Group Pickup is the number of additional room nights or reservations booked within a group room block over a defined period. It helps hotels track how quickly attendees are making reservations against the rooms allocated to a group.
How It Works
Reservations teams and revenue managers monitor group pickup to evaluate whether a group is progressing toward its expected room-night commitment.
Pickup can be measured between two reporting snapshots or over a specified period. Hotels may track room nights, reservations, or revenue, provided the measurement basis is clearly defined.
Group pickup is particularly useful when reviewing rooming lists, cutoff dates, attrition clauses, and the likelihood that a group will use its allocated inventory.
Formula
Group Pickup = Current Group Room Nights on the Books − Previous Group Room Nights on the Books
Practical Example
A conference room block has 100 rooms available for three nights. At the first review, attendees have booked 60 room nights. One week later, the total has increased to 78 room nights.
Group Pickup = 78 − 60 = 18 room nights
The group generated 18 additional booked room nights during the week.
How to Interpret Group Pickup
Strong pickup may indicate that attendees are making reservations at a healthy pace, while slower pickup may require follow-up with the organizer or a review of the expected demand.
However, pickup alone does not guarantee that all reservations will materialize. Revenue managers should also consider cancellations, wash, the cutoff date, attrition provisions, and the remaining room inventory.
Related Terms
Group Reservations · Room Block · Rooming List · Cutoff Date · Attrition · Wash Factor · Booking Pace · Demand Forecast · Room Inventory