GOPPAR vs. RevPAR: the metric your owner actually cares about

RevPAR is what the GM reads. GOPPAR is what the owner reads. Most revenue managers spend their first year optimizing the first and getting fired for not understanding the second.

The metric your owner actually cares about

GOPPAR = Gross Operating Profit Per Available Room. It is RevPAR after every variable and semi-variable cost that revenue decisions touch: housekeeping per room, commission per booking, F&B contribution from the room, breakfast cost, OTA marketing fees, payment processing.

A €1 increase in RevPAR does not produce a €1 increase in GOPPAR. Depending on the channel mix, segment mix, and rate strategy, that €1 could produce anywhere from €0.30 to €0.85 of incremental GOPPAR. A revenue manager who does not know which side of that range they are on is making decisions blind.

A concrete example

You drop the BAR rate by €10 on a soft Wednesday. RevPAR rises by €6 (the rate cut moved volume). Looks good. But: the volume came through Expedia at 18% commission. Each booked room cost €1.08 in commission lift. The 22 incremental rooms required two extra room attendants on Thursday at a cost of €380. Net GOPPAR impact: actually negative €1.80.

The same scenario at 80% direct mix would have produced positive €4.20 in GOPPAR. Same RevPAR, opposite owner conversation.

The GOPPAR conversation with the GM

Most GMs are bonused on GOP, not RevPAR. If you can frame your weekly recommendations in GOPPAR terms — "I want to close the OTA rate by €15 and push the same revenue through the direct channel for €4.10 of incremental GOPPAR" — you stop being the person who chases RevPAR and start being the person the GM listens to. Operator translation: speak the language of the bonus, get the room you need.