Hotel bookings by the hour rocket by 70% in 'Covid year'

HOTEL bookings by the hour helped save Spain's tourism industry this autumn – in fact, they soared by over 70% in October, reports founder of the platform ByHours, Guillermo Gaspart.

Around 3,500 hotels in 24 countries are registered on the portal, says Gaspart, and booking for hours rather than days rose by 62% just in September.

By October, they had broken the 14,000 reservations barrier.

Spain in particular has benefited from this home-grown scheme, given that its beach tourists over summer months are some of the biggest contributors to the national economy and the holiday industry in the country year round, including staycations, rural trips and city breaks, accounts for an estimated 15% of the GDP.

Gaspart says that as a result of the pandemic and entire nations opting to enforce quarantine on travellers from other entire nations, hotels have had 'loads of empty rooms' this year.

September and October typically see this happen anyway, although to a lesser extent than during 'Covid year'.

This means they have a 'very high availability' for booking by the hour.

“The more product you have, the more you sell,” explains ByHours' creator.

Hourly reservations do not have to involve travelling very far – or even at all, which is what has made them take off during the pandemic.

Guests can book rooms in 'packages', which may or may not include food and use of other facilities, with prices for three, six or 12 hours.

A different type of hourly-booking 'package' allows customers to book meeting rooms for set time slots.

Gaspart explains that the average 'hourly reservation' tends to be for work or for chilling out: Guests book a room so they can do their jobs remotely in comfort, peace and quiet, or to just 'get away from it all' for a day.

In Barcelona, for example, where bars and restaurants have been temporarily closed, customers can book a room, eat in the hotel restaurant and doze off for a bit in a comfortable bed.

ByHours is expecting to report a turnover of €6 million this year – a 20% hike on last year's €5m.

It is not a new idea – ByHours started out in 2012, and now has offices either open or in the pipeline in the USA, México (with 12 employees), Barcelona (with 46 permanent staff members), and is planning to set up in an as-yet undecided location in Asia.