One thing all hoteliers have in common is the desire to sell rooms. All of their marketing efforts are aimed at putting heads in beds and growing their revenue because room nights are a perishable commodity- every unoccupied room is revenue that cannot be made back. Even with enough reservations to fill a hotel, there are always last-minute cancellations or no-shows. Because of this it’s common practice for hotels to purposefully oversell on busy nights. Of course this may prove to be risky if everyone shows up, but playing these odds can be profitable.
It’s important for a hotelier or revenue manager to know their average cancellation and no-show rate if they are going to purposefully oversell their property.
via The Art of Overbooking – E-Marketing Associates – Online Marketing Products for Independent Hotels.
