Most owners who want more occupancy reach for a discount. It works, in a way: more rooms sell. But a discount on every night also gives money away on the nights that would have sold anyway. The better question is not how to fill more rooms. It is which nights stay empty, and why.
First, Find the Empty Nights
Occupancy for the month hides the problem. Look at it per date, per day of the week and per room type, for the last twelve months and for what is on the books now.
- Which days of the week stay weak?
- Which months, and which room types, sell last?
- How far ahead do your guests book in each season?
- Where are you behind last year on the books?
The answer decides the fix. Empty Sundays need a different lever than an empty February.
What We Find Before a First Call
Before every first call, we look at the property’s prices, rates and listings. These are the issues we found most often in the last 11 properties we analysed:
| What we found | Properties (of 11) |
|---|---|
| One price for weeks at a time | 9 |
| Calendar not open far enough ahead | 9 |
| No non-refundable rate | 7 |
| Rates by number of guests that shut out couples | 4 |
| Room types that do not match the rooms | 4 |
None of these needs a discount to fix. Each one costs bookings every week it stays.
Nine Ways to Raise Occupancy Without Cutting Prices
1. Price Each Date by Demand
One price for weeks sells the busy nights too cheap and the quiet nights too dear. Price each date and room type by demand, and move it as the date fills or stays slow. That is live dynamic pricing: in low demand a lower price fills rooms, in high demand the rate does the work. More in How Dynamic Pricing Works in Hospitality.
2. Open Your Calendar Far Ahead
Early bookers cannot book dates that are not open. Booking.com lets you add dates up to 24 months ahead (see Booking.com Ranking). Keep rates and availability live at least six months ahead, better twelve, and check the far dates for events, so a congress night is not sold at the low-season rate.
3. Use Stay Rules Instead of Discounts
A two-night minimum on a strong Saturday brings guests for the Friday or the Sunday too. Set minimum stays by date, not for the whole year, and open them when a single night is left between two bookings, or that night stays empty. Offers for three or seven nights fill quiet nights without lowering the rate on busy ones. See The Most Common Revenue Management Mistake.
4. Offer the Rate Types Guests Look For
A non-refundable rate at a small discount wins guests who are sure of their plans, and the money is safe. Room only and with breakfast, side by side, let guests choose. Rates by number of guests should give couples and single travellers a fair price, not only families.
5. Be Where Your Guests Book
For most hotels that means Booking.com, Expedia and your own website, plus Agoda, Trip.com or Airbnb, depending on the market and the property. Check where your guests come from, and what each channel costs in net revenue, before you open a new one. Our Online Distribution Management covers this.
6. Fix What Stops People Booking
Many views and few bookings point to the listing: weak photos, wrong room names or mapping, rate types guests do not want, or a minimum stay that blocks common searches. Fix the content and the conversion follows. See Hotel Photos That Sell.
7. Make Your Own Website Easy to Book
Your website is the channel with no commission. Guests who find you on an OTA often check it before they book. If the booking engine is slow, hard to use on a phone, or shows a higher price, they go back to the OTA, or to a competitor. More on hotel websites.
8. Fill the Low Season With the Right Guests
Quiet months need their own plan: long stays, corporate and project business, groups, past guests, and promotions aimed at the guests who travel then. We cover it in How to Fill Your Hotel in Low Season.
9. Check the Pace Every Week
Compare what is on the books with last year and with your forecast, date by date. A date that is behind needs action now, not in the week before arrival. Pickup, Pace and Forecast shows how we read it.
A Discount for Everyone, or Only Where It Helps?
A 20-room hotel has 140 room nights to sell in a week. It sells 101 of them at 110 EUR on average. The owner wants ten more room nights a week. Two ways to get them:
| Today | 15% off every night | 15% off only the extra nights | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Room nights sold | 101 | 111 | 111 |
| Occupancy | 72.1% | 79.3% | 79.3% |
| ADR (EUR) | 110.00 | 93.50 | 108.51 |
| Room revenue (EUR) | 11,110 | 10,379 | 12,045 |
| RevPAR (EUR) | 79.36 | 74.13 | 86.04 |
Same occupancy. One way earns 6.6% less than today, with ten more rooms to clean. The other earns 8.4% more. The difference is who gets the discount: every guest, or only the guests you would not have had otherwise.
In practice, some guests who would have paid the full price will find a targeted offer too. That is why it comes with conditions: certain dates, a minimum stay, or a non-refundable rate.
Occupancy Is Not the Goal
High occupancy is good news only at the right price. If your weekends are full months ahead, you are probably too cheap on those dates (see Sold Out Six Months Ahead Is Not a Win). Judge the result by RevPAR and net revenue, not by occupancy alone. Occupancy, ADR and RevPAR explains why.
Filling the right nights at the right price is the core of our Revenue & Pricing Management. Want to know which nights your property leaves empty, and why? Book a free Performance Assessment Call.