What should be done to reduce booking cancellations and last minute no shows

As an hotelier, it is already a tough job to gather maximum bookings after investing in marketing campaigns. And to add to this situation they have to face the booking cancellations and last-minute no-shows.

One thing to consider is that if there are a higher number of bookings then there are also higher chances of canceled reservations as well. Such circumstances seriously damage the bottom line of the hotel. The worst part is it is even more difficult to find a substitute for last minute booking cancellations.

Some cancellations occur due to some genuine reasons from guests. But most of the time guests are looking for better deals, and when they find one they cancellations happen.

Whatever the reasons maybe either you have to bear the loss due to these cancellations or you can opt for methods that make it possible for you to regain the loss.

Some of the ways to reduce last minute no-shows and reservation cancellations are:

 

If you are dealing with OTAs then they have their own non-refundable cancellation policies. In order to save yourself, you must develop cancellation policies.

There are two benefits, one is that travelers will cancel up to a certain date that will give you enough time to replace the reservation. Second is if the traveler cancels after a certain date you can either charge a standard cancellation fee or get the full payment of the reservation.

 

Many hotels collect advance payment as a minimum deposit to confirm the reservation. It is either a fixed amount or a percentage of the booking cost.

Therefore, it is a common tactic used by hotels to minimize cancellations. This keeps you in the strong position. Why? Because the guest will consider the fact that as he has paid some amount, then canceling won’t be a good idea after all.

 

Guests love to have discounts and like other hotels, you too can offer such deals to get confirmed bookings. Once the guest confirms his arrival date you can provide him the discount.

Promote the offer on your website and social media about discounts to those guests who make confirmed reservations at your hotel. This will attract a lot of attention of travelers searching for great deals on hotel bookings.

 

When guests make reservations through OTAs, they also get the option to “Pay at hotel”. So you are likely to get calls from guests who would like to inquire about their bookings.

Use this opportunity to send them a confirmation email with a payment link. Then the customer will be able to pay an amount as per his convenience to secure the booking.

In this way, you can also collect the advance payment to confirm the reservation. Thus online payment link can be used whenever you wish to collect payment from guest no matter where the bookings are coming from.

 

Consequently, these simple techniques will assist you in reducing last-minute cancellations and at the same opportunity to boost chances of confirmed bookings.