Revenue

Comp Set

Competitive Set

A comp set is the group of comparable, competing hotels a property benchmarks itself against — chosen to match on location, segment, quality and the demand they draw from.

Absolute performance figures mean little without a reference. A RevPAR decline in a month when the whole market declined further is a gain in share; the same decline against a growing market is a loss. The comp set is what makes that distinction visible.

Choosing it is a judgement call with consequences. Too flattering a set produces comfortable reports and no pressure to improve; too aggressive a set makes solid performance look like failure. The honest test is which hotels a prospective guest would genuinely consider instead.

Comp set performance is usually consumed through market benchmarking reports, expressed as index values against the set: an index above 100 means the property is capturing more than its fair share on that metric.

Frequently asked questions

What is a comp set in a hotel?

A comp set is the group of comparable, competing hotels a property benchmarks itself against, chosen to match on location, segment, quality and the demand they draw from. Absolute performance figures mean little without that reference point.

How do you analyse a hotel comp set?

Comp set performance is usually consumed as index values against the set, where an index above 100 means the property is capturing more than its fair share on that metric. The honest test of the set itself is which hotels a prospective guest would genuinely consider instead.

Related terms

  • RGI — RGI (Revenue Generation Index) compares a hotel’s RevPAR with the average RevPAR of its competitive set. An RGI of 100 means the hotel is earning exactly its fair share of room revenue; above 100 it is outperforming the set, and below 100 it is losing share.
  • MPI — MPI (Market Penetration Index) compares a hotel’s occupancy rate with the average occupancy of its competitive set. An MPI of 100 means the hotel is filling its fair share of rooms; above 100 it is taking more than its share of demand.
  • ARI — ARI (Average Rate Index) compares a hotel’s ADR with the average ADR of its competitive set. An ARI of 100 means the hotel is achieving the market rate; above 100 it is selling at a premium to its competitors.
  • RevPAR — RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) measures how much room revenue a hotel earns for every room it has available, whether or not that room was sold. It combines rate and occupancy into a single number, which is why it is the most widely used performance metric in hotel revenue management.
  • Yield Management — Yield management is the practice of continuously adjusting room rates and availability by segment and channel to extract the most revenue from a fixed, perishable inventory of rooms.