With shifting consumer expectations due to the proliferation of last-minute booking apps, hotels must consider the implications of offering rooms via the last-minute mobile channel.
The promise of reducing empty rooms via last-minute bookings is nothing new – last minute travel has always been big in Europe, where the close proximity of dozens of relatively inexpensive destinations encouraged many consumers to care less about advance planning in favor of a lower priced getaway.
While the packaged holiday industry has enough flexibility to offer variable inventory at a reduced rate, individual hotels are capacity-limited with relatively fixed rates. Publicly discounting rates – especially at the last-minute – can lead to some undesirable consequences for hotels: upsetting loyal customers, undercutting full-priced rates, and training the customer to wait for last-minute deals.
Read full story at: http://www.tnooz.com/2012/09/20/mobile/the-implications-of-last-minute-bookings-for-hotel-operators/
