STR IS LAUNCHING a new phase, STR Benchmarking, a market share product for the global hotel industry, according to STR’s parent company, real estate marketplaces, information and analytics provider CoStar Group. The new software platform will offer property-level data and analytics for hotel owners and operators with functionality built on the STAR Report.
Acquired by CoStar in 2019, STR draws its benchmarking data from a sample of 77,000 participating properties with 10 million rooms around the world. STR Benchmarking provides new functions, including user and competitive set self-management as well as high-frequency updates to data. Future product enhancements, which are expected to begin rolling out later this year, include portfolio-level benchmarking, monthly P&L, average-length-of-stay data, and forward-looking occupancy.
“This is a historic day for CoStar Group, and most importantly, for the global industry that has based its business decisions and success on STR’s reports for nearly four decades,” said Andy Florance, CoStar founder and CEO. “STR Benchmarking is one of the most sophisticated software products CoStar Group has taken to market, with STR’s industry-standard metrics and reports centralized and digitized to deliver real-time analytics, intelligence and functionality. This software is built to evolve and scale with new data sets and property types.”
“STR Benchmarking honors the legacy of STR’s reporting while meeting the evolving needs of our industry,” said Amanda Hite, president of STR. “Through this product, our clients will optimize their strategic internal collaboration and decision-making across their own hotel portfolios, sales & marketing departments, revenue and performance management teams, operations, finance and development. By building a comprehensive benchmarking solution, we are unlocking tremendous potential for our clients and positioning CoStar and STR to increase the value of our product.”
Hite provided a Q&A for STR’s clients regarding the release of STR Benchmarking:
When will my company be upgraded to the new product?
“We are implementing an aggressive timeline and upgrading clients in waves over the remainder of this year. In addition to our product pilot companies, we have focused our initial migration waves toward management and ownership companies, which will get property-level users working in the product first and create a more seamless process when brand users are migrated. If you have not yet heard from STR specific to your upgrade timeline, you are at least a few months away.”
How long will my reports continue in their current form?
“Until you have been upgraded to STR Benchmarking, there is no timeline for a change with the reports you receive. Once you are in the new product, there will be a 30-day overlap period when STAR, Bandwidth, RPM, etc. are still delivered as legacy reports. Corporate Reports, Data Files, P&L and Forward STAR will continue to be delivered as separate reports until that functionality is released in STR Benchmarking.”
How do I control my users?
“Distribution lists will no longer define access to STR. Rather, access will be managed through licenses. Users can only be assigned one license type, and STR will provide enough licenses to migrate all existing users. We will discuss future licensing with you individually.”
Will STAR Reports still be emailed?
“We are modernizing the entire process, including the distribution of STAR Reports. Email is not the most secure and efficient way to transfer proprietary data. Once in the new product, you will receive email notifications when new data is available for you to view and download within the software.”
Will anything change with competitive sets?
“Yes, management of comp sets will look different and include dynamic, self-service functionality that eliminates the need to work through STR’s Client Services team. You will control access via permissions for which users can edit and create comp sets. Updated search functions and in-software isolation checks will expedite the process. And, multiple sets can be created and shared with third parties at no additional cost.”
Will my data remain confidential?
“While STR Benchmarking presents a substantial change in how the industry consumes its performance intelligence, there is no change in STR’s renowned standards for data confidentiality, security and service. Those standards are met through robust data validation, relationship databases and enhanced property isolation checks.”
Are training resources available?
“When STR reaches out to discuss your upgrade timeline, we will walk you through a full demo and answer immediate questions. Additionally, all our training will be automated throughout the software. Our pilot users have confirmed the ease of use, helpful nature of guides and tutorials, and an overwhelmingly positive product experience.”
What happens to reports used by non-hotel clients, such as investors, developers, destinations, etc.?
“We will continue to serve non-benchmarking clients through a combination of STR legacy reports and CoStar’s offering. CoStar is the solution of the future for this client type with hospitality and commercial real estate insights in one product.”
Last month, STR launched the forward-looking component of its product “Forward STAR” in 104 new markets/submarkets across the U.S. and Canada. Forward STAR, which is presently live in 450 areas around the globe, allows hotel property and portfolio users to benchmark the next 365 days of occupancy on the books against the competition and market.
