Lead time

Why Lead time matters for your revenue

Tracking average lead time against the same period last year is an early warning signal. A shortening lead time usually means rates are ahead of demand; a lengthening one can justify raising prices for the far calendar.

Related terms

• Booking windowThe booking window is the spread of time between when guests reserve and when they arrive, measured across all bookings for a property or market. It is usually described as a distribution rather than a single number, because leisure and business guests book on different horizons.
• Dynamic pricingDynamic pricing is the practice of changing nightly rates continuously in response to demand signals: local occupancy, competitor rates, events, day of week, seasonality and how far ahead the booking falls. Rates are recalculated regularly rather than fixed at the start of a season.
• SeasonalitySeasonality is the repeating annual pattern of demand in a market, driven by climate, school holidays, religious calendars, events and travel habits. It determines which months command premium rates, which sustain steady occupancy and which need active demand generation.
• Occupancy rateOccupancy rate is the share of available nights that were booked in a period, expressed as a percentage. Nights the owner blocked for personal use are normally excluded from the available count, so the figure reflects commercial performance rather than calendar availability.