THE SPECIFICS OF PRICING IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

The stage of investigating the factors that influence price is the most time-consuming. The validity of strategic and tactical pricing decisions depends on how thorough the analysis is conducted. This article deals with the issues of price management in the hospitality industry, including the pricing concepts of small and medium-sized hotels. Effective pricing policy includes not only setting the initial market price, but also methods of payment, types of discounts, price differentiation on various grounds. The cost of a room depends on seasonality, class of the hotel, as well as city and country. Considered characteristic features affecting the process of pricing in today's hospitality industry deserve special attention and are key to the success of the business. The hotel seeks to set a price that would cover the costs of production, distribution, product promotion and an acceptable rate of return. There is great scope for price differentiation in hotel services, both by the type of service provided in terms of volume, standard, time, quantity and by consumer. The constraints of an active pricing policy in the hotel industry are successfully addressed by differentiating prices for services. In the hotel industry, price is an indicator of the quality of service, so the accommodation tariff should reflect the actual supply. If the advertised prices to consumers are high for a hotel in a given class, they will look for another hotel. At the same time, low prices for accommodation services will lead to lower revenues and profits for the hotel establishment. Demand for hotel services is the main regulator of price levels, so incentives and forecasts should be the most important condition when setting the most effective prices. The rule of thumb almost everywhere is that when demand increases, price increases. Pricing policy formation in the hotel is a component of a unified marketing policy and is constantly being shaped by competing companies.