An off-season revenue plan is a calendar, not a list of ideas: gift certificates live before the holiday shopping season starts, a dated discount code while guests are already buying presents, early-bird rates in the deadest weeks of January, and next season’s pricing settled before you reopen.
Work through the months below in the order they arrive, and start with the one you are in.
What the off-season costs you, month by month
Most operators can name their quiet months. Far fewer can say what those months cost in money, and that is the number that decides how much of the work below is worth doing.
Open Reports > Revenue. The report groups payments by month, opens on the last twelve months by default, and carries refunds and net totals alongside the payment totals, so the figure you read is what you actually kept.1 Read the gap between your strongest month and your weakest one.
October: get gift certificates live before the shopping season
A gift certificate is the one thing you can sell in December that costs you nothing to deliver in December. The guest pays now and turns up in your season, which is exactly the trade you want when the calendar is empty.
Gift certificates are an add-on rather than something already running in your account. Switch them on under Manage > Integrations > Popular, then Gift Certificates.2,3 Once activated they sell as a product on your booking page, and the recipient gets a unique redemption code by email or as a PDF.2
If you cannot find the tile, ask support before you assume you cannot do this. Gift certificates are not switched on for every account by default, and whether yours can have them depends on your plan and your Checkfront version.
October is the deadline because the buying happens in November and December, and a gift certificate nobody can find on your site in October is a gift certificate nobody buys. For the case for selling them at all, see why you should sell gift certificates online.
November to December: run a dated discount code, and build a product for group work
Guests who are not going anywhere in December are still spending in December. A dated discount code is the simplest thing you can put in front of them, and it takes minutes to build.
Create one under Inventory > Discounts.4 Decide the date it comes off before you publish it, and put that date in your own calendar, because a code that quietly stays live past the window stops being an offer and becomes your price.
Accounts using classic items get more to work with in the same place: discount rules, open discounts and the Active Discounts report all sit there, which matters if you want to run several offers at once and see which one moved.4
The other December job does not look like a holiday promotion at all. Corporate and group enquiries arrive in the quarter when companies are booking staff events, and the operators who win them do not bend a public product to fit. Build a separate product for group and corporate work, priced for the size of party you actually want, and keep it off your public booking page if the rate is not one you want everyone to see.
On accounts using classic products, you can also set the rate to step as the party grows, with Group Pricing under Inventory > Products, then Pricing.5 Tiers are set by minimum and maximum quantity, so a party of twenty pays a different per-head rate to a party of four without you quoting by hand.
For what to put in a December offer rather than how to build it, see 4 promo code ideas to drive off-season revenue.
January to February: open next season early, and borrow another audience
In January and February, nobody is thinking about your summer, which is exactly why an early-bird offer works there: you are the only thing in the inbox.
The simplest method is a discount code with a published closing date, built under Inventory > Discounts.4 Treat taking it down as part of the job rather than something the system does for you.
Accounts using classic items can go further and move the rate itself across a date range with Item Events, under Inventory > Item Events,6 with Item Rules under Inventory > Rules setting the conditions a booking has to meet.7 That combination is the closest thing to a real early-bird rate rather than a code you remember to retire.
For how deep to price it and how long to leave it open, see how to offer an early bird discount that sells.
The other January move costs you nothing. A Partner Account lets another business sell your trips and earn a commission without reaching your back office, set up under Manage > User Accounts > Partner Accounts on accounts using classic items and classic products.8 The number you can add depends on your plan. Find an operator whose season runs opposite yours, and you each get in front of an audience that is already booking something.
Partner Accounts are one of the settings most operators never open. Four more are in 5 Checkfront features most operators don’t know they have, and the outreach side is covered in how to partner with fellow tour operators.
March to April: decide next season’s pricing while you can still change it
In March, a price change is a decision. By June it is a disruption, because the bookings it would have applied to are already taken.
Three things to settle before you reopen:
- What to charge. Take last season’s numbers out of Reports > Revenue and decide the new rate per product, rather than adding a percentage across everything.
- What to retire. The product that barely sold all season is costing you calendar space and guest attention. Pull it.
- What to package. Two products that keep getting booked together are one product you have not built yet.
Once those decisions are made, the configuration work has its own checklist in the pre-peak setup audit. Do not start there: a checklist run against last season’s prices locks in last season’s prices.
Your off-season revenue plan, month by month
- Now: open Reports > Revenue and write down the gap between your best month and your worst.
- October: switch gift certificates on and get them selling on your booking page before the shopping starts.
- November to December: publish one dated discount code, and build the group product you keep quoting by hand.
- January to February: open next season with an early-bird offer, and set up one Partner Account with an operator whose season runs opposite yours.
- March to April: settle pricing, retire what did not sell, package what did, then run the setup checklist.
Our team can walk you through the discount, group pricing and partner settings in your account, and show you what to switch on before the quiet months arrive.
Sources
- Reporting on revenue, Checkfront Support.
- Introduction to gift certificates, Checkfront Support.
- Activating gift certificates within Checkfront, Checkfront Support.
- Introduction to discount and voucher codes, Checkfront Support.
- Configuring group pricing for your products, Checkfront Support.
- Introduction to Item Events (Classic Items), Checkfront Support.
- Introduction to Item Rules (Classic Items), Checkfront Support.
- Introduction to Partner Accounts, Checkfront Support.
FAQ: When should an off-season revenue plan start?
ANS: Before the first quiet month, not during it. The earliest action lands in October, which means the plan has to exist in September. Selling can be done late. Setup cannot, because switching a feature on, building the offer and getting it in front of guests all take longer than the week you have left.
FAQ: What is the difference between a discount code and a voucher in Checkfront?
ANS: A discount code is reusable and suits a general campaign or a date-based special. A voucher is single use, imported as a list, and suits syndication deals or a one-off reward for an individual guest. Both are set up under Inventory, then Discounts.
FAQ: Will off-season discounts train guests to wait for a lower price?
ANS: Only if the lower price never goes away. Publish a closing date for every off-season offer and put that date in your own calendar, because taking the code down is a job you do rather than one the system does for you. An offer that ends when you said it would reads as a reason to book now. One that quietly stays live becomes your new price.
FAQ: Can I sell a gift certificate if my account does not show the option?
ANS: Ask support rather than assuming. Gift certificates are an add-on that is not switched on for every account by default, and whether yours can have them depends on your plan and your Checkfront version. It is worth asking in September rather than in December.