Undergrad Junior · Lesson 57 of 66
Seasonality
Where the year’s profit actually comes from, and the months that quietly give it back.
5 min read +10 XP
Most of your annual profit is made in a small number of nights. The rest of the year is about not giving it back.
The shape of a Central Florida year
Roughly 90 peak nights carry 45–55% of the year’s revenue. Getting peak pricing wrong by 15% costs more than getting the entire shoulder season wrong.
The shoulder-season trap
This is where amateur pricing bleeds out. Holding peak rates into late April empties the calendar, and an empty night is worth nothing forever — you cannot sell it later.
Still with me? Two words that tell you early.
Pace and pickup
Occupancy tells you what happened. Pace tells you what is about to, while you can still do something about it. On 1 June you are 34% booked for July; last 1 June you were 52%. You are 18 points behind — act now, not on 1 July.
Pickup separates “my price is wrong” from “it is early yet.” Weak pace with healthy pickup is fine. Weak pace with zero pickup is a pricing problem you have this week.