Pickup is an important indicator that provides an overview of reservation behaviour and helps to understand the booking pace.
Calculating reservation history gives you a clear picture of booking trends so you can make informed decisions to maximize occupancy and revenue.
By looking at your occupancy or pick-up calendar, you can quickly see which days you are selling more (purple) or less (orange) than expected and which points you need to pay attention to.
Tracking these changes can provide important insights into guest booking behavior, including identifying potential issues such as cancellations that result in a negative review.
Before proceeding, it is important to understand how it is calculated:
Pickup results from reservations (existing + new + changes) - cancelations you have up to a certain date.
🚨 Remember that you can calculate the pick-up for occupancy and sales.
Different Scenarios
The following examples show the calculation based on the rooms sold (occupancy). However, the same logic also applies to revenue recognition.
Example 1: Daily occupancy collection before Christmas
Today's date is December 22, and we want to see how much we've picked up since yesterday.
The calendar shows pickup = 5, why?
- Reservations on December 21: 40 rooms booked
- Reservations on December 22: 45 rooms booked
Daily pick-up = 45-40 = 5 rooms
Example 2: Weekly collection of occupancy in the run-up to Christmas
Today's date is December 22, and we want to see how much we've picked up since last week.
The calendar shows pickup = 20, why?
- Reservations on December 15: 30 rooms booked
- Reservations on December 22: 50 rooms booked
Weekly pickup = reservations on December 22 - reservations on December 15
Weekly pick-up = 50-30 = 20 rooms
💡Analysis: It looks like you're doing well, but let's check other data to see if this pickup number is better or worse than what you normally see.
Example 3: Comparison of two different months
Today is December 22, and we want to see how much we have collected since last month.
The calendar shows collection = 20, why?
- Reservations on December 25, last month: 60 rooms booked
- Reservations on December 25, this month: 80 rooms booked
Monthly pickup = reservations on December 25, this month - reservations on December 25, last month
Monthly pick-up = 80-60 = 20 rooms
💡Analysis: Based on this result, we can see that the performance this month is better than last month. This is because the result between cancellations and new reservations is positive and the hotel ultimately received 20 more bookings for this period.
Example 4: Negative occupancy pick-up
Today's date is December 22, and we want to see how much we have made up since yesterday.
The calendar shows a negative increase = -5; why?
- Reservations on December 21: 50 rooms booked
- Reservations on December 22: 45 rooms booked
Occ Pickup = Reservations on December 21 - Reservations on December 20
Occ Pickup = 45-50 = -5 rooms
💡Analysis: In this case, a negative occupancy pickup indicates cancellations or adjustments resulting in fewer bookings. It is already very close to the Christmas date; if your middle booking window for this date is not very short, this may mean a red flag and may require further investigation, such as:
- Why is it being canceled/adjusted?
- Would this also be the case if a cancel/change restriction policy was applied for that particular date range?
- Do you have a plan B for such cases?
- Is there a promotional strategy or offers that could be activated at this time to attract more demand?
- And finally, could you do anything to prevent this from happening next time?
Practical application
To use these calculations effectively:
- Track daily changes: Monitor daily changes up to a specific date or date range to adjust last-minute promotions or prices.
- Weekly trends: Use weekly trends to identify periods of high booking activity.
- Compare historical data: Analyze pickup compared to previous months/years to identify trends and forecast future demand.
- Segment analysis: Break down collection by different market segments (e.g. corporate, leisure) to adjust marketing strategies.