Commercial Mix, Seasonality and Daily Hotel Performance: the Case of Milan

The present paper investigates the link existing between the commercial mix, seasonality of destination and daily performances of hotel businesses. The choices made at city level form a commercial mix which, despite the differing emphases and specific features of single businesses, tends to mark the entire hotel industry, with limited differences according to quality levels and location. The Milan case, in particular, shows the capacity of trade fair events and business components to increase average room rates and occupancy. On the other hand, there is a resulting slackening in holiday periods and non-working weeks (some 100 days per year), when a low level of the average room rate and occupancy is seen. Empirical findings suggest the central role played by metamanagement strategy. For this reason the article proposes an approach to help destination managers to reduce the seasonalities on which to focus their lines of development. Moreover, the identification of the periods marked by high performances makes it possible to pinpoint some critical management aspects to guide development or re-launch actions.