Denial

Definition

A booking request the hotel turns away — the house or room type is full, or a restriction (stop sell, min stay) blocks the stay. The guest wanted to book; the hotel said no.

What it tells you

Denials are the demand you never see in sales data. Counting them separates “we sold 100 rooms because that was all the demand” from “we sold 100 because that was all the rooms” — two situations that call for opposite pricing next year.

How to track it

Online it can be logged automatically: booking-engine searches that found no availability. On the phone and at the desk it takes a turnaway log kept by the reservation team. Capture is never complete — consistency matters more than completeness.

Where it fits

One half of lost demand: the hotel refuses (denial) or the guest walks (regret). Added to actual sales, the two produce the unconstrained demand estimate.