5 Ways to Drive Bookings and Increase Profit in Low Season

Natural lows and highs in hotel demand undulate back and forth, mirroring – and defining – your low and high season. Their inevitability is a constant in hotel revenue management. But recognizing these differentials isn’t the same as accepting loss of business during the low reason.

But recognizing these differentials isn’t the same as accepting loss of business during the low reason. Yes, it will likely dip, but by how much and how profitably you can operate on reduced revenue at these times, are things you can influence.

As a hotelier, you’ll already recognize the anxiety of lost profits and financial stress in the low season, so you’ll have your ways of alleviating these perennial pains.

But if you’re looking to up your defenses against the worst-case scenarios of the low season, we present five tried-and-tested ways to enhance your efforts in this area.

Enhance the guest experience with value-adds

By offering value-added services and amenities, you can strategically drive bookings and boost revenue during your low season.

This will differentiate your hotel from your competitors, meaning you can attract more guests while creating upselling opportunities that increase overall spend per booking.

Value-adds don’t just entice travelers looking for a great deal; they also encourage guests to spend more on-site.

Research shows that ancillary services can contribute 10 to 15% – maybe more – of total hotel revenue, depending on your property type and market. Whether it’s an upgraded room package or an exclusive experience, these extras make a guest’s stay more appealing while subtly increasing your profit.

How to do it

To implement an effective strategy, you could consider introducing:

• Packages and special offers: Create seasonal promotions that include perks like free spa treatments, dining credits or late check-out, perhaps tapping into your loyalty program or catering to new customers.

• Personalized upgrades: Encourage direct bookings by offering discounted room upgrades, welcome amenities or early check-in.

• Exclusive experiences: Partner with local businesses and attractions for bundled experiences, such as wine tastings or guided city tours.

• Premium services: Provide concierge add-ons like airport transfers, in-room dining enhancements or romantic getaway packages.sell

Exceptional customer service also plays a key role. Training staff to personalize guest interactions – such as remembering guest preferences or offering tailored recommendations – can lead to better online reviews and referral upticks, which in turn attract more bookings.

And don’t forget your techstack. Leveraging hotel revenue management tools like Lighthouse’s help optimize pricing strategies for upsells, package deals, length of stay discounts, and more raising profitability while maintaining guest satisfaction.

By strategically enhancing the guest experience, you not only fill rooms in the low season but also drive long-term brand loyalty.

Optimize your presence on OTAs to boost visibility

Online travel agencies (OTAs) serve as pivotal marketing and acquisition channels for hotels, significantly enhancing visibility and driving bookings, especially during the low season.

By listing on platforms like Booking.com and Priceline, you tap into a vast target audience actively seeking accommodation, thereby increasing your exposure beyond your direct marketing and social media efforts to boost sales.

During peak seasons, travelers often book well in advance, with direct bookings a key component of the booking process.

By contrast, in the low season competition intensifies as you and your competitors vie for fewer guests. While your direct channels remain important, this elevates the role of OTAs for reaching potential customers who might otherwise be unaware of a property.

According to recent research, OTAs accounted for approximately 20% of the total travel market and 50% of the online travel market in the US in 2024, underscoring their significant role in consumer booking behavior.

How to do it

Let’s review some strategies that will help you to effectively leverage OTAs and boost visibility during the low season:

• Optimize OTA profiles: These don’t have to be fixed the whole year round. So ensure your listings feature high-quality, seasonally relevant images and up-to-date information. For instance, showcase winter amenities during colder months, enhancing credibility and relatability.

• Run targeted OTA campaigns: Utilize sponsored ads on OTA platforms to increase visibility among travelers planning their low-season trips. Tailored email campaigns highlighting special offers can also attract previous guests.

• Invest in OTA advertising: Allocate budget to OTA advertising options to promote exclusive deals or packages, making your property stand out from the crowd.

• Use tech tools: Solutions like Lighthouse’s Channel Manager will help you manage how you appear on OTAs, monitor performance and adjust tactics based on real-time data, ensuring optimal occupancy and profitability.

By strategically enhancing your presence on OTAs, you can effectively increase bookings during the low season, ensuring sustained revenue and a competitive edge at challenging times of the year.

Ensure competitive room rates with a dynamic pricing strategy

A dynamic pricing strategy allows you to adjust your room rates in real time based on demand, market conditions, competitor pricing and other external factors. Unlike static pricing, which remains fixed, dynamic pricing ensures that rates are always optimized to attract guests while maximizing revenue.

This approach is particularly beneficial in the low season, as it helps you remain competitive and capture price-sensitive travelers who may otherwise book elsewhere.

Implementing dynamic pricing isn’t just about adjusting room rates; it also applies to add-ons, amenities and packages. For instance, let’s consider:

• Room rates: If you lower prices slightly during the slow season, you can drive occupancy, then switch them back up for high-demand dates.

• Upgrades and amenities: Offering discounted spa treatments, meal packages or late check-outs during off-peak times should encourage on-site spending.

• Special packages: By introducing bundled deals that combine accommodation with local experiences, you create a more appealing value proposition.

How to do it

But we can add to those tips above.

To execute a successful dynamic pricing strategy, you need a pricing recommendation tool like Lighthouse’s Pricing Manager. This solution harnesses the industry’s most comprehensive and reliable data to deliver AI-powered dynamic room pricing, so you maximize potential revenue, no matter the demand conditions.

By accessing demand trends, competitor rates, and historical booking patterns, the data feeding this tool enables real-time room price adjustments so you stay ahead of the market.

By taking this approach to your pricing, not only will you drive more bookings during low-demand periods, but you’ll optimize overall revenue performance – again, while maintaining rate integrity.

Adjust your marketing strategy to target SMERFs and other groups

SMERFs – an acronym for social, military, educational, religious and fraternal groups – represent a valuable and often neglected audience for hotels, especially during the low season.

Unlike leisure travelers, these groups often have fixed travel schedules for conferences, reunions, retreats and training sessions. If you can identify these patterns, tapping into them can offset some of the seasonal dips in demand you experience.

SMERF groups tend to book in bulk, often reserving blocks of rooms well in advance. This not only helps maintain occupancy during slow periods but also increases ancillary revenue through catering, meeting space rentals and extended stays.

SMERFs are typically budget-conscious but reliable, potential loyal customers, making them an ideal market segment if – as you should be! – you’re focused on sustaining revenue during off-peak months.

How to do it

There are many ways to attract SMERFs; here’s a flavour of the strategies at your disposal:

• Identify key groups: So that you can target these guests more effectively, research local event calendars, business conferences and community organizations to find groups planning off-season travel.

• Tailor your messaging: Adjust marketing materials to highlight amenities that appeal to specific groups, such as discounted meeting spaces, group dining options or free shuttle services.

• Leverage the right channels: Use targeted email campaigns, LinkedIn for corporate events and Facebook groups for social or religious gatherings. Establishing partnerships with local event planners can also increase your hotel’s visibility.

By actively marketing to SMERFs and other group travelers, you can secure consistent bookings during the low season, drive incremental revenue and build long-term relationships with repeat customers.

Know when your low season is and plan accordingly

Understanding when your hotel’s low season occurs – and how it can fluctuate – is crucial for protecting your revenue and making informed business decisions.

A hotel’s off-peak period isn’t always a uniform drop in demand; there may be microspikes, such as long weekends, local events or school breaks that can still drive bookings.

Pinpointing these patterns helps you implement targeted pricing, special promotions, email marketing and other marketing strategies to maximize revenue even during generally slower periods.

And this matters. It matters because by accurately identifying your low season, you’re better equipped to:

• Plan revenue-saving strategies in advance: Examples include staffing adjustments and budget allocations.

• Optimize pricing and promotions: This will attract demand when occupancy is low.

• Capitalize on unexpected spikes: Prepare targeted offers for short bursts of increased bookings.

How to do it

Planning relies on prediction and forecasting. So how can you predict low season trends to assess how they’ll affect your revenue and budget accordingly?

To anticipate the impact of the low season, analyze historical booking data, competitor trends and market demand. This will help forecast occupancy levels, expected revenue shortfalls and opportunities to offset losses through strategic pricing and promotions.

Market Insight, provides real-time, forward-looking search insights, allowing you to:

• Predict low-season performance and compare against historical data.

• Identify recurring booking trends and demand fluctuations.

• Adjust pricing and marketing efforts proactively to match market demand.

By leveraging data-driven forecasting, you can approach the low season strategically, thereby ensuring consistent revenue flow and mitigating downturns in seasonal business.

Strengthen hotel performance in the low season with better data

Low-season performance doesn’t just affect a hotel’s revenue during off-peak months; it has a direct impact on annual profitability. Unfilled rooms, reduced ancillary spending and lower occupancy rates can create revenue gaps that are difficult to recover from, putting pressure on peak-season performance to compensate.

A well-executed low-season strategy, however, ensures a steady cash flow and maximizes revenue year-round, reducing reliance on high-demand periods to stay profitable.

This further underscores the importance of the right technology in not just weathering the low season, but thriving in it.

Lighthouse’s solutions help you leverage real-time data, competitive insights and demand forecasting to make smarter pricing, distribution and marketing decisions.

By adopting a data-driven approach, you can maintain occupancy, optimize rates and capture untapped demand, turning the low season from a challenge into an opportunity for sustained success.

If you would like to know more about Lighthouse’s tools and industry leading data sets, contact us today.

About Lighthouse

Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insight) is the leading commercial platform for the travel & hospitality industry. We transform complexity into confidence by providing actionable market insights, business intelligence, and pricing tools that maximize revenue growth. We continually innovate to deliver the best platform for hospitality professionals to price more effectively, measure performance more efficiently, and understand the market in new ways.

Trusted by over 65,000 hotels in 185 countries, Lighthouse is the only solution that provides real-time hotel and short-term rental data in a single platform. We strive to deliver the best possible experience with unmatched customer service. We consider our clients as true partners – their success is our success.

This article originally appeared on Lighthouse.