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Ira Vouk
Hospitality technology consultant / Published Author / Speaker / Educator / Founder
HITEC Advisor at HFTP
HITEC North America Advisory Council; Experts to Design HITEC Program
Speaker
AAHOA, HEDNA, HITEC, ICHRIE
Guest lecturer
San Diego State University, University of Delaware, University of Denver, University of Angers (France), ESSEC business school (France).
Strategic Advisor at Hospitality Technology Next Generation (HTNG)
AI for Hospitality Workgroup and Marketing Pillar
Board member at the Cornell Hotel School
Center for Hospitality Research
Recognized as Top 17 Technology professionals inspiring innovation in the US Hotel Industry
by AHT
The originator of the ARPAR performance indicator
(#ARPAR)
Selected as Top 5 Pricing and Revenue Managers in the country
by HSMAI
Co-founder of iRates LLC
- company that pioneered Pricing and Revenue Management automation for limited-service hotel segment
About
Developed a new index for profit maximization (Adjusted RevPAR, or ARPAR). Built a pioneering automated Revenue Management tool iRates (acquired by iQware Inc. and renamed to IQrates) – the first RMS that adopted Machine Learning algorithms.
Published books on Hospitality Technology and Revenue Management. Brought to market PIE (Pricing Intelligence Engine) by Cloudbeds, the fastest growing RMS in the history of hospitality. Assisted Duetto with their initiatives to innovate in the area of the Hospitality Analytics.
HITEC Advisor @ HFTP, Advisory board member at Cornell CHR @ School of Hotel Administration, Strategic Advisor @ HTNG, Advisory Board Member @ Fornova, Hospitality & Tourism Alliance Advisory Board Member @ The California State University.
Contributing writer for HSyndicate, HospitalityNet World Panel, HSMAI blog and other online media. Frequent speaker on the topics of #hospitalitytechnology, #distribution, #revenuemanagement, #profitability and #automation.
Lecturer at SDSU. Guest lecturer at UDEL, DU, SJU, University of Angers (France), ESSEC Business School (France).
My online learning course
This deep dive into how to navigate effectively in the complex environment of travel & hospitality technology is brought to you by Ira Vouk, the author of industry best-seller “Hospitality 2.0”, a lecturer, a speaker, and a founder recently recognized as “top 17 technology professionals inspiring innovation in the US hotel industry”.
The course is designed and built in collaboration with Payne School of Hospitality & Tourism Management (San Diego State University).
Regardless of your role, this course will help you become more successful in the industry by understanding how to navigate in the complex environment of Hospitality 2.0 that has been recently driven by the forces of digital evolution.
You will be able to navigate in the previously confusing mosaic of the hotel and restaurant technology ecosystem: understand its evolution, integration dependencies, hierarchy and what is changing. You will become familiar with the latest disruptions that have transformed hospitality into a whole new realm. You will get a deep dive into the future trends for the next 5-10 years as well as areas of value creation and opportunities for investment, and not only financial investment (though this is the most critical element) but also investment of your talent, time, and resources.
This course will help you become more successful in the hospitality business (be it hotels, vacation rentals, restaurants, cruises, or any other part of our industry).
My books
Testimonials:
Testimonials:
Experience
Hospitality Technology & Revenue Management Consultant
I provide consulting services for hospitality organizations (on the topic of hospitality technology, distribution, revenue management and profit maximization) as well as technology vendors.
Author of hosptech online learning course
Immersive course on how to navigate and scale products in our industry , specifically tailored to technology companies.
Professor at San Diego State University
Teaching Hospitality Technology
Advisory Board Member
Cornell Hotel School - Center for Hospitality Research; The California State University - Hospitality & Tourism Alliance; Hospitality Technology Next Generation; Fornova
Senior Director of Product Management, Data & Analytics
Duetto - Hospitality Revenue Management software company
Revenue Management Training
Wyndham Hotels and Resorts - US Operations Team
Senior Product Strategist
CloudBeds - Hospitality software company
Director of Technology - board member
HSMAI - Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association
Co-founder, VP of Business Development
iRates RMS - Revenue Management SaaS company
Director of Revenue Management
Gaslamp Hotel Management - Hotel Management company
Online presence and published work
Aug 17, 2023 | TravelPreneur
Joining us today is Ira Vouk, a visionary leader in the hospitality industry with a profound passion for automation and travel technology. She works as a hospitality technology and revenue management consultant. As the founder of Hospitality 2.0 Consulting, Ira has dedicated the past several years to bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and the world of hotels and hospitality tech vendors.
We are delighted to have Ira Vouk join us today to delve into her journey, passion for technology, and the transformative role Hospitality 2.0 Consulting plays in shaping the future of the hospitality industry. Stay tuned for an enlightening conversation on how innovation is reshaping the way hotels operate and engage with technology.
Jun 26, 2023 | HFTP
Ira Vouk, hospitality consultant and author, moderated an eye-opening session devoted to one of her favorite topics: the intersection of profit optimization, analytics and technology.
“Things you didn’t know about RevPAR: leveraging data to boost profits”
Ira also participated in the “Introduction to HITEC” session as a panelist to welcome newcomers to the HITEC-verse and walk them through the main aspects of this major industry tech conference.
Jun 1, 2023 | MACHINELAB
At the tender age of 21, armed with nothing more than a mere $100 in her pocket and a heart brimming with aspirations, today Ira Vouk is one of the most sought-after figures in the global hospitality arena.
While the journey wasn’t the easiest, Ira reveals to Machinelab Ventures that she secretly revelled in the curveballs thrown her way – why? It helped her evolve and launch out of her comfort zone
Feb 8, 2023 | HospitalityNet
Recently I conducted a detailed 360-degree analysis of Revenue Management technology available in the hospitality industry today. About 30 vendors were analyzed. This article contains the outline of the main conclusions that resulted from this research.
For the full report, please reach out via email at info@iravouk.com.
Jan 19, 2022 | HospitalityNet
This article describes main barriers for technology companies to scale in the hospitality industry.
Oct 19, 2022 | HFTP
Our industry is at a pivotal moment as the pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital technologies. As those adoption rates are steadily climbing, more companies seek to scale their software and hardware product offerings in the industry. In order for them to be successful and grow their business efficiently, they need to clearly understand the hospitality market and avoid the major mistakes that can kill their entire business.
Sep 6, 2022 | HITEC
Ira Vouk is appointed as a HITEC NA Advisory Council member.
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), producers of the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®) has put together an expert group of industry professionals to serve on the advisory council for its upcoming North American event – experts to design program covering crucial topics in hospitality technology.
Jul 26, 2022 | AIRSAGE
In this edition, Ira Vouk shares how hospitality, tourism, and big data increases opportunities in the travel industry.
The hotel and tourism industries have had a difficult time sustaining since the Covid 19 pandemic breakout two years ago. The newest Omicron strain struck just as the tourist sector was beginning to recover from the pandemic’s grip, making the future prospects as bleak as possible. As a result, firms in this sector are adopting innovative and creative strategies to attract travelers and visitors from all over the world.
May 24, 2022 | HEDNA
The Hospitality industry is in need of a technological upgrade to a new reality. Moderated by the author of “Hospitality 2.0” Ira Vouk, this panel discussion provided valuable insights on how the travel and hospitality industry can better adapt to the new digitized environment. It comes at a pivotal moment as the pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital technologies in all aspects of our daily lives. Our panel of experts will discuss a path forward for the digital transformation of hospitality.
June 16, 2022 | Technology 4 Hotels
“It’s Brendon, the technology concierge.
Today, I’m joined by Ira Vouk, she’s the author of Hospitality 2.0, and if you haven’t read it I would certainly encourage you to do.
I’ve been in the industry for a long time but I learned so much in reading it, she’s a hospitality technology consultant, she’s a founder of a revenue management company, a speaker, and a lecturer.”
June 8, 2022 | InfoSys
Catch Ira Vouk, MBA , #technologyinnovator in the hospitality industry , author of “Hospitality 2.0” , #Hospitality Technology Consultant, Pricing and Revenue Management Professional in conversation with Samik Ghatak, AVP – Travel and Hospitality Practice, Infosys in the 6th edition of #travellounge talk series. They explore how #hoteliers should look at technology and how #revenuemanagement is a key driver for top and bottom line.
April 19, 2022 | Top Floor Podcast
Let’s face it: Susan Barry is one of the nerdiest people you’ve ever met, so when she meets her match in Ira Vouk, you know something special is happening. Ira is the author of Hospitality 2.0, about the digital revolution in hospitality. This conversation is long and interesting, so stay tuned for part two.
April 11, 2022 | HospitalityNet
Ira Vouk and Carl Winston discuss the challenge that everyone is aware of but nobody talks about. There is currently a big gap between hospitality academia and the industry. Ira and Carl attempt to answer the questions about why we’re facing this problem where the two worlds are drastically out of sync, and what we can do to start solving it.
March 22, 2022 | HospitalityNet
Enjoy the passionate discussion between Ira Vouk (author of “Hospitality 2.0”, industry consultant and tech innovator) and Max Starkov (Hospitality & Online Travel Tech Consultant & Strategist) on the role of technology in our industry.
March 16, 2022 | Hotelier Middle East
Partner content: Revenue management company Duetto surveyed professionals from around the world and gathered insights from industry experts.
Author of HOSPITALITY 2.0: Digital Revolution in the Hotel Industry, Ira Vouk said hotels need to take a holistic, profit-orientated approach, with tech firmly at the centre. She takes this a step further by calling for the RMS to assume centre stage ahead of the Property Management System (PMS) as the lynchpin of hotel business operations.
March 16, 2022 | Infosys
A roundtable discussion around what is driving the transformations in the travel industry.
March 3, 2022 | eHotelier
What do the next 5-10 years look like? The Hospitality industry is in need of an upgrade to a new version. ‘Hospitality 2.0’ is a call to action for proactive change that will help hoteliers compete against the growing challenges presented by alternative accommodations, technological advancement, the COVID pandemic and labour constraints. It outlines a path forward for the digital transformation of our industry.
Author of “Hospitality Revenue Management Made Easy“, “Hospitality 2.0” is Ira’s second book, focused on defining what we can expect in the future, the trends, consumer and industry changes.
February 14, 2022 | Hospitality Technology Magazine
New book by former hotelier, technologist Ira Vouk reveals how hotels can implement successful business strategies through innovative technology solutions and redesigned operations
February 8, 2022 | Hospitality Technology Magazine
This book is about the past, present, and future of hospitality. It presents a comprehensive study on the state of the industry by describing the challenges it has been dealing with, major disruptions in the recent years, effects of tech evolution, cloud computing, alternative accommodations and COVID-19, with a glimpse into what the future holds in the next 5-10 years and how we can get there faster and more efficiently.
December 10, 2021 | HospitalityNet
Fornova, the hospitality intelligence solutions provider yesterday welcomed Ira Vouk as the newest member of its advisory board. Ira, a hospitality revenue management professional with almost 20 years of practical experience within the sector, will support Fornova with its product development and business strategy.
September 15, 2021 | Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
In July, the School of Hotel Administration’s Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) hosted a virtual roundtable called Finding the Balance Between Driving Revenue & Managing Costs. A group of twenty-three academics and experts from various sectors of the hospitality industry attended the two-hour event. Through moderated discussion, they challenged the industry’s long standing practice of managing top line room revenues, proposed a shift to managing cash flow, and aimed to uncover opportunities for turning talk into action, with their ultimate goal being industry wide implementation of profit management and profit benchmarking.
The main takeaways from each session are highlighted in this article.
August 31, 2021 | HospitalityNet
Essentially, what Revenue Managers are doing today (and what we’re still teaching the new generation) is using historical internal occupancy data to predict number of expected booked rooms for a given day in the future.
Let’s be honest with ourselves: with this approach, we’re not predicting demand, we’re predicting occupancy while absolutely ignoring the hotel’s pricing strategy, and this is a big problem.
Read further for more details.
2020-2021 | HospitalityNet
A panel of hospitality industry leaders and experts dedicated to the topics of innovation, optimizations and profitability.
December 22, 2021 | Revenue Academy
Interviewed along with other industry leaders for a review published by Revenue Academy on how 2020 shaped up for revenue management and those in the discipline.
August 10, 2021 | Duetto Research
As hotel markets begin to see demand return, revenue managers now need to start conducting some housekeeping on their strategies rather than just reacting to the inconsistencies in the market. Room type efficiency analysis is one aspect of revenue management that is often overlooked while having a huge potential to improve your profitability.
June 2, 2021 | Duetto Research
The pandemic made it obvious (and painful) to hoteliers that in any situation that poses uncertainty it is crucial to quickly develop and deploy strategies to adapt to both short- and long-term shifts in demand. But here’s the thing. Travel demand has always been uncertain. And history never repeats itself. Recent events just highlighted this fact for all of us and pushed the Revenue Management discipline towards more innovations in the areas of forecasting and optimization.
In early 2020 it became clear that forecasting and optimization algorithms had to be reimagined. Responding to a constantly evolving demand landscape requires an intelligent and flexible revenue strategy platform that quickly learns and adapts to myriad factors that impact the decisions you make. A platform that is agile and adaptable.
March 8, 2021 | Duetto Research
Ira Vouk joined Duetto in August 2020 as Senior Director of Product Management Data & Analytics. She has nearly two decades of experience working in hospitality, predominantly championing the role of revenue management and the use of technology to provide hoteliers with insight to improve how they lead their business strategy.
A published author and educator on revenue management, Vouk is looking forward to showing owners and operators the role technology can play in all aspects of hotel operations.
We caught up with her to find out more about her role, her experience, and her future goals.
December 10, 2020 | HospitalityNET
2020 has shown all businesses how important it is to not just recognize changes in the environment but to be able to quickly and efficiently adapt to those changes. And just like after previous disruptions, the most adaptable and innovative hotels will thrive, leaving others staring at the horizon.
How do you make the right decision when selecting a Revenue Management system for your hotel or your portfolio of properties?
November 27, 2020 | Hospitality Inside
An insightful discussion around “old” and “new” approaches to forecasting in the hospitality industry and how the pandemic has been driving the trend towards automation and Machine Learning in the Revenue Management discipline.
December 1, 2020 | FunnelTV #justpitchit
Organized by Funnel TV, over 40 Travel Tech Companies met online to present their innovations through a strictly live “pitch elevators”. #justpitchit
Ira Vouk represented Duetto RMS as a Senior Director of Product Management, Data & Analytics
February 17, 2020 | Advanced Hospitality Technologies
AHT Inc. commemorated the leading-edge achievements of professionals who have dedicated their careers to innovate hospitality. Their recent 2020 countdown celebrated 17 hospitality leaders who are leading the evolution of technology in the industry. Ira Vouk is one of their most honored innovators, a professional with almost 20 years of hospitality experience. AHT had the opportunity to engage Ms. Vouk for an exclusive interview. Ira discussed with AHT some brilliant insights on hospitality technology, revenue management, the future of the industry, her personal journey as an influencer of the industry, and a bit from the heart.
January 29, 2020 | eHotelier
Sophisticated technology surrounds us in our everyday live, AI algorithms predict our shopping behavior, social media ads are tailored to our needs based on vast amounts of data gathered and analyzed through the web. Yet at the same time, most hoteliers are still adopting old-school generic marketing approach without investing in any (even basic) technology.
January 16, 2020 | Cloudbeds
A series of articles uncovering revenue management startegies that are designed to help hospitality operators realize optimal revenues and profits for capacity-constrained and perishable assets (hotel rooms).
November 12, 2019 | Cloudbeds
Softening demand is naturally followed by a desire to lower rates in order to offset the loss in occupancy. Are we in danger of starting another rate to the bottom?
October 9, 2019 | Lodging Leaders Podcast
Revenue Management has been playing an increasingly important role in hotel operations in the last decade. While the hospitality industry traditionally has been considered relatively conservative in adopting new strategies and technologies, things are looking better than they did just a few years ago. This article highlights major trends that we’re noticing in the Revenue Management world today, as we conclude the current decade of innovations.
September 13, 2019 | eHotelier
Revenue Management has been playing an increasingly important role in hotel operations in the last decade. While the hospitality industry traditionally has been considered relatively conservative in adopting new strategies and technologies, things are looking better than they did just a few years ago. This article highlights major trends that we’re noticing in the Revenue Management world today, as we conclude the current decade of innovations.
April 10, 2019 | Skift Research
Interviewed along with other hospitality tech executives for a research that was aimed to investigate the current landscape of Revenue Management systems, highlighting the opportunities for growth in the upcoming years.
January 29, 2018 | HospitalityNET
As Revenue Management becomes more and more relevant in the Travel industry and more hotels finally begin to understand the importance of dynamic pricing fluctuations, various hospitality companies start introducing products that are aimed at assisting hoteliers with managing their revenue, one way or another. A wide range of RM/pricing solutions have flooded the market, and there is a wide range of companies offering them: from strictly RM tech companies, to PMS providers, to even Online Travel Agencies. How reliable are those tools and how much faith should hoteliers put in them? There are two major aspects that we need to review in order to answer this question.
January 15, 2018 | HospitalityNET
Revenue Management techniques are dictated by the type of product you’re selling. What are the main characteristics of hotel rooms as a product and what makes it different from, let’s say, apples?..
January 3, 2018 | HospitalityNET
As we know, the main goal of Revenue Management is to sell the right product to the right customer at the right time and for the right price, with an ultimate goal to maximize the bottom line (the final profit). “The right price” is found through Dynamic Pricing, which should be the central element of every property’s Revenue Management strategy.
March 1, 2016 | HospitalityNET
Why revenue needs to be managed? The answer is obvious: to increase profits. Unfortunately, not all hotel operators understand the importance of managing revenue and paying enough attention to this activity. Times of “set it and forget it” are long gone. In order to be able to respond to this challenge and not get lost in constantly changing market conditions, every single hotel needs to understand the value of adequate proactive daily Revenue Management.
April 21, 2015 | HospitalityNET
The slogan of the successful Revenue Management is to sell the right product to the right customer at the right time and for the right price. It sounds relatively simple but is not easy to accomplish. How do we know when the right time comes, what the right price is and what types of customers we should target?
December 22, 2014 | HospitalityNET
The effect of incorrect overbooking policies (or the lack of thereof) is being widely underestimated in the industry, especially in the limited service/middle tier segment. Proper overselling at the peak of demand helps hoteliers sell their rooms at the premium rate and not leave money on the table from empty rooms due to anticipated cancelations and no-shows. This is optimal strategy that leads to revenue (and profit) maximization. The additional revenues gained from the overselling techniques go straight to the bottom line. But nonetheless, not very many hoteliers embrace this practice. It’s still very common for most managers (especially in the middle tier segment) to close out availability on all channels before they reach 100% occupancy mark for a certain day…
September 22, 2014 | HospitalityNET
RevPAR is also not the most perfect index for measuring a hotel’s actual productivity (or, the Revenue Management and pricing strategy, to be exact), regardless of the widely spread opinion in the hotel industry. This statistic does not objectively reflect the performance (and profitability) of your hotel, due to the following:
- It does not take CPOR into account (costs per occupied room). You can’t tell what optimal occupancy you need to reach by only looking at your RevPAR.
- It does not take into consideration any additional income a hotel may have from other revenue-generating departments (restaurants, meeting space, banquet rooms, casinos, parking, spa, etc.)
Recommendations
"Ira could quite possibly be the very best hospitality consultant. Want to dramatically improve your business? If Ira can't do it then it can't be done."
Ira provides exceptional advice and constructive feedback on Hospitality Technology and Revenue Management techniques. Great to work with.
If you need real knowledge about the hospitality industry from business, revenue management and IT point of views, Ira is exactly the right person you need. She also has a great potential to help you discover the right questions which are necessary for you to implement new business ideas.
It's always a pleasure to write about people that really make a difference over the field they act or work on. I have been Ira's follower for a long time and I'm always tuned up on what she writes. Her articles and recommendations are as qualitative and as simple as they appear. She writes in a very 'realistic' way, where you can apply her experience in your company and you will reach positive results 100%. I'm a RM for the last 8 years and definitely what Ira writes and accomplishes over her companies, can be easily applied and followed. With quick feedback and prompt attention, she is very accessible and easy going, completely different from lots of other professionals over the hospitality market. As I told her once and another, thanks for all the knowledge passed forward and for such a high quality level product offered to clients and followers. To be able to recommend you is already a pleasure.
I absolutely adore, Ira! She is sharp and witty with a broad understanding of her industry and the various impacts of her involvement on ROI. If you don't already know her I trust that you will one day soon.... she is a good one!
Ira did a consulting project for us and way exceeded our expectations. Super thorough and very pleasant to work with. She knows the space incredibly well.
Working with Ira was a real pleasure. You don’t meet many people in the industry with knowledge in revenue management, product management and an entrepreneurial background. To top it all off our discussions were to the point, she was extremely detailed oriented The value she provided us was profound for our product strategy.
Contact me now
Let's talk
Feel free to send me an email or connect via LinkedIn.
- E – info@iravouk.com
- www.linkedin.com/in/iravouk
