In an ideal world, you have set a calculated daily rate for each of your room types, considering such factors as a business on the books, demand/pace, competitor’s pricing just to name a few. In the current climate, as explained earlier, we encourage hotels to maintain this practice even though the aim will no longer be to fill the hotel, but more so just secure all bookings possible.
In 2020, most bookers in Australia source their accommodation bookings online, however, there is still a small percentage that picks up the phone to make a booking. We believe that there will, in fact, be a higher percentage of phone inquiries during this time as they are someone more cautious in where they are booking, is it open, does it still offer food and beverage, and of course get the best deal.
They may have called around or done their research online before calling you. If they have a price in mind, from a true competitor to your hotel, under these circumstances we suggest you match the price to secure that extra booking. To make this practice effective that means management will need to empower reception and reservation staff to make the call on the spot.