Revenue & Reservations Manager

SUMMARY:
Wine Estate close to Stellenbosch / Brackenfell area is looking for a Revenue & Reservations Manager

The Revenue & Reservations Manager is responsible for driving revenue performance and overseeing the reservations function across the business through strategic pricing, inventory management, forecasting, reservations optimisation, and data-driven decision-making.
 
This role is responsible for maximising accommodation revenue performance while ensuring an exceptional reservations experience for guests. The position oversees revenue optimisation for accommodation and supports ancillary revenue opportunities through effective commercial and reservations management.
 
The role works cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing, Finance, Front Office, and Operations to ensure alignment between commercial strategy, reservations execution, and guest experience.

POSITION INFO:
Duties:
 
Revenue Strategy and Optimisation:
 
Develop, implement, and continuously refine pricing and revenue strategies to maximise ADR, occupancy, RevPAR, and overall profitability.
Apply yield management principles, displacement analysis, demand-based pricing, and length-of-stay controls to maximise revenue and profitability.
Identify opportunities to grow ancillary revenue through packages, upselling, cross-selling, and guest spend optimisation.
Monitor competitor pricing, market intelligence, and macro demand drivers to maintain optimal market positioning.
Participate in commercial and operational meetings, providing recommendations based on trading performance and future pace.
 
Reservations Management:
 
Oversee the day-to-day performance of the reservations function to ensure service excellence and booking accuracy.
Ensure all reservations enquiries are handled professionally, efficiently, and within agreed response times.
Monitor reservations conversion rates and implement strategies to improve booking conversion and guest experience.
Manage reservations processes, standards, and controls to ensure operational consistency and accuracy.
Ensure reservations teams maintain accurate guest profiles, booking details, and communication records.
Work closely with Front Office and Operations teams to ensure seamless guest journey management.
Assist with VIP bookings, group reservations, special requests, and escalated guest matters where required.
Ensure reservations procedures align with revenue strategies, availability controls, and operational capacity.
 
Forecasting, Budgeting and Planning:

Prepare short-, medium-, and long-term revenue forecasts using historical data, pace, pickup, trends, events, and market intelligence.
Support the annual rooms revenue budget and contribute to broader commercial budgeting assumptions.
Produce rolling forecasts and scenario analyses to support decision-making and risk mitigation.
Track actual performance against budget, forecast, and prior year, highlighting variances and recommending corrective actions.
Provide input into strategic planning, demand calendars, and promotional calendars.
 
Distribution and Channel Management:
 
Manage the performance of all distribution channels, including direct channels, OTAs, wholesale, trade, and contracted business.
Optimise channel mix to achieve the best balance between profitability, visibility, and occupancy.
Maintain rate parity, inventory accuracy, and content consistency across all booking platforms.
Review channel costs, commissions, and acquisition costs to improve net revenue contribution.
Collaborate with Sales and Marketing to ensure campaigns, offers, and promotions are commercially viable and aligned with demand periods.
 
Commercial Performance and Reporting:
 
Produce daily, weekly, and monthly revenue and reservations reports with clear analysis of performance drivers, risks, and opportunities.
Analyse key KPIs including ADR, occupancy, RevPAR, booking pace, pickup, conversion rates, cancellation trends, channel contribution, and spend per guest.
Present performance updates and recommendations to senior leadership in a clear and action-oriented manner.
Conduct business mix and segmentation analysis to improve revenue quality and profitability.
Monitor pace, pickup, and booking trends to proactively adjust strategies.
Build dashboards and reporting tools that improve visibility and decision-making across the business.
Provide commercial guidance on group quotations, contracted business, promotions, events, and special packages.
Support the design of need periods, value-add offers, minimum stay rules, and peak period controls.
Contribute to weekly commercial meetings, forecasting sessions, and budget review processes.
Educate operational teams on key revenue drivers and reservations best practices.
Monitor risks relating to rate leakage, discount abuse, channel dependency, inaccurate segmentation, and inventory misallocation.
 
Systems, Process and Data Management:
 
Oversee the effective use of revenue, reservations, PMS, channel management, BI, and CRM systems to support accurate pricing and reporting.
Ensure data integrity, rate loading accuracy, market segment coding, and reporting consistency across systems.
Work with relevant teams to improve system integration, automation, and reporting capability.
Develop and maintain SOPs, controls, and governance processes for reservations and revenue management.
Ensure auditability and discipline in pricing changes, promotions, inventory releases, and commercial approvals.
Drive process improvements to enhance operational efficiency and reporting capability.
Implement best practices in revenue management and reservations operations across the business.
 
Requirements:
 
Minimum 3–5 years’ experience in Revenue Management, Reservations Management, or Commercial Hospitality Management within luxury hospitality, estates, hotels, or multi-revenue destination businesses.
Proven experience in pricing, forecasting, reservations operations, channel management, and revenue optimisation.
Demonstrated success in improving ADR, RevPAR, conversion, channel mix, and total revenue performance.
Experience in luxury hospitality and wine estates will be advantageous.
Formal training or certification in Revenue Management would be advantageous.
Strong analytical and numerical skills.
Strong planning, organisation, and prioritisation skills.
Excellent communication and presentation skills.
Strong financial literacy and understanding of profitability and cost of acquisition.
Strong customer service and guest engagement mindset.
Advanced Excel and reporting capability.
Strong commercial acumen and operational understanding.
Ability to work cross-functionally in a fast-paced environment.
High attention to detail and accuracy.
Strong leadership and team management capability.
Knowledge of:
Opera v5 or Opera Cloud
Siteminder
Lighthouse BI Intelligence
IdeaS Revenue Management System
Salesforce CRM
Advanced Microsoft Excel