Days Before Arrival (DBA)

The period leading up to a guest's arrival, often referred to as "days before arrival" (DBA), is a critical window for hotels. This timeframe presents a valuable opportunity to connect with guests, enhance their pre-arrival experience, and set the stage for a positive stay.

3 Reasons Days Before Arrival Are Important for Hotels

The guest pre-arrival window is a golden opportunity for your hotel to make a lasting impression and drive revenue. Use this crucial time frame to transform future guests into eager arrivals.

1. Increase Guest Satisfaction

A personalized and informative pre-arrival experience can significantly improve guest satisfaction. More than 85% of surveyed individuals reported that they’d like to receive pre-arrival communication from a business such as a hotel. By communicating before guests even get through your door, you can start increasing satisfaction far earlier.

2. Reduce Operational Stress

Clear communication during DBA can minimize confusion and last-minute requests once guests arrive. Travelers who pre-register online or receive answers to their questions beforehand put less strain on reception staff, ensuring a smoother check-in process.

3. Upselling and Revenue Opportunities

The pre-arrival window is a prime time to offer guests additional services, like spa treatments, airport transfers or room upgrades. This can generate extra revenue for your hotel and give guests the full experience of staying on your property.

4 Ways to Maximize Your Days Before Arrival Strategy

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Every touchpoint before arrival is an opportunity to exceed expectations and increase revenue. Here's how you can maximize this critical period.

 
1.    Personalized communication: Send automated, personalized emails based on guest preferences and booking details. This could include directions, parking info, recommended local attractions and early check-in options.  
 
2.    Upselling and cross-selling opportunities: Showcase on-site amenities like restaurants or spa services with tailored upsell offerings. To incentivize guests to book in advance, offer discounted packages or bundles that combine room rates with activities or meals.  
 
3.    Collect guest information: Encourage guests to pre-register online or complete a short questionnaire to gather preferences and be informed if they’ll be celebrating a special occasion during their stay.  
 
4.    Address guest concerns: Provide a clear and easily accessible FAQ section on your hotel’s website. Additionally, consider offering a convenient pre-arrival chat option for guests who have last-minute inquiries.  

Must-Have Technology to Optimize the Guest Journey

Combine Canary Technologies' digital guest journey platform with your CRM and other software to manage all aspects of the guest experience, from pre-arrival to checkout.

 
•    Automate personalized pre-arrival communication: Create customized email templates through an integrated CRM and utilize a hotel guest experience platform that greets guests, provides essential information and offers upselling opportunities automatically triggered at the perfect moment.  
 
•    Streamline guest registration: Enable guests to pre-register online with Mobile Check-In to minimize wait times while ensuring compliance and data security.  
 
•    Boost guest engagement: Offer guests instant answers to common questions with AI-powered guest messaging that they can access right from their phones.  

Make Your Days Before Arrival Count

Creating a DBA strategy leads to happier guests, better reviews and more revenue. Plus, it makes your team's job easier. Want to learn more about connecting with guests before they arrive? Read our guide: 4 Ways to Wow Hotel Guests With Pre-Arrival Communication.

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Ready to improve your pre-arrival experience with hotel management software? Let's talk.