Occupancy Rate
Occupancy rate is the percentage of a rental’s available nights that were actually booked over a given period - booked nights divided by total nights available, expressed as a percentage. It’s one of the most common performance metrics in vacation rental and hotel management, used to judge how well a property is filling its calendar.
A 70% occupancy rate for a given month means the rental was booked for roughly 21 of that month's 30 nights. Occupancy is usually tracked alongside average nightly rate, since the two together determine revenue - a high occupancy rate at a low rate can earn less than a lower occupancy rate at a higher one.
Occupancy is typically calculated per listing, per platform, or blended across every channel a host lists on - the number can look very different depending on which bookings are included.
Why it matters for hosts
Hosts use occupancy rate to judge pricing and demand, spot slow stretches worth a seasonal rate adjustment, and compare how a property performs across different OTAs versus direct bookings. It’s a metric hosts typically calculate from their own booking records or a platform’s reporting, rather than something every calendar sync tool computes automatically.
Related terms
Other glossary terms that come up alongside this one.
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