How to maximize hotel attachment rates

The Sabre Management Consulting team is comprised of experts who combine global reach with deep industry insights, helping agencies identify growth opportunities and streamline operations. With an objective and holistic approach to travel management optimization, the team dives deep into agency operations to provide actionable recommendations that drive measurable results. A recent study conducted by the team explored how agencies can increase their hotel attachment rates (HAR) to drive revenue and expand their businesses.

What is hotel attachment rate?

Traditionally, agencies have focused on flights, treating lodging as an afterthought. But as the travel industry shifts toward modern retailing, agencies need to evolve not just their tech, but their mindset, in order to offer a seamless end-to-end travel experience.

Hotel attachment rate (HAR) refers to the proportion of booked reservations that include a hotel stay alongside other travel arrangements (primarily flights).

As more consumers seek one-stop-shop travel solutions, agencies are perfectly positioned to meet this demand by selling all elements of a trip itinerary. In fact, many agencies already offer this today and simply aren’t capitalizing on the opportunity.

The Sabre Management Consulting team conducted a study among select agency customers in North America exploring hotel attachment rates. The findings revealed an HAR of only 37% (online/offline combined).

It’s clear the revenue-generation potential from servicing travelers’ end-to-end requirements – specifically their hotel needs – is enormous. So, if agencies are perfectly placed to retail all travel elements, the question is: why aren’t hotel attachment rates higher?

What impacts hotel attachment rates?

While many would be quick to say it’s driven by content availability, a leakage analysis of offline bookings from the study (i.e. those made by phone or over email) revealed that the primary driver of low attachment is behavioral: agents not offering a hotel to the traveler.

These missed attachment opportunities accounted for 44% of the total addressable hotel attachment opportunities. Add this to the 30% of opportunities where the customer themselves requested flights and hotel upfront, and we’re left with agents proactively offering a hotel to the customer just 26% of the time.

Given the scale of the opportunity – and the commission at stake – travel agencies cannot afford to overlook offering hotel options to their customers. The solution can be as simple as asking the question: can I also book you a hotel?

Agencies can use this mindset shift to implement strategies that can encourage HAR improvement:

At Sabre, we are evolving into an enhanced multi-source travel marketplace, expanding on our current offerings in air, hotel, car, and rail. Our comprehensive suite of solutions enables agencies to think and act like modern retailers, delivering the choice, intelligence, and convenience that modern travel retailing demands, helping agencies:

• Sell all components of a trip in one place and easily compare hotel offers with Content Services for Lodging.
• Use AI/ML to present tailored hotel options, automate cross-selling, and increase productivity with lodging retailer and Lodging AI.
• Drive workflow efficiencies via improved connectivity via APIs and Sabre Red 360 (for agencies).

[1] IBISWorld Global Hotels & Resorts - Market Size, Industry Analysis, Trends and Forecasts https://www.ibisworld.com/global/market-size/global-hotels-resorts/