Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! - Lodging Newsletter December 31, 2024

 

The newsletter for each month is written after the statements are closed and ready to be mailed out. We aim for mid-month, depending on when we get statements from the credit card company, advertising channels and maintenance work.

 

So by the time of this writing, we are into January, watching temperatures in the Northwest plunge to a 50-year low. And the deep freeze is sticking around.

 

In the past, with any kind of cold temperature (not just the record breakers), we saw that new orders, even for stays later in the year, fell off noticeably. Long ago, there was no competitive research to reveal if every manager experienced the same thing.

 

So we used "drive-by espionage" to find out. About 10PM each evening, a staffer drives around to the hotels and counts how many cars are in the parking lot. If there are no cars, or a very few, we knew travel had plummeted in the area for everyone.

 

It is never a consolation if bookings are lower than we all want. But when no one is coming to town, well, it’s time to admit that the problem is not our marketing, advertising or sales staff.

 

Today, as we watch and analyze sales, we have fast reporting that illustrates the situation better. For example, we can see how many bookings are in the area in total, how far in advance guests booked and what they paid. Reams of data provide more insight than ever before.

 

And what do we see?

 

Snow and cold is great for winter destinations, but even they can be shut down by deep-freeze temperatures, hurricane winds and closed mountain passes. It’s no wonder that cold puts a crimp in everyone’s business.

 

So now, its a good time to revisit cold-weather preparation. (Winter is not over!)