Performance & revenue
Walking a guest
Also written: walked guest, walk
Walking a guest is the practice of relocating a confirmed reservation holder to a comparable nearby hotel because the property has overbooked and reached full capacity. The original property covers the alternative lodging costs, transportation, and incidental expenses.
How it is used
Front office and revenue management teams execute walks when guaranteed arrivals exceed physical inventory due to overbooking strategies, stayovers, or out-of-order rooms. Revenue managers deliberately oversell to offset expected cancellations, balancing the risk of empty rooms against the operational cost and reputation damage of relocation. When selecting whom to walk, staff prioritize non-loyalty members, third-party bookings, or single-night stays, avoiding high-tier loyalty members or group attendees. Operations teams maintain pre-negotiated 'walk agreements' with neighboring hotels to secure preferred rates during sellout nights.
Worked example
A 200-room property deliberate oversells by five rooms, expecting cancellations that fail to materialize. Upon reaching 100% physical occupancy, the hotel must walk two guests. The property pays the neighboring hotel $180 per room per night for the two reservations, provides a $30 taxi voucher for each, and absorbs the total $420 expense while forfeiting potential repeat business from those guests.
Common mistake
Failing to account for nearby market compression when overbooking can result in zero available regional inventory, leaving walked guests without alternative accommodations.