When CTA aka “closed to arrival” is set for a date, a guest can not book this date if their stay begins on this date.
If their stay includes this date, but does not begin on it – then it would be bookable when the customer is searching for available stays.
An example would be if you only wanted arrivals allowed on Friday, you would set the other days of the week to CTA, this would prevent any arrivals on days other than Friday.
TL;DR Max LOS, also referred to as “maximum nights on arrival,” activates on the arrival date of the guest’s stay. For instance, let’s consider the 10th of the month has a Max LOS restriction of 3 nights. If a guest searches for a stay from the 10th to the 14th, a 4-night stay, the booking option will not show as available because the search exceeds the maximum number of nights restriction. However, if the guest looks for a stay from the 10th to the 13th, a 3-night stay, the booking will show as available since it adheres to the Max LOS restriction.
In the ever-evolving domain of hospitality management, understanding and effectively implementing booking restrictions is pivotal to optimizing room occupancy and revenue. Among the array of booking restrictions, Maximum Length of Stay (Max LOS) holds a significant spot. This restriction ensures that a stay is bookable only if it is equal to or less than the stipulated maximum number of nights. Implementing this restriction smartly can aid in achieving a balanced room occupancy, ensuring a steady revenue stream, and enhancing guest satisfaction. Optimized Room Turnover By setting a Max LOS, hoteliers can optimize room turnover, especially during peak seasons or special events, ensuring a higher number of guests can be accommodated over a specific period. Revenue Management This restriction aids in revenue management by potentially maximizing revenue during high-demand periods. It also helps in setting dynamic pricing strategies based on the length of stay. Enhanced Operational Efficiency Predictable guest turnover allows for better operational planning, from housekeeping schedules to inventory management, leading to enhanced operational efficiency. Flexibility in Booking Max LOS provides a level of flexibility, enabling hotels to offer rooms for shorter stays, thereby attracting a broader spectrum of guests.
Analyzing Demand Understanding the demand is the first step. Analyzing historical booking data, understanding peak and off-peak periods, and evaluating the average length of stay can provide valuable insights. Dynamic Restrictions Implementing dynamic Max LOS restrictions based on real-time demand and other market factors can be a game-changer. This requires a robust Property Management System (PMS) or a Channel Manager with dynamic pricing capabilities. Clear Communication It’s crucial to communicate the Max LOS restrictions clearly on the booking platform to avoid guest dissatisfaction. Ensuring that the terms and conditions are easily accessible and understandable will enhance the guest booking experience. Monitoring and Adjusting Regular monitoring and adjusting of the Max LOS restrictions based on current data and market conditions is crucial for maintaining optimal occupancy and revenue. Utilizing Technology Employing sophisticated technology like a channel manager or a PMS with analytic capabilities can automate much of the process, making it easier to manage and adjust Max LOS restrictions efficiently.
The Maximum Length of Stay restriction is a powerful tool in the arsenal of a hotelier aiming for optimized room occupancy and revenue management. When employed judiciously and managed effectively with the help of modern technological tools, it can significantly contribute to a hotel’s success. It’s about striking the right balance – ensuring rooms are optimally occupied while providing guests with flexible booking options. In a competitive market, understanding and leveraging booking restrictions like Max LOS could very well be the differentiator that propels a hotel to higher profitability.
A hotel’s allocation is the number of rooms a hotel has available to sell.
Example: If a 100 room hotel has 25 rooms reserved for the 10th, this means they have an “allocation” of 75 rooms left to sell via walk-ins or their online distribution channels.
A hotel distribution channel is an intermediary or company that creates the reservation on behalf of the hotel. Another way to look at a channel is a specific stream of booking revenue for a property. A third-party sales website like Expedia.com or Booking.com could be refereed to as channel by the hotel.
When a hotel is utilizing multiple online distribution channels, they will use a channel manager to manage them. While there are many benefits to using a channel manager to control your hotel distribution channels, the main one is to be able to manage all of the channels in group instead of managing each channel’s extranet separately. Other channel manager features include connecting your PMS to be able to automatically update ARI information, and electronically place reservations from the channel into the PMS.
When CTD aka “closed to departure” is set for a date, a guest can not book this date if their stay ends on this date.
If their stay includes this date, but does not end on it – then it would be bookable when the customer is searching for available stays.
An example would be if you only wanted departures allowed on Sunday, you would set the other days of the week to CTD, this would prevent any departures on days other than Sunday.
Cut Off Days (or sometimes also called Cut Off Hours or Cut Off Date) allows inventory to be closed out, or appear unavailable to the customer, starting at a certain number of days before an arrival date.
For example, if a guest wants to book a reservation for tomorrow, and tomorrow’s cut off days is set to 2, it would not show as available to book to the guest since it was not booked at least 2 days prior to the arrival date.
If cut off days is set to 2 for a date 7 days from now, it would appear as available, as the guest is searching for availability prior to the 2 days before arrival mark. They are searching 7 days before arrival, which is outside of the cut off days of 2.
A hotel brand is referred to as the hotel chain (such as Holiday Inn, or Hilton) that a hotel joins with. A hotel can change their brand (i.e. switch from a Hilton to a Holiday Inn) during the course of the lifetime of the hotel.
This can also be know as “switching a hotel’s flag” as well.