Maximizing availability through opportunities

Updated 2 years ago | 8 min read
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Loading enough availability on our platform can help you appear in as many guest searches as possible, which is essential to getting more bookings. We also share regular advice on actions you can take to maximize your availability.

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Actionable advice to maximize availability

We regularly scan the inventory on our platform and check for specific info, such as the last date you have rates and availability loaded for, or whether your rooms or units are open and bookable on certain dates. We use this data to advise you on specific actions—or “opportunities”—you can take to improve your property’s availability on our platform. These can lead to greater visibility in traveler searches and ultimately to more bookings.

Go to your Opportunity Center


Availability opportunities

Below is an overview of all the availability opportunities as well as examples of when they arise and what action you should take.

  1. Property-level opportunities – these help make sure your property is available for bookings by reminding you to add availability for future dates. Not taking action can have an adverse impact on your property’s overall visibility on our platform.
Example 1 Property may soon become unbookable and may not appear in guest searches for future dates
Message

Act now – your property will be unavailable for bookings in less than X days [X = 30, 90, 365]

Why does this happen?

Your property doesn’t have any rates or availability loaded beyond a certain date within this booking window. This means guests can’t book your property for stays beyond this date.

Action required If you’re a connected partner, update your property’s availability for at least X days—ideally for the next 365 days—via your connectivity provider’s platform.
Action required If you only use the Extranet, update your availability for future dates using the Bulk Edit tool from the list view calendar (under the Rates & Availability tab). You can also quickly copy your existing rooms, rates, prices, or restrictions for the next 365 days on the Copy Yearly Rates page (also under the Rates & Availability tab).
 
Example 2 Property is already unbookable and missing from all guest searches
Message

You’re unavailable for bookings – add more availability right away

Why does this happen?

Your property doesn’t have any rates or availability loaded for dates in the next 365 days. This means guests can’t search for or book your property on our platform.

Action required If you’re a connected partner, immediately add/update availability for at least one room-type for the next 365 days via your connectivity provider’s platform.
Action required If you only use the Extranet, update your availability for future dates using the Bulk Edit tool from the list view calendar (under the Rates & Availability tab). You can also quickly copy your existing rooms, rates, prices, or restrictions for the next 365 days on the Copy Yearly Rates page (also under the Rates & Availability tab).
 
  1. Opportunities to optimize your availability for specific dates – these are designed to help maximize your chances of capturing demand by alerting you when one or more of your rooms or units isn’t appearing in potential traveler searches. This can be due to a lack of inventory or to restrictions. These opportunities aren’t generated for your property as a whole, but rather for specific rooms or units and for specific dates. By taking action on these opportunities as soon as your rooms or units become eligible for them, you can continually optimize your existing inventory on our platform to capture upcoming demand and generate more bookings.
 
Example 3 There are upcoming high-priority dates where we see demand rising, but you don’t have enough availability to capture it
Message

The most popular dates in your area/city

Why does this happen?

Your most popular rooms aren’t available on our platform for one or more of these high-priority dates. You could be missing out on potential bookings due to this.

Action required If you’re a connected partner, add at least one room to sell for the specified rooms and dates via your connectivity provider’s platform.
Action required If you only use the Extranet, you can see the eligible rooms and dates highlighted as part of an opportunity in Opportunity Center. Clicking “Take Action” allows you to directly edit the inventory and prices of these rooms for the highlighted dates.
 
Example 4 Guests can’t find your property on certain dates because of the length of stay restrictions you applied
Message

Update your minimum length of stay restriction to become visible to guests

Why does this happen?

The value of the minimum length of stay restriction applied on all rates for a room is greater than the number of consecutive available nights. For example, you’ve set an LOS restriction of three nights, but the room is only available for two. In this scenario, the room is completely unbookable.

Action required If you’re a connected partner, reduce or remove the restrictions for at least one active rate for the specified room and date via your connectivity provider’s platform.
Action required If you only use the Extranet, you can see the eligible rooms and dates highlighted as part of an opportunity in Opportunity Center. Clicking “Take Action” shows you what lengths of stay are blocked, and lets you edit the minimum LOS restrictions for these rooms and dates.

Where can I find these opportunities?

You can find opportunities in the Extranet’s Opportunity Center, as well as on the Availability Optimization page. We’ll show you opportunities on these pages whenever your property becomes eligible for them.

If you work with a connectivity provider and they implemented our Opportunities API, you’ll see opportunities on their platform as well. You should always take the required action on your connectivity provider’s platform, as the data from your provider will usually overwrite any changes you make to your availability on the Booking.com Extranet or Pulse app. If you want to learn more about this, we recommend checking with your provider.

Read this article if you’d like to learn more about how pricing and availability can bring you more business.

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