When I worked as a market manager for a major OTA in Montreal, I knew the importance of Grand Prix weekend to hitting my goals and targets. Just four nights in summer could represent a significant portion of our revenue, if handled correctly.
NB: This is an article from Rate Yield
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We all know rates are going to be sky high, but the real revenue opportunity for standing out is in restriction management.
For those who haven’t lived and breathed a Grand Prix weekend in Montreal, let me fill you in. Thursday night is when the groups arrive because the practice sessions take place on Friday. On Saturday there are qualifying sessions and the race takes place on Sunday. Naturally, the spectator attendance is higher on the weekend than the Friday, and people tend to want or need to get home for Monday. That being said, the corporate groups are usually booking a 4 night stay including Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
So picture this, all major hotels in Montreal have weekends closed out in June (or May since 2026) until the dates are made official. Once they are announced, the rates get put in place and a minimum 4 night stay restriction is placed on all 4 days. It’s fair, you want to protect your inventory for those die hard fans that are going to book immediately after the announcement is made, or for the corporate groups, or our loyal return guests.
Now, imagine we are 90 days from arrival and you still have 50% of your inventory to sell. Are you holding on to your minimum 4 night length of stay restriction? Are you removing it from Thursday and allowing anyone to book one night on Thursday? Are you opening up your Sundays to departures? And if you are, have you removed the restriction on your Sunday requiring more than a one night stay? Are your room types balanced so if someone does want to stay for 3 or 4 nights, do you have availability? Same questions at 30 days prior to arrival.
