Hotel Revenue Glossary · Operations
Block Pickup
The number of rooms from a group's allocated block that have been actually reserved by individual attendees as of a specific date. If a group blocked 100 rooms and 65 have names attached, block pickup is 65% with the remaining 35 rooms still unconfirmed.
Why it matters: Block pickup determines whether a group will use its full allocation or leave unused rooms. Low block pickup approaching the cutoff date signals that the hotel should reduce the block and release rooms for transient sale to avoid empty inventory.
Worked example: Block of 100, cutoff in 14 days, 65 rooms picked up — 65%. Last year the same event stood at 78% with 14 days left and finished at 91%. Apply that shape: 65 / 78 x 91 = 76 rooms expected, so release roughly 24, not the 35 that look unclaimed today. Release too many and you turn away the group's own stragglers; too few and two dozen rooms sell for nothing.
Common mistake: Reading pickup as a single number for the whole block. A 65% block is often 90% on the Wednesday and 40% on the Friday shoulder, and the Friday is the night you could have sold at BAR. Track pickup night by night, and release the shoulder dates first.