The best partnerships don’t start with a sales pitch. They start with trust.
We recently went live on LinkedIn with the TrackMyShuttle team to share how our new partnership came together, featuring a conversation between Ocra CEO and Co-Founder Ethan Glass and TrackMyShuttle CEO and Co-Founder Bhavin Parikh.
While the partnership itself is new, the relationship behind it is not. Ethan and Bhavin built trust long before business was ever part of the equation.
“You’re someone I can trust. You’re someone that I know others trust. And we’re able to build a friendship and relationship that came before the business side of it.” – Ethan Glass, CEO & Co-Founder, Ocra
That shared alignment paved the way for a collaboration focused on three core industry themes:
- Hospitality Market Pressures: Navigating the “margin squeeze” facing hotel owners and operators
- Incremental Revenue: Moving beyond room rates to unlock new growth
- The Traveler Journey: Reimagining the airport parking and shuttle experience for guest and non-guest customers
Hospitality Market Pressures
Hoteliers are currently being squeezed from both ends. Flat or declining RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) is meeting a wall of rising labor, insurance, and operating costs.
With RevPaAR growth slowing and demand becoming increasingly volatile, focusing solely on optimizing room revenue is no longer a sustainable path to profitability.
Compounding this, ongoing staffing shortages are forcing properties to do more with less, stretching teams thin, pulling staff away from high-value tasks, and too often compromising the guest experience.
The result? A widening gap between revenue and actual profit.
That’s why the industry conversation is shifting – ancillary revenue is no longer a nice-to-have, but a key driver of margin growth.
Driving Incremental Revenue
Parking and shuttle operations are often treated as cost centers. But in reality, they’re massively underutilized assets with high margin potential.
“I call it free money. If you’re already sitting on parking and shuttle assets, utilize them.” – Bhavin Parikh, CEO & Co-Founder of TrackMyShuttle
Parking is a perishable asset. If a space sits empty today, that revenue is lost tomorrow.
By selling excess inventory to non-guests via Ocra’s platform and using dynamic pricing during peak periods, owners can transform empty parking spaces into significant NOI and top-line revenue.
And for hotel owners and operators already running shuttles, this incremental parking revenue can offset operating costs, effectively making the shuttle pay for itself.
Solving the Uncertainty Gap in the Traveler Journey
For parking customers, a key part of their travel day journey is using parking OTAs like SpotHero, Airport Parking Reservations, etc. to pre-book airport parking. Ocra helps hotels near airports with extra parking available become part of the supply for that demand.
Another critical travel day moment is securing transportation from the parking lot to the terminal. TrackMyShuttle removes friction by giving guests real-time visibility into their shuttle ride directly from their phones, and that transparency has helped drive a remarkable 98.9% customer satisfaction rating.
When you combine Ocra’s revenue management with TrackMyShuttle’s real-time transit data, the result is a seamless “white glove” experience that boosts the top line while reducing operational expenses and decreasing the burden on hotel staff.
To learn more about how ancillary parking revenue can increase NOI and drive top-line revenue for your airport hotel locations, visit our website, connect with us on LinkedIn, or email info@getocra.com.
