As of today and according to our Business Intelligence tool DataHotel…

Hotel sales in December and January for stays between June and the end of August are higher than in the same period last year. In other words, people are booking up. And so far, cancellations for the whole of 2021 are minimal. So there is not a rush of panic cancellations and people are simply waiting to see if they can finally travel. What seems clear is that they intend to do so, circumstances permitting.

In terms of consumer purchasing behaviour, analysed with data from all hotels connected to Dingus:

• Room for two adults is the most frequently booked occupancy: 5%.
• 6-12 months is the most common advance purchase: 9%.
• 5-7 nights is the most frequently booked minimum stay: 5%.

All this information constitutes a certainty. It can change, yes, but it provides a picture on which we can design a strategy. It is a question of adapting to each scenario, not wasting any opportunity.

And here we agree with Booking.com, with whom we have offered our joint customers the webinar on help in dealing with distribution in uncertain times. The platform summarises its suggestions in three aspects:

1.- what we do now has an impact. We must take advantage of the predisposition of a customer who is still willing to travel as soon as they can.

2.- Increase visibility on mobile devices with a clear distribution strategy. Nowadays, one out of every three users who start a search on Booking.com on their mobile device ends up buying on their PC. It is possible that the consolidation of the sale after the search is immediate in the mobile environment with specific, dynamic and adaptable/revisable campaigns at all times.

3.- the customer expects security and flexibility of payment

Bookincenter’s plus for increased visibility

We recommend tactics to the hotel such as having loaded rates. If we know how far in advance the client is booking, we can, for example, have an early booking linked to the booking window for those dates with the discount we want to apply.

On non-refundable rates, which the hotelier has now ‘parked’ for a while, we can take advantage of the moment to give them a promotional attraction. Above all, bearing in mind that Booking.com is now accepting date changes for this type of rate…

And managing quotas well is still essential… All these alternatives are available to you on our business platform. Find out more about what Abigail Hernandorena, Customer Services Specialist de Dingus & Lluís Fuster, Senior Account Manager de Booking.com explained by contacting us and be sure to get ready for tomorrow, when we see the light again.