Hotel Revenue Glossary · Demand
OTB (On The Books)
The total number of room night reservations currently confirmed for a future date. OTB represents definite business — rooms that have been booked and not yet cancelled.
Why it matters: OTB is the starting point for any forecast or pricing decision. Knowing how many rooms are already committed for a date helps determine how much remaining inventory to sell and at what price.
Worked example: Saturday shows 96 rooms OTB in a 130-room hotel at A$213 average - A$20,448 committed and 34 rooms still to sell. The forecast says 118. So the question is not what the rate should be but what price clears 22 more rooms in eleven days. Sell those 22 at A$260 and the night finishes at A$26,168, an ADR of 26,168 / 118 = A$221.76.
Common mistake: Reading OTB as a promise. A 40-room group block will wash, and flexible OTA reservations sitting sixty days out will cancel. Price a group-heavy Thursday off raw OTB and you close availability far too early, turning away the transient rooms the block was never going to fill.