There is a positive feel to the start of the year, with the first quarter (Q1) of 2017 performing well. The value of bookings that SuperControl has managed this year so far is already exceeding £214 million.
Length of stay
Stays of 1-6 nights have been the most popular length of stay, making up almost two-thirds (62%) of all bookings in Q1 2017:
Start day
Almost half of all bookings made in Q1 (48%) started on a Saturday, closely followed by Friday (38%), However, Monday and Sunday still factor with 6% and 4% of bookings, respectively:
Being flexible with your start dates removes more booking barriers. SuperControl customers can find out how to do this in this article.
Booking lead times
This has followed a consistent pattern in Q1 throughout the past three years. You can see that 121-180 days and 181-365 days have continued to be the most popular booking lead time, although this year these were equal, with 20% of bookings each:
Guests continue to plan ahead, giving them time to spread the cost and budget. We saw last year that fewer people were waiting until the last minute to book, and this trend has continued this year so far.
Full price or discount
91% of bookings made between 1 January and 31 March 2017 were full price. Researching what dates people are searching for, and when, gives you the information you need to optimise your pricing to get the very best return for each booking. It’s encouraging to see such a high proportion of bookings at full price.
We’re working on an article about price optimisation at the moment, full of tips to get the very best return for each and every booking. Watch this space!
