HOF 2025: “Revenue managers are the lighthouse of commercial discipline”

HON: Where were you 30 years ago? 

Fernando Vives: Thirty years ago, I was still studying hospitality management, but not in the way it’s taught today. I was focused on revenue management. To put things into perspective, 26 years ago, I was the first revenue manager in Madrid, which was quite challenging because nobody really understood what I was doing. 

I was fortunate to have a general manager who had attended Cornell University. After his training in the US, he came to me with a printed Excel spreadsheet and said, “Fernando, you're going to become a revenue manager because you’re good with numbers.” 

With my finance background, I started diving into revenue management, explaining to other hoteliers in Madrid what it was all about. I would explain it like this: “I work like the airlines, increasing and decreasing rates.” That was a simple way to put it. 

HON: Now, things have clearly evolved. In your opinion, what are the top priorities for revenue leaders today, especially in such a volatile market? 

Fernando Vives: You’ve touched on the key word: volatility. Forecasting has become increasingly difficult, and it’s not just about forecasting but understanding how to price in such a dynamic market. The priority now is agility. I always tell my teams that we must stay agile in everything we do.  

At Minor Hotels, we operate around 400 hotels across 26 countries. The challenge is to steer this large operation, which is no easy task. 

We recently discussed this with Federico Gonzales Tejera, who gave an incredible presentation on transformation. The question becomes: How do we keep the teams agile enough to adjust to market changes?  

At the same...