How to Discount Inventory Without Eroding Margins

The travel sector has historically accepted a 20% loss on unsold inventory as an inevitable friction of the trade. It is a staggering figure. To compensate, many CMOs and VPs fall back on the same reliable but destructive levers:

• Blanket discounts

• Last-minute public flash sales

• Heavy dependency on OTAs.

While these tactics protect occupancy, they systematically dismantle brand discipline and margin.

Why Legacy Platforms Are Sabotaging Your Revenue Strategy

The challenge is that our technology often dictates our strategy. Most legacy platforms operate with a lack of surgical precision.

When a travel operator needs to shift "bad" dates or fill a resort during a quiet shoulder season, the system frequently lacks the ability to target those specific units. Instead, a broad promotional code is released.

In practice, this is like a restaurant discounting the entire menu because the sea bass is nearing its expiry date:

• The Missed Opportunity: Regular customers, intending to order the expensive steak, take the discount on the steak instead.

• The Waste: The sea bass remains in the kitchen.

• The Result: Profit erodes, and the problem remains unsolved.

In the travel industry, this translates to guests applying generic rewards to peak-season bank holidays because the platform cannot enforce blackout dates or isolate underperforming inventory.

The Reality: We end up subsidising our most high-intent guests while the inventory that actually needs help reaches the end of its shelf life.

Beyond Blanket Offers: Mastering Granular Inventory Control

The solution is not more volume, but strategic conversion targeting. We must move away from the 'all or nothing' approach to promotions.

If a platform cannot support the exclusion of peak dates or the specific targeting of distressed inventory, it is no longer a tool; it is a liability.

True Margin Protection Requires:

• Decoupling: High-demand products must be entirely separated from promotional activity.

• Granular Control: The ability to offer aggressive incentives on a rainy Tuesday in February without those perks bleeding into the August school holidays.

• Technical Agility: Moving past the "false choice" of either losing ground to competitors or bleeding margin through blanket offers.

The Bottom Line: Settling for less than total control over where and when a discount is applied is the biggest risk to a travel brand’s health.