Whether high season or a special event, hotel software for seasonal demand can boost your hotel’s efficiency and revenue. 

As Easter approaches, hotels start to activate plans for the coming summer season. But today’s travellers are not as bound by high and low seasonality as they once were. How can hotels keep on top of ever-changing consumer trends and optimise their sales and operational performance year-round? That’s where a PMS – and especially hotel software for seasonal demand – is invaluable. 

While Europeans still tend to enjoy their longest trips in July and August and make use of the sunny weather close to home, the traditional ‘low season’ no longer exists as short trips are fairly consistent year-round. The time around Christmas and Easter have demand driven by domestic or short-haul trips, while January and November may be lulls but are hardly ‘quiet times’. 

Reasons for a shift in travel patterns are varied, however a report by the European Commission found 42 percent plan on holidaying outside of high season to avoid overcrowding and to aid long-term sustainability in destinations. 

CNTraveller found that there’s been a dramatic increase in shoulder season travel to Europe’s most popular destinations (particularly France, Spain, the UK and Italy), which is set to continue in 2024. Original Travel experienced 14% more bookings for September 2023 than for August 2023. Booking.com’s 2024 travel trends survey found that 47% of respondents are even willing to take children out of school for cheaper off-peak travel. 

According to CNTraveller, 2024 will see Europe benefit from a trend of increasing shoulder season travel particularly France, Spain, the UK and Italy). For example Small Luxury Hotels of the World saw a 33% increase for March to May and a 58% increase for September to November. And even Booking.com’s 2024 travel trends survey found that 47% of respondents are even willing to take children out of school for cheaper off-peak travel. 

The hotelier’s calendar can’t simply be divided into low, shoulder and high seasons. By identifying and managing the peaks and troughs of business in real-time, a PMS can help hoteliers improve the guest experience and smooth operational processes. For many properties, hotel software to manage seasonal demand is key to adapting quickly to shifting patterns.

Delivering an exceptional guest experience requires attention to detail and staff who are free to engage with your guests. A PMS helps your staff escape from behind their desks. 

Dates such as Easter are sometimes forgotten about as hoteliers put their energies into ensuring a busy and smooth Christmas and New Year, followed by the hubbub of planning for the year ahead and Valentine’s. With its moveable dates, Easter celebrations can sneak under the radar until it’s too late to be optimised – savvy holidaymakers may have snapped up low rates, undermining your revenue potential for the feast days. 

By using hotel software for seasonal demand to manage your room inventory – updating availability on multiple distribution channels in real-time – you not only sell at rates which position your hotel correctly in the market, considering live demand, but you also reduce the chance of accidentally overbooking rooms – a primary bug-bear for guests! 

Reporting through a PMS also provides you with valuable insights into guest booking patterns, which let you be more responsive to the market with your selling rates and more strategic in your planning for future years. 

A fully-integrated PMS can seamlessly work with front office, reservation and property management teams, helping you improve efficiencies in operational processes and freeing up your team to focus on what really matters – serving your guests. 

Thanks to business intelligence reports, hoteliers receive meaningful data and analysis that helps simplify and speed-up forecasting and decision making. Tools to help not only reservations and sales departments, but also events, housekeeping, billing and more, all serve to reduce the manual administrative load on staff, giving them time to think more strategically and build stronger relationships with guests. 

For forward-looking hoteliers, hotel software designed for seasonal demand is the smartest way to forecast peaks, balance resources and maximise revenue potential. 

With the data to know how the market is performing, and customer insights to know what your guests value about your hotel – you can use the CRM to delve deeper and develop targeted marketing campaigns. Creating stories and promotions that bring your property to life and promote bookings to optimise your off-season and shoulder seasonal bookings. 

It’s important to tap into your audiences early to stay front of mind by inspiring them to learn more and encouraging them to book. 

At SIHOT, our hotel management software is based on a modular approach, letting hotels select which solutions best suit your individual property or group. We’ve worked with hoteliers to design our products so we know that flexibility is key – both in terms of the actual solutions your property may need, and how it integrates with your existing tech stack. 

SIHOT.PMS grows with you and your business, integrating with countless different software solutions and providing business intelligence via a user-friendly interface to help simplify hotel operations. For hotels facing fluctuating guest flows, hotel software for seasonal demand is a vital part of long-term success. 

Contact us to find out more about our range of solutions to help you optimise your hotel’s performance year-round – and see how hotel software to manage seasonal demand can turn peak times into lasting profitability.