An American Hotel & Lodging Association survey found that 85% of airport hotels offer free airport shuttle service, underscoring how important reliable transportation is to the airport hotel experience. For airport hotels, the opportunity starts with understanding and making better use of the capacity already available across parking and shuttle operations.
Turn Your Existing Shuttle System Into a Revenue Driver
Airport hotel parking inventory is in demand for travelers looking for alternatives to airport terminal parking. With optimized pricing and distribution, hotel parking margins can exceed 70–80%, making that unused inventory a substantial source of ancillary revenue.
For hotels with available parking, an existing airport shuttle makes that inventory even more valuable. Travelers can park at the property and use the hotel’s shuttle to reach the terminal, generating additional demand for two assets already in place: the parking lot and the shuttle fleet.
Taking advantage of that opportunity starts with understanding capacity. Hotels need visibility into how much parking is available beyond overnight guests and staff, how much of that inventory is being booked by outside travelers, and how much additional demand their existing shuttle service can absorb.
Because parking and shuttle operations are often managed separately, that picture isn’t always clear. Better visibility into parking demand helps hotels anticipate how many additional travelers their shuttles need to accommodate and determine whether existing service has enough capacity.
With that visibility, hotels can generate additional parking revenue and get more out of a shuttle operation they’re already running, without necessarily adding vehicles or transportation infrastructure.
Maximize the Value of Every Shuttle Trip
Hotels are already absorbing the cost of scheduled shuttle runs, and many of those trips leave with open seats. Airport parking customers can fill that unused capacity with little to no additional operating cost, helping hotels generate more value from an asset already in motion.
More parking customers also don’t necessarily mean more shuttle trips. Visibility into parking demand helps hotels understand how much additional volume their existing schedule can absorb and when demand is high enough to justify adding service. And when additional trips do become necessary, the incremental parking revenue can help offset the added operating cost.
Reduce Traveler Anxiety with More Predictable Transportation
For travelers trying to catch a flight, uncertainty around parking and transportation adds unnecessary stress. Not knowing when a shuttle will arrive, how long the trip to the terminal will take, or whether there will be enough space can make an already time-sensitive journey more difficult.
Hotels can create a more predictable experience with reliable shuttle schedules, real-time tracking, and better capacity planning. That predictability also makes hotel parking a more compelling alternative to airport parking, giving travelers confidence that they can get from their car to the terminal reliably and on time.
At Ocra, we partner with TrackMyShuttle to connect these two parts of the journey. Ocra helps hotels monetize available parking inventory by distributing it across third-party parking booking at optimized rates, while TrackMyShuttle gives travelers real-time visibility into shuttle locations and timing. Together, the two solutions give hotels greater visibility into parking demand while creating a more predictable journey from the parking lot to the terminal.
Take More Control of the Guest Journey
For airport hotels, the opportunity starts with understanding and making better use of the capacity already available across parking and shuttle operations. Ocra provides greater visibility into both to help hotels understand how much additional demand they can accommodate within existing operations and when that demand justifies expanding service.
By connecting available parking inventory with existing shuttle capacity, hotels can create a more efficient operation, deliver a more reliable journey to the terminal, and turn underutilized assets into a valuable source of non-room revenue.
To learn more about how ancillary parking revenue can increase NOI and drive top-line revenue for your airport hotel locations, visit our website, connect with us on LinkedIn, or email info@getocra.com.
