Tag Archives: Cancellation

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “How to Combat Last-Minute Cancellations”

“If it’s one call from a regular guest who has to cancel at the last minute because of extenuating circumstances, that’s not a problem,” Rauch said. “Our goal is to protect and grow our revenue.Cancellations-feature But at the same time, we have no desire to have guests hate us. The last thing we want is for someone to badmouth us on social media because of how we handled their cancellation.”

With last-minute cancellations having the potential to wreak havoc in the revenue management arena, hoteliers from Los Angeles to London are opting for a range of solutions that include tightening the rules on refundable bookings and turning to more sophisticated algorithms to forecast.

Last-minute cancellations have been on the rise in recent years amid an emergence of online tools and platforms that make it easier for consumers to shop and compare hotels, explained Bjorn Hanson, a hospital industry expert and professor with the New York University Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism.

“It’s an increasing problem that needs to be addressed,” he said.

“People are always looking for a better deal, and most cancellations happen when they see another hotel lowering their rate,” said Jamie Pena, VP of global distribution and revenue strategy for Omni Hotels & Resorts.

She and many of her fellow industry colleagues are taking action.

For more: http://bit.ly/1WA7So6

Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Management Update: “How to Combat Last-Minute Cancellations”

Filed under Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Technology

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Non-Refundable Room Rules Leave Some Hot About Hotels”

“…’As non-refundable rooms become more prevalent, and I think they will, hotels will more than likely adopt policies such as offering rebooking opportunities for a fee orImage a 24-hour grace period for canceling a non-refundable booking,’ says Stephen Barth, hospitality law professor at the University of Houston…”

If you think the airline industry doesn’t do anything right, think again.

A few weeks ago, Brian Crummy had to pay for the same night twice at two different hotels.

The reason: His plans changed, and the rate he’d booked was completely non-refundable and non-changeable, even when he waved his diamond elite card at the receptionist.

“They would not budge,” says Crummy, a sales manager from Gilbert, Ariz. “I feel like the hotels bank on me taking the advance-purchase rate to save money, in hopes that my plans change and they can cash in.”

Are airlines any better? Well, kinda.

For more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/hotels/2014/03/31/non-refundable-hotel-room/7127665/

Comments Off on Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Non-Refundable Room Rules Leave Some Hot About Hotels”

Filed under Employee Practices, Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Training