Booked up in January for a weekend in July
In January, three bookings arrive for a Saturday in July. All one night, all at your normal summer price. You are pleased: it is good to see summer filling up. In February, the fourth room goes too.
In June, you realise that Saturday is the weekend of the big folk festival in the next valley. Every B&B for miles is full, and the ones that had not sold out are charging far more, with a two-night minimum. You could have done the same. Instead, your rooms went at the ordinary price, for one night each, and the Friday and Sunday either side are empty because nobody wants a single night on its own.
The next year, you swear you will remember. Then the graduation dates at the university move, the race meeting adds an extra day, and a new wedding venue opens up the road with its own busy Saturdays.
Why event dates catch you out
Events that fill a whole area are well known to the people going to them and easy to forget for the people hosting them. You are busy with this week's guests, and the dates for next summer are announced quietly months ahead.
- Event dates change each year, and are announced at different times.
- Guests who go every year book as soon as dates are known, often before you have looked.
- Your booking system's pricing is set by season, not by what is happening nearby.
- One-night bookings on event Saturdays leave the nights either side hard to sell.
- New events and venues appear, and you hear about them from guests.
The information you need is public. It just is not in front of you when you set your prices.
What missing the dates costs
Rooms sold for less than the market would happily pay on the busiest weekends of the year. Nights either side left empty because of one-night bookings. And the feeling of having been caught out, which is hard to shake when you see what others in the area did.
There is a fairness side too. Many owners do not want to charge extreme prices on event weekends, and that is their choice. But the choice should be made deliberately, not by accident because the date slipped past.
How we build a local event calendar for your B&B
- We gather the events that matter for your area with you: festivals, races, shows, graduations, big venues, sports fixtures, conferences.
- Their dates are collected from public listings and the organisers' own websites, and checked as each year's dates are announced.
- The calendar sits alongside your bookings, so you can see event dates and what you have already sold for them.
- When a new event date is announced or a date is getting close to your usual booking window, you get a reminder to decide on prices and minimum stays for it.
- When a booking arrives for an event date, you are told, so you are never surprised by a run of bookings for a weekend you had not noticed.
- If you want, your chosen prices and minimum stays for event dates are set in your booking system from the calendar, and sent to every channel.
| Date | Event | Booked so far | Your decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday in July | Folk festival | None yet | Two-night minimum, event price |
| Saturday in June | Graduation at the university | One room | Keep normal price, two-night minimum |
| Several Saturdays | New wedding venue nearby | None yet | Watch, decide per date |
We do not set your prices. You decide what each event date is worth to you, and the calendar makes sure you decide in time.
Next January
In November, the folk festival announces next year's dates. Your calendar picks them up and sends you a reminder. You set a two-night minimum and a higher price for that weekend in your booking system. In January, the bookings arrive, for two nights each, at the price you chose.
When the new wedding venue publishes its busy dates, you see them next to your calendar and decide which ones to treat as special. You stop hearing about big weekends from your guests.
Are big weekends slipping past you?
- You have sold out early for a big local event at your normal price.
- One-night bookings on event Saturdays leave nights either side empty.
- You hear about local events from guests rather than planning for them.
- Your prices are set by season only.
- Event dates change each year and you lose track.