There’s a quiet revenue leak happening at properties around the world, and most operators don’t even know it’s there. It’s not a pricing issue, a distribution problem, or a marketing gap. It’s the phone – and the calls that go unanswered every single day.
NB: This is an article from RMS Cloud
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and stay up to date
Between 10 and 40 % of hotel calls go unanswered. 70% of callers will hang up within 60 seconds of being put on hold. And perhaps most strikingly, 52% of travelers will turn to an OTA or book a completely different property if they can’t reach you by phone.
And there we were thinking that phone was dead.
These aren’t guests who chose a third-party channel over your website. These are people who picked up the phone, wanted to book direct, and couldn’t get through. You spent the marketing dollars to bring them to your door. The question is: was anyone there to answer?
The reality is that every property – from a six-room pub hotel to a chain with thousands of rooms – everyone misses calls. A small independent operator juggling check-ins, breakfast service, and maintenance can’t always get to the phone. A fully staffed 24-hour front desk still gets overwhelmed at check-in and check-out time. And even large chains with dedicated call centers send callers to voicemail overnight. The problem is everywhere; only the scale varies.
The phone channel is still a thing
In an era of online booking engines and mobile apps, it’s tempting to dismiss phone calls as a relic. But the data tells a different story. The phone remains the highest-converting booking channel in hospitality. When someone calls, they’re ready to book – this is as high-intent as it gets. Your website might attract a thousand visitors and convert a small fraction; a phone call is someone who has already made the decision and just needs to complete it. The volume may be lower than digital channels, but the conversion potential is dramatically higher.
What makes voice AI particularly powerful is the data layer it introduces. For the first time, operators get full visibility into what’s happening on their phone lines: every missed inquiry, every price shopper, every guest who wasn’t quite ready to book. Calls are recorded, transcribed, summarized, and categorized automatically. Properties can see which calls converted, which were transferred, and which fell through the cracks. It’s the equivalent of Google Analytics for your phone channel – and for most operators, this data has simply never existed.
