As summer planning gets underway, upscale hotels, resorts, and their guests are looking at options for the traditional summer vacation. While everyone still covets a week by the pool, splashing in the warm water or enjoying the cool shade of a cabana, not everyone has the time–or finances–to fit that in.

Instead of extended vacations, guests are booking day access at hotels and resorts. These one-day getaways let guests enjoy hotel amenities–pool, spa, gym, or even daytime room reservations, without spending the night. 

It’s a win/win: day guests enjoy a brief escape without having to travel. At the same time, hotels can build their brand recognition with new customers–especially locals in their area–while increasing their incremental revenue with the amenities they already offer.  

This pays off. ResortPass, which holds 95% of the day-guest market, partners with more than 2,000 hotels across North America. Michael Wolf, ResortPass CEO, described one hotel’s effective strategy to increase revenue: “One of the strongest performing properties on ResortPass launched a Beach Pass that includes a food and beverage credit. This property surpassed $100,000 in gross sales in just a month because of this smart packaging.” 

Creating visibility for a successful day guest program

Although hotels could offer day passes directly to guests, a service like ResortPass takes on the booking and marketing load. 

“Over five million people have enjoyed a daycation via ResortPass,” explained Liam Larkin, Head of Partnerships at ResortPass. “This means that when you list day passes, cabanas, spa passes, and other day access inventory, ResortPass actually drives guests to you via their consumer marketing efforts. We work with dozens of lifestyle, family, and travel influencers and drive awareness about day guesting through top-tier media coverage. This has helped to make day guesting more mainstream, and means that day guests look to ResortPass first when they evaluate their options for exceptional daycations.”

Larkin added that although hotels are well-versed in understanding the behaviors of their overnight guests, ResortPass offers a different insight: day guests’ behaviors. “We offer these insights to our hotel partners so that they can maximize the potential of their day guest programs.” 

Getting Your Property Day Guest-Ready

If you’re a hotel or resort operator interested in welcoming day guests, Larkin suggested the following:

• Identify what day access products can be offered based on your property’s amenities. Successful properties have amenities like a pool or spa. The most popular products include day passes, cabanas, day beds, day rooms, spa passes, and spa treatments.
• Day passes are typically a brand new product for hotels to offer, so there is a lot of opportunity to develop pricing and packaging that drives day guest bookings. The Competitive Set Report in the Partner Portal on ResortPass shows you how competitors price. This can be used as a guide. For the greatest success, start with lower prices and gradually increase based on demand. This allows you to build loyalty among local day guests. Once you get a sense of the right price range, you can easily switch on dynamic pricing on ResortPass so that your day passes cost more when you have higher utilization. 
• Consider if there are specific amenities that are underutilized. For example, overnight guests may spend their time sightseeing, not lounging by the pool.
• Create an excellent check-in experience for day guests. Some properties check day guests in at the front desk, while others send day guests directly to the pool for check-in. In either case, provide clear signage to direct day guests toward their check-in and amenities. Give them a map, WiFi code, and details about towel and bar service to settle them in quickly. 
• Allow day guests to book on the weekends. Over 56% of sales in 2024 were for Friday, Saturday, or Sunday visits.
• Think of including perks, like a free glass of champagne or a food and beverage credit with a day pass. If the property is family-friendly, add a Family Pass (i.e., 25% off the price of two adult and two child passes).

“For hotels and resorts searching for ways to grow revenue, offering day passes is a creative way to make the most of amenities that are already available,” Larkin said. “With the volume of consumers who already love ResortPass, we’re able to help properties increase revenue and brand recognition without significantly increasing effort.”