The latest edition of the Duetto Pulse Report, which compared hotel performance data from May 2022 with April 2022 and cross-referenced this with previous years’ performance, shows that while the recovery is still going strong, pick-up and web traffic are up across the Americas, guests are now expecting more, and so review scores are dropping.
“One of the hotel industry’s shifting landscapes pertains to the diverging trajectory of guest satisfaction and RevPAR recovery trends. Lodging demand and pricing are moving in a positive direction, while guest review scores are sequentially declining due to numerous operating headwinds,” said Lloyd Biddle, director of product marketing, Duetto.
“Commercial teams should be proactive in thinking about what kind of long-term ramifications this challenge will have on the guest experience and the ability to drive growth. After all, the amount a guest pays influences their level of satisfaction. Commercial strategy can only come to life if we put the guest in the center and aggregate all the data points across the journey.”
Biddle added, “There is an old saying in the hospitality industry that ‘today’s booking pace is tomorrow’s RevPAR result.’ While still true, the post-pandemic commercial strategy evolution broadens these parameters to a refreshed industry adage that ‘today’s consumer searches are tomorrow’s guest reviews.’”
U.S. Recovery Continues
The picture is bright in the United States, with RevPAR exceeding its 2019 benchmark for the third month in May. Month-over-month booking pace trends are still highlighting the strengthening of demand. However, lower ADRs on more recent bookings suggest a return to the practice of discounting closer to the arrival date to fill rooms (rate erosion) which was common practice before the pandemic.
U.S. web traffic shows a 31 percent month-over-month gain for stay dates across the rest of 2022, with an impressive 51 percent jump for July. The turndown ratio of regrets and denials was the lowest globally at 18 percent in May, and the ratio of the number of bookings divided by the total number of visitors (web conversion rate), stayed at a healthy 5 percent.
LATAM Web Traffic is Healthy for Summer Dates
Over in Latin America, web traffic is slightly higher for the next four months but then turns negative for stay dates beginning in October. The turndown ratio of regrets and denials averaged 22 percent in May, while the brand.com web conversion rate stood at 4 percent.
Regarding booking pace, there was an increase every month for the rest of the year, except for October, with on-the-books committed occupancy up every month until December compared to the prior year.
