How do hotels with last-minute deals and other tricks improve hotel bookings?

Sometimes, trips are planned unexpectedly, and travelers are looking for hotels with last-minute deals.

Researchers from Hotel.com find out that 50 percent of crowds book rooms from their cell phones.

Either for the next day or at the last minute.

Similarly, 30 percent of searches on Online Travel Agent (OTA) mobile websites are for bookings on the same day or the next day.

Hence, it is crucial to plan deals for the last minute that entices potential guests to book rooms from their hotel.

Hotels with last-minute deals can easily reduce the chances of losses occurring from rooms remaining unoccupied and vacant.

Why you should consider giving deals for Last-minute bookings?

They are beneficial for both guests as well as hotels. For guests, it’s a chance to book rooms at lower prices.

And for hotels, it represents an opportunity to maximize the occupancy of the rooms. But to make it possible, you need the right technology.

Otherwise, you may face the issue of over-booking. Hence, use technologies like Property Management System, and Channel Manager.

The negative impact of the offer

One backdrop of such an offer is that many guests will wait for such discounts and offers.

Thus, creating an unnecessary surge in last-minute bookings, leading to a loss in revenue.

Apart from this, there will be a huge drop in bookings, raising concerns among hoteliers.

Lastly, many guests cancel their pre-existent bookings and create new bookings at the last minute for subsequent lower rates.

To tackle this creates cancellation policies smartly and keep only a limited number of rooms for last-minute offers.

Moreover, you can also give this offer to a specific customer group.

Let’s look at what hotels can offer and tricks to implement to maximize bookings:

Discount/ offers on rates on hotels with last-minute deals

Create discounted rates, after analyzing expenses incurring and to be incurred and the revenue you will generate.

Even if there is less probability of generating profit, even then allow room bookings.

Because no profit is always better than incurring losses.

Hence, to allow people to book from your hotel at the last minute, create a booking window.

And keep its deadline of 24-48 hours with an offer on the room rates.

For instance, leisure or business travelers book a room on 19th April 2022 for the 20th of April 2022.

Then, here you can offer them a discount of 25 % on the booking amount.

Now, it’s time for making potential guests aware of the offers you are providing on rates.

Hence, create a buzz through sharing details of offers on social media, email newsletters, and paid ads.

Assure your audience that low rates don’t affect the quality of services that you are providing.

Moreover, allow people to stay only for 2 or 3 nights at such rates, so that their longer stays don’t impact your revenue.

Check that your last-minute rate does not result in the cancellation of previous reservations.

Work on SEO

To market, you have to showcase the offer in this digital era.

With a good SEO strategy, you can reach your target audience easily.

Use keywords like ‘Click here to know hotels with last-minute deals.”

Paid advertisements

Make use of advertisements to appear on the top of SERP when someone searches for hotels with last-minute deals.

You may use Google Adwords to develop a last-minute special landing page.

You will be able to direct folks from the Google search page to your website using this method.

Make last-minute offers on OTA’s and other platforms

Research, it finds out that before the pandemic, on average 148.3 million hotel bookings were made every year.

Out of these, approx 80 percent of bookings are from OTA apps and hotel websites.

Hence, promote your last-minute offers across online booking platforms.

Consider creating ad campaigns around your last-minute specials and offers, and consider paying to be at the top of the OTA search.

Don’t forget to implement these offers on your website also

It is always preferable to fill your rooms at the expense of OTA revenue than to leave them vacant.

Consider the OTA commission when determining the discounted rate with your revenue management team.

Work with a channel manager to ensure real-time distribution on connected OTAs.

Weekend combo offers in hotels with last-minute deals

Corporate professionals, families, students, friends, and almost everyone plans for weekend trips.

Hence, don’t miss this opportunity and make the most of it.

Simply, reduce your cut-off period and create a few weekend offers on different room types.

Afterward, as said earlier, you must start the promotion in advance.

Hence, after creating an offer, increase their visibility.

Promote them, as the name of exclusive deals for loyalty program members.

Invest in Revenue Management Services

You can hire a revenue management service provider if you’re having trouble deciding what kind of promotions to offer.

They’d do a full examination of your property’s characteristics, guest booking trends, and other relevant elements. They will advise you on the finest offers to generate based on an audit report without jeopardizing your revenue generation.

Once you’ve created last-minute offerings, market them using email, social media, and WhatsApp, among other methods.

Travel Agents

Travel agents have access to different tools, that people who are working in a different field or we can say customers don’t have.

Through these tools, you can get a better room, extra amenities, plan activities, and so on at hotels.

Travel agents are frequently contacted about last-minute group bookings

Or events with a large number of people. If you have rooms available on any given day, contact travel agencies.

If they have a last-minute booking open for that day, you can share your best offer and take advantage of the situation.

Conclusion

Last-minute bookings present a bigger chance for hotels to sell their unoccupied rooms, right up the last minute.

Hence, provide guests with last-minute deals to grab the opportunity and maximize occupancy as much as possible.

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