Pickup is an important indicator that provides an overview of reservation behaviour and helps to understand the booking pace.
Calculating the pickup gives you a clear picture of booking trends, allowing you to make informed decisions to maximize occupancy and revenue.
In the RoomPriceGenie Calendar, looking at your occupancy or pickup calendar, you can easily identify dates that you are selling more or less than expected and identify points of attention where:
- Red color stands for fewer reservations than expected for that day
- Blue stands for more reservations than expected for that day
Tracking these changes can reveal important insights into guest booking behaviour, including identifying potential issues such as cancellations that result in negative pickup.
In the Calendar, we calculate pickup based on availability. This means we look at the change in availability between today and yesterday / last week, etc.
This also means that cancellations count as negative pickup.
It is relevant to differentiate that the pickup in the Reporting Dashboard is calculated based on reservation data, while the Pickup Calendar is based on availability data. Cancellations are not taken into account in the Pickup in Reporting unless the reservation was booked and canceled on the same day.
🚨 Remember that you can calculate the pickup up for occupancy and revenue.
Different Scenarios
The examples below show the calculation based on rooms sold (occupancy). However, the same logic applies to revenue pickup.
Example 1: Daily Occupancy Pickup Leading to Christmas
Today’s date is Dec 22nd, and we want to see how much we have picked up since yesterday.
Calendar shows pickup = 5, why?
- Reservations on December 21th: 40 rooms booked
- Reservations on December 22st: 45 rooms booked
Daily Occ Pickup = Reservations on Dec 21st − Reservations on Dec 20th
Daily Occ Pickup = 45−40 = 5 rooms
Example 2: Weekly Occupancy Pickup Leading to Christmas
Today’s date is Dec 22nd, and we want to see how much we have picked up since last week.
Calendar shows pickup = 20, why?
- Reservations on December 15th: 30 rooms booked
- Reservations on December 22nd: 50 rooms booked
Weekly Occ Pickup = Reservations on Dec 22nd − Reservations on Dec 15t
Weekly Occ Pickup = 50−30 = 20 rooms
💡Analysis: It looks like you are doing well, but let's check other dates to see if this pickup number is better or worse than you usually see.
Example 3: Comparing Two Different Months
Today’s date is Dec 22nd, and we want to see how much we have picked up since last month.
Calendar shows pickup = 20, why?
- Reservations on December 25th, Last Month: 60 rooms booked
- Reservations on December 25th, This Month: 80 rooms booked
Monthly Occ Pickup = Reservations on Dec 25th this month − Reservations on Dec 25th Last Month
Monthly Occ Pickup = 80−60 = 20 rooms
💡Analysis: Looking at this result, we can conclude that this month's performance is going better than last month. This is because the result between cancellations and new reservations is positive, and in the end, the hotel gained 20 more bookings for that date range.
Example 5: Negative Occupancy Pickup
Today’s date is Dec 22nd, and we want to see how much we have picked up since yesterday.
The calendar shows a negative pickup = -5; why?
- Reservations on December 21th: 50 rooms booked
- Reservations on December 22st: 45 rooms booked
Occ Pickup = Reservations on Dec 21st − Reservations on Dec 20t
Occ Pickup = 45−50 = −5 rooms
💡Analysis: In this case, a negative occupancy pickup indicates cancellations or adjustments resulting in fewer reservations on the books. It is already very close to the Christmas date; if your medium booking window is not very short for this date, then this can mean a red flag and might require further investigation, such as:
Why are people cancelling/adjusting it?
Would that be true when applying a cancellation/modification restrictions policy for that special date range?
Do you have a plan B for cases like that?
Is there any promotion strategy or offers that could be activated to this date to attract more demand?
And finally, could you do something to prevent this from happening next time?
Time to regroup your team to react to this situation.
Practical Application
To use these calculations effectively:
- Track Daily Changes: Monitor daily changes leading up to any particular date or date range to adjust last-minute promotions or pricing.
- Weekly Trends: Use weekly trends to identify periods of high booking activity.
- Compare Historical Data: Analyze pickup compared to previous months/years to understand trends and forecast future demand.
- Segment Analysis: Break down pickup by different market segments (e.g., corporate, leisure) to tailor marketing strategies.