us, but we need to continue to work hard, developing better, more innovative things for our clients and providing the best possible customer service on a daily basis. 

Your final thoughts?

Fulvio Giannetti: Thank you for the interview. 

Your website?

https://lybra.tech/