Winning the holiday rush: Top trends and proven plays for BFCM
September 24, 2025
In this webinar episode, Revinate experts Anisha Yadav, Sara Green, and Freya Craig share proven strategies for maximizing Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Travel Tuesday performance. From industry trend analysis showing the shift toward domestic travel to real customer examples generating millions in revenue, this session covers data-driven tactics that avoid common pitfalls like panic discounting. Learn how personalization, value-based offers, and strategic timing can drive bookings while protecting brand integrity during the competitive holiday season.
In this strategic Hotel Moment webinar, three Revinate experts come together to decode the holiday rush and share winning strategies for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Travel Tuesday success.
What you'll learn:
- Industry trend insights: How declining international visitors create opportunities for North American hotels to capitalize on domestic demand, plus the impact of major events like FIFA 2026 and LA Olympics 2028
- Avoiding panic discounting: Why "heads and beds" mentality damages long-term brand value and smart alternatives that focus on value-adds rather than price cuts
- Data-driven personalization: Using guest spend patterns, booking behavior, and RFM models (recency, frequency, monetary value) to create targeted offers that drive conversions
- Proven revenue tactics: Four key themes generating $69M in revenue for Revinate customers - attribute-based selling, booking behavior optimization, experience packaging, and location-based marketing
- Real campaign examples: Five successful customer campaigns from properties like AutoCamp ($1.6M in bookings), Tides Inn (300+ room nights), and others that demonstrate effective segmentation and messaging
- Strategic timing: Why starting early access campaigns in October and using countdown timers, geo-targeting, and omnichannel consistency drives better results than waiting for the actual holiday weekend
- Experience-driven revenue: How experiential dining and on-property amenities are becoming crucial differentiators for upper-tier luxury travelers
The webinar also covers cart abandonment recovery, the importance of user-generated content in AI-driven search, and practical subject line examples that convert high-intent audiences into bookings.
Links mentioned in show:
- Revinate inspirations page
- Direct booking mastery certification program
- Upcoming BFCM webinar series (parts 2 and 3)
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Instructions on how to do this are here.
Connect with Anisha Yadav here:
Connect with Sara Green here:
Connect with Freya Craig here:
Follow the podcast here:
Episode Highlights:
[14:01] The dangers of panic discounting - Sara Green warns against the common mistake: "The gut reaction for many hotels is just to slash prices. We know the phrase 'heads and beds.' Yes, it's a short-term burst in occupancy, but it comes with some serious long-term consequences. It devalues your brand. When you compete on price alone, you're telling your guest that your hotel is a commodity and not a unique experience."
[09:19] Domestic demand opportunity - Anisha Yadav identifies the silver lining in declining international travel: "There is a huge opportunity for hotels in North America to capitalize on domestic demand. People are not going abroad, but they want to travel and take road trips. Segment that audience and focus on the drive market area."
[23:12] Value over discounting - Anisha emphasizes the strategic approach: "It's not about deep discounting. It's about how you build that value for your asset and for the rooms that you have." This principle guides successful revenue optimization during competitive periods.
[20:00] Personal touch differentiator - Sara highlights an often-overlooked tactic: "One thing that always stands out is an outbound call strategy. If you do have a res team on-site, imagine your staff calling a past guest to personally thank them for that stay. You can absolutely set that up with an email, but an outbound call is so much more personalized."
Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome and introductions
03:45 - Industry trends and consumer preferences
06:30 - Market data and forecasting insights
08:45 - Domestic travel opportunities
12:55 - Learning from past market uncertainties
14:15 - Avoiding panic discounting mistakes
16:45 - Cost-cutting consequences
18:30 - Attracting guests based on value
20:45 - Implementing value-add strategies
21:56 - Data-driven revenue tactics
25:43 - Real customer campaign examples
39:55 - Key takeaways and planning ahead
32:28 - Q&A and upcoming sessions
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here.
Hotel Moment Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so
Previous guests include: Shannon Knapp, CEO of Leading Hotels of the World (LHW), Patrick Norton of Brittain Resorts & Hotels, Shawn Jereb of Montage International, Carlo Del Mistro, Chief Digital Officer of Ennismore, Jason Pirock of Springboard Hospitality, and many more.
Are you a hospitality industry leader with insights to share? We're always looking for innovative voices to join our conversation about the future of hospitality technology.
If you'd like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of Hotel Moment, we'd love to hear from you! Our podcast reaches thousands of hospitality professionals worldwide, and we're particularly interested in perspectives on:
- Innovation in hospitality technology
- Guest experience transformation
- Revenue optimization strategies
- Emerging industry trends
Check out the three most downloaded episodes: