Hotel Tech-in is our regular feature that takes a closer look at emerging technology in the hospitality industry.
How can hotels convince guests to book stays during seasons they perceive as having worse weather? Daniel Price, co-founder of WeatherPromise, believes his company offers a solution.
“There are times of year and locations where people are hesitant to travel, and that's not a Nobel-winning insight,” said Price, who founded the company in 2022. “We all know that there are shoulder and off-peak seasons, and the definition of a shoulder and an off-peak season is the weather.”
But Price believes there are plenty of times when the weather is great outside of peak months — and his company is betting on that premise. WeatherPromise — which partnered this month with Marriott Bonvoy Homes & Villas — offers guests “guarantees” for good weather on their trips, and pays them back if they get rained out.
Hotel Dive sat down with Price to talk about how weather impacts hotel bookings and how technology can combat occupancy dips.
How it works
Using a variety of sources, WeatherPromise’s technology leverages more than 350 million data points to predict weather conditions at a guest’s destination for the dates of their stay. When that traveler goes to book through one of WeatherPromise’s partners, they have the option of adding on a WeatherPromise guarantee for a fee.
That fee — and the customized weather promises made — are calculated “in a fraction of a second,” Price said. A weather prediction might say, for example, that a guest will experience no more than two days of rain, defining a “day of rain” in hours of rainfall. If it were to rain more than that, the guest would get a refund for their entire stay.
“Then everything is automatic,” Price said. When a guest purchases a WeatherPromise, the company’s technology tracks the weather throughout their stay, and automatically prompts a refund in the case of an inaccurate prediction.
“We wanted it to be completely seamless,” Price added. “You're going to come back [from your trip] with one of two outcomes: Either you're going to have fantastic weather, or you're going to have a full refund.”
The case for hotels
Price said WeatherPromise is marketing itself to travel partners as a way to boost bookings.
He pointed to beach destinations in Florida as an example. While many hotels are running at 100% occupancy in late December, those same properties are underbooked two months earlier, partially due to fear of hurricanes.
“It’s not going to be hurricane weather for 31 straight days, 24 hours a day in October,” he said. Buying a WeatherPromise for a trip during that month, he said, “is a way of giving [hotel] guests the confidence to actually go ahead and book.”
Chris Stephenson, vice president of Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, said the brand’s partnership is part of its “ongoing commitment to elevating guest experiences and exploring innovative enhancements,” adding that WeatherPromise will “ensure guests feel secure no matter what the forecast holds.”
“I can tell you that there are great times to travel and you won't believe me,” Price said. “But if I guarantee you that the weather is going to be great, that gives you the confidence to really go and explore.”
