A walk-in is a guest or customer who turns up to a hospitality business without a booking or reservation. This applies to all sorts of businesses, hotels, restaurants, bars and cafes. Walk-ins are spontaneous visitors who decide to come in on the day, often because of convenience, curiosity or need.
Walk-ins are important in hospitality as they can boost revenue and fill empty spaces. For hotels, walk-ins can help fill occupancy rates during off-peak or slow periods. For restaurants and bars, walk-ins can increase table turns and overall sales. But managing walk-ins requires flexibility and quick decision making to balance them with pre-booked guests or bookings.
Imagine this: You're the manager of a busy bistro on a Saturday night. Your restaurant is full, but you've left a few tables open for walk-ins. At 7:30pm, a group of four walks in hoping for a table. You quickly assess the situation and see that a table of six hasn't arrived yet. You decide to seat the walk-in group at a four top, knowing you can fit the reserved party at the six top if they turn up. You've managed to grab the walk-in and still have flexibility for your bookings. By the end of the night, both the walk-in group and the reserved party have eaten, and you've maxed out your restaurant's capacity and revenue.