Clara Lee and Will Browne from Pan Pacific Hotels Group led a dynamic discussion on the evolving criteria for the Commercial Leader role. Hoteliers explored new approaches to structuring commercial teams, exchanged perspectives, and gained actionable insights to navigate today’s competitive landscape.

To kick-start the discussion, we tabled these questions in order to bring out the common methods and what is working/ not working in each area.

1. Have you seen the roles of sales, marketing, and revenue management evolve in your organization?
2. What skills are essential for a successful Commercial manager/director?
3. What structural changes have you seen?  Was it effective in aligning these functions?
4. What are the benefits and challenges of integrating revenue management, sales and marketing into a unified commercial strategy?
5. What new skills are required in today’s commercial teams that weren’t as critical before?
6. How are hotels attracting and retaining talent in commercial roles?

Discussion outcomes: 

1. Evolving Role of the Commercial Director

• The capability of the Commercial Director is central to driving change.
• Success in this role hinges on strong people skills to unify the traditionally siloed functions of sales, marketing, and revenue management.
• A fuller understanding of the business/asset as a whole is also needed to ensure they understand link between topline revenue and bottom line profits.

2. Traditional Structures Still Prevail

• Many hotels continue to operate with conventional organizational charts, which can hinder agility and integration across commercial functions.
• Some hotels/Groups are struggling to adjust from legacy role titles, but there are signs of change from some larger groups (Hilton, Accor, IHG).
• Renaming of DoSM to Commercial Director is not, and should not, be the default change. A Commercial role needs to ensure the candidate can is sufficiently trained to manage the 3x components (Sales/Revenue/Marketing)

3. Cross-Functional Knowledge and Collaboration

• Commercial Directors must educate themselves in areas outside their core expertise.
• Surrounding themselves with experts in sales, marketing, and revenue is key to effective leadership.
• Job rotation is suggested as a method to gain broader perspective and hands-on understanding of each function.
• Soft skills such as managing a team and finance (understand P&L) also key

4. Role of Technology

• Technology is a critical enabler, supporting data-driven decision-making and integration across departments.

5. Need for Broader Exposure

• Exposure to different roles and a deep understanding of each commercial function are essential for strategic alignment and innovation.