notitur.com August 28, 2026
Hotel TechnologyPublished August 28, 20261 min read

30% of hotel calls go unanswered and no one talks about it

JSBy Joan SanzCurated by Joan Sanz. · August 28, 2026 · Follow on LinkedIn
Voice reading · ~1 min

Juan Leal, Account Executive at Canary Technologies, said it plainly in his flash talk: 30% of calls to hotels go unanswered. And every missed call is not just a bad customer experience, it's a booking that never happens. At a time when direct bookingDirect bookingA direct booking is one the guest makes through the hotel's own channels, with no middleman. It saves the OTA commission and gives the hotel the guest data to build loyalty. Winning direct is one of the industry's big... is a priority, this is throwing money away.

The number hurts even more when you think of the effort hotels put into driving traffic to their website, and then they fail at the basics: answering the phone. In my opinion, this is not a reception issue, it's a strategy issue. How many times have you called a hotel only to end up booking on an OTAOTAAn online travel agency is a channel that sells accommodation and travel online in exchange for a commission. Booking.com and Expedia are the biggest. They bring volume and visibility, but charge commissions that eat... because nobody picked up?

Canary Technologies, right on this, offers automation solutions that ensure calls are answered or routed to a booking channel. The tech exists, the question is whether hotels want to use it. Because meanwhile, that 30% keeps going to Booking.

My take: whoever answers first, wins. And you don't need to be a big hotel to get it right, just have the right tools.

Quick questions

What percentage of hotel calls go unanswered?
According to Juan Leal from Canary Technologies, 30% of calls to hotels go unanswered. It's a number that should worry any hotel manager.
Why do calls get lost in a hotel?
Often due to understaffed reception, peak demand, or the phone ringing while attending other guests. No excuse justifies losing a booking.
What does Canary Technologies do to solve this?
Canary Technologies offers automation and guest experience tools that help manage calls and avoid losing bookings.
How does this affect a hotel's direct sales?
A missed call is a lost direct booking. The caller usually has intent to book, and if nobody answers, they'll go to an OTA.
What can a small hotel do to avoid missing calls?
The simplest is to forward calls to an on-call mobile or use an answering service. The key is to make sure no call goes unanswered.

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