Hoteliers know the impactful role their online reputation plays in the traveler’s booking journey. However, many may not be aware of just how much their recent reviews can affect them in securing short-term occupancy. A lot has changed since the beginning of the pandemic and hoteliers need to understand these changes in order to avoid a significant negative impact on bookings.

Looking Ahead with Data

As an industry, we are always looking ahead and wondering what the next 30, 60, 90 days will look like. We’re regularly monitoring ADR and checking occupancy trends. However, right now is one of the most difficult times for hotels to perform accurate occupancy forecasts. The reason lies behind this statistic: “of all bookings in the last two weeks, around two-thirds are for stays in either September or October, highlighting how trips remain extremely last minute.” 

This data was released at the end of September, so we’re talking about 66% of bookings happening somewhere within 30 days. That’s a lot of last-minute bookings, but you may be wondering what exactly this stat has to do with online reviews and forecasting.

Reputation Impact in the Past

Back in 2019, when travelers were still following normal booking patterns, a 1-star negative review would have a relatively low impact on your immediate short-term occupancy outside of that 30-day window. You might end up missing out on a couple of walk-ins here and there and a few short-term bookers, but you wouldn’t see a dramatic decrease in occupancy percentage. 

The same is true for a 5-star positive review: you might see a little push in occupancy with those short-term bookers and walk-ins, but nothing significant. However, much has changed in the past couple of years and we can’t rely on this outdated knowledge to continue informing our reputation strategies.

Recent Reviews Today

Now let’s fast forward back to 2021, where 66% of travelers are making booking decisions within a 30-day window. All of a sudden, a one-star review on your property’s TripAdvisor page or Google can be an occupancy killer. 

An ill-timed review like this could have major repercussions on not just the travelers making booking decisions in the short term, but also the travelers that have already booked with you. With more flexibility than ever to cancel bookings without penalty, a negative review like this could lead to a slew of cancellations and have significant double-digit impacts on your immediate occupancy. 

Here’s the good news: it works both ways. Consistently generating recent 5-star reviews could lead to a huge influx of new short-term bookings, significantly more than it might have in the past, due to that increased percentage of last-minute bookers. So it’s really easy to see just how critical reputation is to a hotel’s short-term occupancy.