As a property manager, there are dozens of metrics available to track. One important metric that is often overlooked is the Nights Available. Also known as Room Supply, Nights Available refers to the total number of nights that are available to book for guests across your entire portfolio of properties.
How To Calculate Nights Available
Calculating Nights Available is straightforward:
Nights Available = Total Nights - Unavailable Nights
Total Nights: The total number of nights in a given period (e.g. 31 days in January = 31 nights per property)
Unavailable Nights: Nights that are either booked by owners or blocked for maintenance/repairs
For example, if you manage 100 properties and January has 31 days, your total room nights would be 3,100 (100 properties x 31 nights). If 300 of those nights are either placed on hold or booked by owners, your Room Supply for January is 2,800 (3,100 total nights - 300 unavailable nights).
Tracking Nights Available allows you to understand the true availability of your portfolio and identify opportunities to maximize revenue. Here are some key reasons it's an essential metric:
1. Optimize Pricing Strategies
Knowing your Nights Available lets you effectively employ dynamic pricing to maximize revenue. When supply is lower, the general rule is that you can charge higher prices. When you have a surplus of available rooms or properties, you may offer discounts or incentives to fill rooms.
2. Identify Booking Trends
Monitoring Nights Available over time provides insight into booking patterns and demand fluctuations. This helps you forecast occupancy more accurately and can help you understand decreases in booking rates.
3. Uncover Problems with Availability
An unusually low number of Nights Available could indicate issues like excessive owner bookings, blocking, or even calendar syncing problems. Once an issue is identified, you can then take steps to resolve these problems.
4. Set Goals Around Occupancy Rates
Nights Available puts occupancy rates in perspective. For example, selling 1,000 room nights when your Nights Available is 2,000 equals 50% occupancy. This helps you set achievable occupancy goals.
In today's dynamic hospitality industry, revenue management strategies should begin with accurately tracking Nights Available. As a property manager, monitoring this fundamental metric is mission-critical to maximize revenues and optimize your portfolio's performance. Consistently measuring Nights Available provides the visibility you need to make informed, data-driven decisions.
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