Cancellations increase each year and have become one of the\nbiggest problems faced by a hotel. Specifically, last year in Barcelona, they\nshot up by 50% in the last months of 2017. They have now begun to stabilise,\nbut the figures continue to be critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the most common strategic errors, given this\nsituation, is to assume a high level of cancellations and make decisions on\nthat basis. Another is the contention that cancellations do not involve any\nproblem for the business, either at cost level or organisational level.
\nIt is not only important to take the consequences of a high level of\ncancellations on board. It is also important to implement strategies aimed at\ncombating and preventing this kind of behaviour by customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is the reason for the increase in cancellations?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On-line bookings are increasingly popular as they simplify\nbooking and make cancellations easy. This pushes the customer to book\nimpulsively or pre-emptively, which has a negative effect on hotels.\nFurthermore, the option of free-of-charge cancellation also tempts the customer\nto book several hotels and then, later, choose the cheapest one. In fact, the\nnumber of cancellations via OTA, such as Booking or Expedia, are much higher\nthan those over the actual hotel web sites, and exceed them by some 104%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nevertheless, OTA are just a gateway for the customer.\nBookings and cancellations policies are defined by the hotel. Therefore, in\norder to reduce them, it is important to adapt the policies to the context they\nwill be implemented in. If we can predict the number of cancellations we will get\non each channel, we will be able to set up attack strategies to control them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OTA offer several cancellation policies, depending on dates\nand\/or rates. However, even so, many hotels are in decline due to the excess of\nflexible cancellations, because of the fear of being overtaken by the\ncompetition or not meeting expected occupancy figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to combat cancellations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some techniques to minimise them would be as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Measure all the variables involved, such as, amongst others,\nthe percentage of cancellations and the differences on the various channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Identify future cancellations from false bookings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adapt bookings and cancellations policies on the OTA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reduce the number of cancellations by improving customer\ncare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Monitor the OTA to prevent pricing variations amongst them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Put a Revenue Management strategy in place, to increase the\nprice in line with occupancy and restrict the cancellations policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Put a \u201cNon-refundable\u201d policy in place on dates when the\ndemand exceeds the number of available rooms, without giving any kind of\ndiscount. In this way, the probability of cancellation is reduced and more\nrooms can be sold at a higher rate, although the process is rather slower than\nusual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is important not to make the mistake of accepting a high\nnumber of cancellations and not doing anything about them. You have control\nover your hotel, and putting predictive strategies in place can improve your\nrevenue and reduce the number of cancellations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Las cancelaciones aumentan cada a\u00f1o y se han convertido en uno de los mayores problemas que un hotel puede afrontar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n