The period of time between the reservation and the start of the trip goes from 22 to 33 days in just one year
Travelers’ confidence in small accommodations increases month by month, according to data from the Local Booking Insights report from Little Hotelier, the hotel reservation management platform for establishments with up to 20 rooms. This improvement is reflected in two important benchmarks: time to book and decrease in cancellations.
According to the report, which analyzes the data from 2019 to 2022, travelers are booking their stays in small Spanish accommodations with an average advance notice (the time between the purchase and the enjoyment of the trip) of 33 days. This is a considerable improvement compared to the 22 days in advance of 2021 and the 25 of 2020, although still far from the pre-pandemic figures (39 days).
The cancellation rate stood at 24% at the end of 2022, compared to 26% in 2021 and the figure of 44% that occurred in the months of 2020 due to the uncertainty derived from the health crisis. The trend and the use of new tools to optimize accommodation management predict a progressive decrease in this value, which in 2019 stood at 23%.
The fact that travelers book earlier presents an opportunity for small accommodations to offer additional services and exclusive improvements, according to the Little Hotelier report. These enhancements reinforce customer engagement with their hotel, on the one hand, and help hoteliers get to know their
customers better, on the other. In this way, greater expectation is generated for the trip and the chances of cancellation are reduced.
The general director of Little Hotelier for Spain, Sara Padrosa, sees a clear change in trend after the pandemic, but also “a notable increase in the competitiveness of small accommodations. The use of specialized management tools makes it easier for them to gather information, adjust prices to real demand and better
communicate with customers. Thanks to this important factor and the disappearance of a large part of the restrictions on tourism, 2023 can be a great year for small accommodations”.
The study also focuses on some essential factors when managing reservations, such as the proportion of national and international travelers in Spanish accommodation. In the last twelve months, most of the guests of the small accommodations are foreigners, in some cases close to 60%.
Only in November and December around half of the customers are Spanish. For those responsible for the report, this fact responds to the desire of travelers to recover the leisure time lost in recent years and the commitment of small hotels to technologies that allow them to make themselves known and attract customers practically anywhere in the world.
It is worth noting the increase in direct bookings, which are already the second channel of arrival of guests to small Spanish hotels, after Booking.com, which demonstrates the ability of these companies to direct traffic to their website.
In addition, the increased demand for this type of accommodation in recent years has been reflected in price growth above the average for the sector and a greater difference in rates between low and high season, since between January and August they reach double. Expanded data in the report and more information on small accommodations, at littlehotelier.com.
Source: Little Hotelier
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