Building a Culture of Data-Driven Hospitality: F&B, Spa & Golf Departments

With mounting pressure on profit margins, leaders across hotel companies are forced to make critical labor, pricing, and guest-experience decisions that will affect long-term asset value.  

Fortunately, there is more data available today than ever before to ensure each department is empowered to make smarter, profit-focused decisions. The real challenge isn’t a lack of data – it’s that most organizations are drowning in it.  

This blog series was built to help each department identify the data that matters most to them. When hoteliers work from role-specific, trusted insights, they can make decisions faster with greater confidence. Earlier in this series, we explored aligning data and metrics in the Operations, Finance Department, and Commercial Strategy departments: 

• Building a Culture of Data-Driven Hospitality: Operations Department 
• Building a Culture of Data-Driven Hospitality: Accounting & Finance Departments 
• Building a Culture of Data-Driven Hospitality: Commercial Strategy Teams 

Today, we turn our attention to what are commonly referred to as the “ancillary revenue” departments – such as F&B, spa, and golf – or any revenue stream outside of overnight stays. Here, today’s leaders are taking a more holistic approach of measuring guest spend across the property, not just in rooms, and making operational decisions around ensuring profitability across each department. 

F&B, Spa & Golf: Driving Profit Through Experience 

Food & beverage, spa, and golf are often described as “amenities,” but in many properties – especially resorts – they are major profit centers. These departments typically have high fixed and variable costs: labor, product, utilities, and space. They also have a unique ability to influence guest satisfaction and loyalty. 

Historically, many hotels have treated F&B and other outlets as supportive functions rather than strategic profit drivers. Decisions about menus, operating hours, and staffing were often based on tradition or anecdote (“we’ve always done it this way”) rather than data. Today, POS and booking platforms generate rich data on guest spend, menu performance, reservations, and guest behavior that can be harnessed to drive both revenue and profit.  

Ancillary departments often offer quick wins for profit improvement. You can test a menu price change, spa package, or tee-time strategy and see results in days or weeks – if you have the data and analytics to measure impact quickly and adjust. 

What Data is Most Important for Ancillary Revenue Teams?

For F&B, spa, and golf leaders, the most important data helps answer: 

1. What are guests buying, when, and at what margin? 
2. How effectively are we using our people, space, and inventory? 
3. Which experiences actually drive loyalty and profit? 

Key data sets include: 

POS data:

• Sales by item, category, server, daypart, and outlet 
• Checks per cover and average check 
• Cost of goods sold and margin per item 
• Discounts, voids, and promotions 

• Reservations vs. walk-ins 
• No-show and cancellation rates 
• Table and treatment room utilization by time of day and day of week 
• Lead times and booking patterns 

• Hours worked by outlet, role, and daypart 
• Revenue per labor hour and per employee 
• Overtime and productivity measures 

• Repeat visits and spend per guest 
• Preferences (e.g., favorite dishes, wine choices, spa treatments) 
• Feedback and satisfaction scores tied to specific outlets or services 

Combined, this data allows outlet managers to: 

• Identify high- and low-margin items and services 
• Understand demand patterns and adjust hours of operation 
• Optimize staffing to match revenue opportunities 
• Design promotions and packages that drive profitable behavior rather than discount-driven volume 

How F&B Teams Use Data to Drive Profit 

• Menu engineering and price optimization. Using POS data, F&B leaders can perform menu engineering – classifying items as stars (high profit, high popularity), plow-horses (popular, low margin), puzzles (high margin, low popularity), and dogs (low margin, low popularity).  
• Dynamic outlet profitability and operating hours. By measuring GOP by day of week and time of day, managers can identify where outlets are truly profitable and where they are losing money.  
• Team member coaching and performance management. Server- or bartender-level data on average check, upsell performance, and tip percentage allows managers to identify top performers and replicate their behaviors through training. 
• Forecasting demand and reducing waste. By combining reservations and POS history with demand indicators (events, weather, holidays), F&B teams can more accurately forecast covers and sales by daypart.  

How Spa Teams Use Data to Drive Profit 

• Optimize opening times and capacity. Spa demand often peaks around specific times (late afternoon, weekends, event days). By analyzing booking patterns, average treatment length, and occupancy of treatment rooms, spa leaders can adjust opening hours to match demand. 
• Measure treatment and therapist performance. Data on treatment type, price, duration, and rebooking allows spas to identify high-margin, high-demand treatments to feature in marketing. 
• Link performance to guest satisfaction. When spa performance data is combined with guest feedback, leaders can see how specific treatments or team members influence NPS or GSS scores – and adjust training and service accordingly. 

How Golf Teams Use Data to Drive Profit 

• Dynamic tee-time pricing. Golf demand varies by time of day, day of week, season, and event. Using tee-sheet data and revenue analytics, course managers can increase rates during high-demand windows and offer value pricing during slower periods. 
• Evaluate golfer profitability and packaging strategies. By linking tee-time spend with F&B, retail, and lodging data, resorts can compare the profitability of different golfer segments. 
• Optimize retail and clubhouse operations. Sales data by time of day and product category helps clubhouse leaders stock the right items and staff appropriately.  

Subscribe here to receive each installment of this series as we go around the hotel and identify the right data for Operations, Accounting & Finance, Commercial Strategy, F&B, Spa, Golf, and Ownership & Asset Management.