No-Show meaning in hospitality

A no show is when a guest books a room or table and doesn’t show up at the hotel, restaurant or other hospitality venue without cancelling or letting us know. This happens when a guest books a room or table and doesn’t turn up at the expected time or date. No shows can happen for many reasons, such as changes in travel plans, forgetfulness or unexpected circumstances.

No shows affect the hospitality industry big time because it means lost revenue and wasted resources. When a guest doesn’t show up we miss the opportunity to sell that room or table to another customer. This means less profits and wasted resources, including staff time and prepared amenities. To mitigate these losses many establishments have no show policies, such as charging a fee or requiring a deposit for bookings.

Imagine you’re the front desk manager of a city centre hotel on a busy summer weekend. The hotel is fully booked and you have a waiting list of guests hoping for a last minute cancellation. As the evening check in time approaches you notice Mr Smith who booked a deluxe suite hasn’t arrived or contacted the hotel. You try calling the number on file but there’s no answer. After the grace period specified in your hotel’s policy you mark Mr Smith as a no show in your system. This allows you to release the room to a guest on the waiting list so the hotel doesn’t lose revenue on an empty room. The next day you process the no show fee as per your hotel’s policy which helps to offset some of the potential lost income from the original booking.'