At the recent Commercial Strategy Conference in Singapore, hoteliers met in mini-roundtable style discussion groups.  Pallavi Nirula Nath facilitated a discussion between hoteliers on this topic.

Is Your Data Telling You to Jump — But You Don’t Know Why?
Data Accuracy in Hospitality: Common Pitfalls and Practical Fixes

In the high-speed, high-stakes world of hospitality, data is more than numbers — it’s the backbone of decision-making. From pricing strategies to occupancy forecasts, your bottom line depends on the accuracy of what you see. But as hotels increasingly rely on multiple platforms and third-party systems, data integrity has become a moving target.

Here’s a closer look at the most common data challenges in hospitality, how they affect performance, and what you can do to fix them.

⚠️ The Most Common Data Pitfalls

1. Duplicate Bookings & Guest Behaviour

• Guests may book across multiple channels with different email addresses to find the best rate.
• Some book several room types for the same dates, skewing occupancy and stay length data.
• These behaviours cause inflated demand projections and confuse your forecast models.

2. Integration Breakdown Between Systems

• Data inconsistencies often emerge when syncing between GDSs, OTAs, and your PMS.
• Misaligned rate codes, room types, or market segments result in misleading or incomplete reports.

3. Weak Booking Verification

• Limited reservation teams can’t scale to do manual verification.
• Standard confirmation emails are often missed or ignored by guests or caught in spam filters making it difficult to validate real bookings.

💸 The Cost of Inaccurate Data

When bad data drives decisions, the consequences are real:

• A rebranded hotel failed to update its comp set, making strategic decisions on outdated insights.
• The hotel applied length-of-stay restrictions based on what appeared to be a sold-out night—only to discover 40 rooms were empty due to duplicate bookings.
• Pricing decisions made on faulty occupancy projections resulted in lost revenue and diminished guest satisfaction.

These examples highlight a hard truth: assumptions based on bad data are often more damaging than no data at all.

✅ What You Can Do About It

1. Implement Dual Verification

• Split responsibilities: reservations verify individual bookings; Guest experience or front office teams confirm arrival trends.
• Don’t just trust dashboards — dig into guest-level data to find inconsistencies.

2. Communicate with Guests Proactively

• Send simple plain-text emails or SMS with specific questions (e.g., preferred bed type or ETA).

Example:
Hi [Guest Name], we look forward to welcoming you on [Date]. To help us prepare, could you let us know if you prefer a king or twin bed? If no preference, just let us know!

• This friendly, non-marketing approach drives better response rates and validates bookings.

3. Use Bite-Sized Internal Communication

• Swap out long internal reports for 1-minute video briefs to keep frontline teams informed and engaged.
• Share updates on booking patterns, tech issues, or key guest trends in a format they’ll actually watch.

4. Monitor and Audit Consistently

• Compare arrivals vs. forecasts, monitor guest responses, and flag cancellation spikes by source.
• Regularly audit system sync points to catch and fix where data breaks down.

💬 Final Thought: Let the Data Tell the Right Story

Data isn’t just a report — it’s the story you tell yourself about your business. But if the story doesn’t make sense, the problem might be the data.

By tightening your processes, personalizing your communication, and investing in the right tools, you can turn confusion into clarity — and insights into impact.

Let’s calm the chaos. 

Connect to Pallavi at: LinkedIn | maverx.sg – together, we’ll make your data work for you, not against you.