Net Revenue in Hotel RFPs (Plain English Definition + Examples)

Definition

Net revenue in a hotel MICE context is the contracted spend after concessions, rebates, service charges, and taxes have been removed — used by some planners as the calculation base for attrition and other variable fees.

In European MICE sourcing, net revenue sits inside a broader workflow that includes the brief, the longlist, the shortlist, the contract negotiation, and the post-event reconciliation. Understanding it in isolation is not enough — what matters is how it interacts with the other levers a planner can pull. The definition above is the textbook version; the sections below explain how it actually behaves in real RFPs.

Why Net Revenue matters

Net revenue benefits the planner whenever it's the calculation base for variable fees — attrition, cancellation penalties, F&B short-pay. Hotels prefer gross because it inflates the base. Push for net wherever the fee is the planner's exposure (attrition, cancellation); accept gross where the base benefits planner (commissionable rate calculations).

Example

Contracted gross revenue €99,600. Concessions €5,400, service charge already netted out. Net revenue = €94,200. Attrition fee at 50% on net = €47,100 base × hypothetical 10% unmet rooms = €4,710. Same fee on gross = €4,980. Net saves €270 here, more on larger events.

Where Net Revenue appears in contracts

Net revenue definitions in the definitions section — read alongside gross revenue. The contract should be internally consistent (all variable fees on the same base) — flag inconsistencies in the redline.

Related terms

Deeper reading