What is peak season?
Before we get into the cure, let’s look at the diagnosis. Peak season, busy season – whatever you want to call it, most hospitality businesses have one (or more), though it may differ depending on your property type, location and business goals.
It’s that time of the year when demand is highest and occupancy rates rocket (and hopefully RevPAM with it), whether for a period of months, weeks or even a short burst over a few days. This period may also require additional staffing – unless you use technology to streamline operations.
When is busy season for hotels?
Most typically, busy season is during summer months (and in particular during school holidays), and busy periods will coincide with local events, whether that’s a sports tournament, a week-long spectacle like Eurovision, or when a huge tour comes to town – Taylor Swift, we’re looking at you.
Of course, there are plenty of exceptions. Ski resorts and similar destinations might peak during the winter months, and the time around Christmas and New Year typically sees the highest daily rates of the year.
Strategies to manage your property during busy season
There are plenty of steps any hospitality business can take to ensure they excel during busy season. Here are ten of them.
1. Rate automation
An increase in demand is great, but it’s even better if you can convert that demand into even more revenue. Rate automation means you can set your parameters to maximize room rate based on demand. You should be able to do this directly within your property management system (PMS), while specialist revenue management tools will use algorithms based on shifting factors like competitor pricing and historical data.
2. Self-service solutions for check-in and check-out
Busy periods don’t have to translate to bigger lines at reception. Give guests the option of how to check in and check out. It could be online check-in or a self-serve kiosk in your lobby, or even both. Whatever you choose, it will help guests get to their rooms faster and reduce the strain on front desk staff.
3. Dashboards and timelines for quick view of rooms and reservations
Don’t make your staff navigate between multiple tabs to find the essential information they need. Choose a PMS with an easy-to-use dashboard or reservations timeline that they can see what they need to at a glance, meaning guests don’t have to stand around and your team has more time to engage more meaningfully.
4. Mobile housekeeping updates
An app is essential for an efficient, modern housekeeping operation. It means your housekeeping team can update room status as soon as they’ve finished with the room, which then automatically updates in the PMS. No need to distract reception with phone calls, and no need to wait until the end of the shift to update room status in batch. Plus, it gives you more opportunity to offer early check-ins.
5. Fast staff onboarding
If you do need to onboard new staff during a busy period, you need to be able to do so as quickly and efficiently as possible. Choose a PMS that’s easy to learn, with comprehensive self-guided training that doesn’t require your existing team members to take lots of time out of their busy day.
6. Digital upsells
Let’s talk about maximizing revenue again. More guests means more opportunity to upsell and cross-sell, so you’ll need a way to seamlessly include this into your guest journey. Don’t just leave it to your front desk staff who may feel too rushed to do so – incorporate upselling earlier in the journey, during booking and online check-in. Once they’re onsite, kiosks and in-stay messaging provide more opportunities.
7. Intuitive booking engine
Speaking of booking, make sure your property is primed to receive direct bookings. The higher proportion of guests you convert on your own website, the smaller the amount of commission you’ll need to pay to online travel agencies (OTAs). Customize yourbooking engine so it’s on brand, with compelling imagery and descriptions. Here’s where you can also make upsells and take secure payments, on desktop or on mobile.
8. Multi-property booking engine
If there’s more than one property in your brand, use your booking engine to showcase your other accommodation. That way, if a guest chooses dates that are all booked out, you can smoothly suggest the same dates at an alternate hotel.
9. Secure payments
When time is tight, the last thing you want is to spend hours chasing payments or taking manual card details. Choose a platform with fully integrated payments so that you know that every guest payment is secure, and so you take payments with a single click throughout their stay.
10. Connected point-of-sale for F&B
An integrated POS solution is also a valuable time saver during your busiest periods. Options like digital ordering cut down on wait times for guests, while live inventory helps you keep track of what’s available. When it comes to payment, make sure the check can be charged directly to the guest’s profile in the PMS.
How Mews helps with busy season
This article covers the theory; how would you like to see it work in practice? From a digital guest journey to single click space optimization, Mews is packed with timesaving, revenue-raising features to help your property excel during busy season.
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