Previous booked hotels11/22/2023 ![]() The second mistake is not considering the active distance to date when trying to sell rooms at the last minute. By selling all your rooms in advance at a “reduced” price, you eliminate an opportunity to increase turnover during the most profitable period of the year. During your busiest season, the demand for rooms increases while their availability decreases.Īs long as you leave some rooms free to sell closer to the time, you can afford to up your prices and increase your margins in the meantime. If you've been fully booked for months, during the busiest period of the year, then you’re leaving money on the table. The first mistake is to sell all the rooms too early. Now that you understand what the booking window is, it’s crucial to understand two revenue-losing mistakes properties make when trying to leverage it. Two serious risks of ignoring the booking window However, for guests that live on the other side of the world (and have to board multiple planes to get to you) their active distance is longer and their booking window is proportionally longer-ending a few days before the vacation start date. As a result, the booking window can last up to the very morning of their first night’s stay. If your guests live within a few hours' drive of your hotel, then the active distance is very small. This parameter indicates the time it takes guests to travel from their home to your property. However, if the game is part of a knockout tournament and your local team qualified just a few weeks ago, expect a rapid and unseasonal surge in demand!įor areas where bookings are highly sensitive to weather conditions, the booking window can be very small as people wait until the last minute before booking-generally to make sure they know what weather to expect.įresh alpine powder in February might have a negligible effect on the booking window (since skiers generally expect snow on the slopes in February) whereas a sudden rush of snowfall in November might induce last-minute bookings. If this match is scheduled (and tickets sold) months in advance, it’s likely that most of your bookings will also be made months in advance. Imagine a major football match takes place in your town, with tens of thousands of fans looking for a place to stay. Here are the biggest factors to consider:Īn unexpected event in your area could easily spike demand and cause a very different booking window to what you’d usually expect. Some of these factors can’t be predicted year-on-year, which makes them even more relevant. Of course in today’s market you can obtain this information instantly through your channel manager or your “reserved” area on OTAs.īear in mind that OTAs like and AirBnb only show you the booking window for reservations made on their platform-you should always compare this data with your other booking channels to get a 360o picture.Īlso consider that, although these tools generate a booking window automatically, there are several elements which influence the window elements you still need to understand in order to perform revenue management effectively. ![]() To calculate the booking window, take an average of your booking history by looking at previous years and seeing how far in advance you received the majority of your bookings for a given period. Without a firm booking window, you risk costly mistakes and leaving customers (and turnover) on the table. Knowing the booking window therefore allows you to raise or lower your rates with confidence. Similarly, after this booking phase the number of available rooms has decreased, demand therefore increases and you can afford to raise the prices even more. Prior to this period, there is less demand and raising the price would mean alienating those customers who are looking for advantageous prices. Since there will be so many people booking at this time, and thus a greater demand for rooms, this is a good time to raise your rates. ![]() This means that those staying with you on August 10th will likely book around May 10th. Imagine that the busiest period of the year for your property is the week beginning August 10th, and that the booking window for that period is 3 months. Good revenue management means selling at the right price at the right time, and it’s the booking window that tells us when exactly this moment falls. Knowing how far in advance your customers generally book allows you to increase the price of your rooms at the optimum time, for maximum profit. ![]()
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