Hotel Revenue Glossary · Pricing

CTA (Closed to Arrival)

A restriction that prevents new check-ins on a specific date while still allowing guests already in-house to continue their stay through that date. CTA is used to manage inventory on peak nights by requiring arrivals on adjacent dates.

Why it matters: CTA is a powerful tool for managing compression nights. By closing arrivals on Saturday but allowing Friday arrivals to stay through Saturday, you fill Saturday with longer-stay, often higher-value guests while protecting against one-night bookings.

Worked example: Your peak Saturday forecasts 128 of 130 sold while Friday sits at 71. Close Saturday to arrival and the Saturday-only guest is turned away, while the Friday-to-Sunday guest books both nights. Convert fourteen of them and Friday gains 14 x A$234 = A$3,276, while Saturday, already full, gives up nothing. Run the same restriction on a Saturday forecast at 104 and you have closed a night with 26 rooms still to sell.

Common mistake: Confusing closed to arrival with closing the date. CTA still lets the guest already in-house stay Saturday night; a full close stops both. Load the wrong one on your peak night and you cancel exactly the Friday-to-Saturday and Saturday-to-Sunday stays the restriction was meant to attract.

All glossary terms MLOS (Minimum Length of Stay) Sell-Through Rate Fence