What Can the Indoor Golf Industry Learn From Hotels?

If you run an indoor golf business, you’re in the business of selling time. Every golf simulator bay is like a hotel room: once a specific hour passes, it can never be sold again. The key is maximizing the value of your available hours - just like hotels do with their rooms.

By adopting some of the same principles that drive the hotel industry, indoor golf venues can boost revenue, improve occupancy, and create smarter membership options.

Perishable Goods: Why Time Is Your Inventory

Hotels think in terms of perishable inventory - a room that isn’t booked tonight is gone forever. Indoor golf is the same: that 12pm slot on a Tuesday can’t be carried over to tomorrow. The more efficiently you sell your hours, the healthier your revenue.

Hotels obsess over metrics like:

• Occupancy rate – what percentage of rooms are filled. For golf, think bays: are your simulators busy 50% of the day, 70%, or more?
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR) – combining occupancy with pricing power. For golf, it’s how much revenue each bay generates per hour across the day.

You don’t need to calculate these down to decimals, but thinking this way helps you treat every bay-hour as valuable.

Pricing Like a Hotel: Peak vs. Off-Peak

No hotel charges the same for Saturday night in July as they do for a Tuesday in February. Indoor golf pricing should work the same way.

• Peak times – weekday evenings, weekends, and holidays - higher demand, higher price.
• Off-peak times – mornings and mid-afternoons during the week - great opportunities for discounts or targeted offers.

Dynamic pricing not only maximizes peak demand but also helps you fill quiet times with new audiences. With the right booking system, you can automate these adjustments and make sure no simulator bay sits empty without trying to attract the right customer.

Memberships Tailored to Your Guests

Hotels know not every customer is the same. Business travelers, families, and retirees all have different needs. Indoor golf venues can also benefit from creating memberships that match customer lifestyles and availability.

Some proven approaches include:

• Daytime memberships – ideal for pensioners who can play midweek, 9am–3pm for example.
• Junior/student packages – affordable pricing for younger players, often outside peak hours.
• Corporate memberships – companies using bays for team-building or client entertainment, often during premium time slots.

A balanced membership mix ensures steady occupancy across different times of day while appealing to multiple demographics.

The Hotel Mindset for Indoor Golf

Hotels don’t just sell rooms; they sell experiences. Similarly, an indoor golf business is more than just selling an hour in a simulator. Customers value convenience, atmosphere, coaching, food and beverage, and a sense of community.

By enhancing the overall experience, you turn a single booking into a long-term relationship - and keep occupancy rates high year-round.

How Alba Helps

At Alba, we build booking and management systems designed specifically for indoor golf venues. By taking inspiration from hotel-style revenue management, we help you:

• Track occupancy rates across all simulator bays and times of day
• Adjust pricing dynamically for peak and off-peak hours
• Create tailored memberships to suit different customer groups
• Maximize revenue per bay without adding more simulators

Your bays are valuable. Treat them like hotel rooms, and you’ll never let another hour go to waste.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I increase revenue from my golf simulator bays? The best way is to treat each bay like a hotel room - every hour is perishable. Use dynamic pricing, offer tailored memberships for different demographics, and track occupancy rates to ensure you’re filling both peak and off-peak hours.

2. What is the difference between peak and off-peak pricing for indoor golf? Peak pricing applies during high-demand times, such as evenings and weekends. Off-peak pricing is for quieter times, like weekday mornings. Offering lower off-peak rates helps attract new players and fill unused hours.

3. What kind of memberships work best for indoor golf venues? Successful venues often offer a mix: daytime passes for retirees, student or junior memberships, premium evening/weekend access, and corporate packages. This creates a balanced customer base and maximizes bay utilization.

4. Can software help manage indoor golf pricing and occupancy? Yes. A booking and management system like Alba helps track occupancy, adjust prices for peak/off-peak times, and manage memberships - ensuring you get the most out of every simulator bay.

Ready to optimize your indoor golf business? Learn how Alba can help you boost revenue and maximize every bay.