Sabre: Eleventh-hour Christmas Shoppers are Driving a Boom in Hotel Gift Card Sales

Hoteliers using Sabre technology to sell gift cards and experiences have their biggest shopping moment of the year in the hour before midnight on Christmas Eve, according to insights from Sabre Corporation, a leading travel software and technology provider.

The hotel gift card industry is burgeoning; currently worth around $60bn, and growing year-on-year at an average rate of 14%. And, the most popular shopping hour of the year, Sabre has revealed, is from 11pm to Midnight on Christmas Eve as last-minute shoppers snap up experiences rather than physical goods for loved ones.

Hotel gift cards are also gaining in popularity among the corporate market, with businesses choosing to select a gift card for team members, stakeholders, and valued customers rather than traditional Christmas hampers.

“The busiest time of the year for our hotelier partners when it comes to retailing gift cards and vouchers for experiences is the last hour of Christmas Eve, and there are still a large number of sales that come through on Christmas Day, from people who have forgotten to buy a gift, don’t feel like they have given enough, or are taking advantage of Christmas Day sales,” said Amy Read, Vice President, Strategy, Sabre Hospitality.

Sabre Hospitality is enabling hoteliers to advance their retailing strategy, following the acquisition earlier this year of hospitality e-commerce provider Techsembly, which offers a fully automated e-commerce solution for hotel retailing. Through this integration, Sabre Hospitality is now offering highly advanced and configurable capabilities for the selling and fulfilment of gift cards.

While previously, hotels have focused on creating revenue around a room, this technology is enabling them to enhance revenue opportunities by retailing everything from 3rd party services to physical merchandise and experiences.

According to Sabre, adding gift cards to their retailing capabilities enables hoteliers to turn guests into hotel ambassadors who want to give the gift of a hotel experience, while also attracting new guests. Sabre says it is a highly effective way to create additional revenue, with 72% of guests spending more than the value of the gift card they receive.