For hospitality operators, ‘peak season‘ used to mean December’s Christmas parties and New Year’s bookings. But now? We’re hearing from operators that Christmas enquiries are landing as early as August and relate to anything from November 1st onwards. Peak is starting earlier, running longer, and stretching on site and central teams further than ever before, and larger brands are hiring extra heads just to cope.
And it isn’t just more enquiries. It’s more varied ones:
- Private Hire, special menus, do you allow children…
- Lost property requests flooding in after events.
- Large party booking enquiries that need qualifying quickly before a competitor secures them.
- Endless FAQs around menus, parking, cancellations.
If your support and sales operation can’t keep up in almost real time, you don’t just risk guest frustration, you risk lost revenue. The expectations of guests have changed, they see immediate responses from other industries, and expect hospitality to do the same.
That’s where the Guestwise AI Assistant comes in. It scales your operation without scaling your headcount, delivering instant, consistent responses bespoke to each brand, while freeing staff to focus on what humans do best — building relationships and closing high-value opportunities.
Why Peak Season Brings Support Stress
Here’s what we hear from operators on the ground:
|
Challenge |
What We’re Hearing |
What It Costs You |
|---|---|---|
|
Enquiries arriving earlier |
“We were fielding Christmas party requests in August.” |
Staff not yet resourced for peak, missed opportunities to secure early business. |
|
Surging volume of repetitive FAQs |
“Same questions over and over, menus, parking, policies, private dining, dogs, vegan menu items.” |
Burnout, slower replies, lost bookings, lost revenue opportunities. |
|
Lost property admin |
“After every busy weekend we get a flood of calls about jackets and bags.” |
Staff tied up chasing low-value queries. |
|
Large party bookings |
“Qualifying big enquiries takes time, by the time we get to them, they have booked somewhere else that got back to them sooner.” |
Lost high-value bookings and upsell potential. Revenue suffers. |
|
24/7 expectations |
“Guests email at midnight and expect a reply before breakfast.” |
Missed bookings if no instant answer. |
The Guestwise AI Assistant
The AI Assistant is built to meet exactly these peak-season pressures via web chat or email/enquiry automation:
-
Handles FAQs and lost property enquiries automatically, freeing staff from repetitive admin.
-
Captures and qualifies large party booking enquiries, gathering group size, preferred dates, and contact details.
-
Works 24/7 across channels — website chat, WhatsApp, Messenger, email.
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Personalises responses with your brand voice and knowledge base, which we create automatically, no manual entry required.
-
Escalates complex or high-value cases to staff with all the context already captured.
How to Rethink Support for Peak Season
|
Rethink Area |
Traditional Approach |
With AI Assistant |
Result |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Christmas & event enquiries |
Staff manually send menus and price packages, when they get to it |
AI shares packages instantly, gathers booking details. |
Faster conversions, fewer missed opportunities. |
|
Lost property requests |
Staff spend hours checking a shared spreadsheet, replying individually. |
AI collects details and streamlines tracking/escalation. |
Less staff time wasted, guests feel heard. |
|
Large party leads |
Manual back-and-forth to qualify enquiries. |
AI captures group size, budget, and requirements up front. |
Warmer, qualified leads ready for sales to close. |
|
Repetitive FAQs |
Hundreds of the same answers each week. |
AI responds instantly, every time. |
Faster guest service, less staff fatigue. |
|
Night time and weekend queries |
Wait until the next day or Monday for a reply. |
AI active 24/7. |
Bookings secured overnight and on weekends. Time-sensitive opportunities not lost. |
Revenue & Operational Gains You Can Expect
-
Capture early demand: Don’t miss Christmas or New Year bookings that come in months ahead of peak.
-
Protect staff time: Let AI take care of lost property and FAQs, while humans handle VIP moments.
-
Win more big bookings: AI qualifies large-party enquiries fast so sales teams can focus on closing.
-
Lower costs: Reduce the need for overtime or temporary staff.
-
Boost guest satisfaction: Consistent, fast responses improve reviews and loyalty.
No Time To Wait: Peak Season Readiness Checklist
-
Knowledge base updated with festive packages, menus, booking policies, lost property workflows
-
AI Assistant active on website, chat, WhatsApp, email
-
Escalation rules defined for VIPs, complaints, and high-value group bookings
-
Staff briefed on monitoring AI responses and replying to those that are escalated
-
Metrics dashboard ready: enquiry volume, lost property resolved, party bookings converted
Conclusion: Don’t Let Christmas 2025 Get Away
When Christmas enquiries start in August and lost property calls pile up every Monday, you can’t wait until December to prepare. By rethinking the support model now and deploying the Guestwise AI Assistant, you can capture early demand, manage the flood of admin, qualify big bookings faster, and deliver consistent support, all without burning out your team.
👉 Ready to turn on top quality guest support and sales handling for Peak Season? Book a personalised demo and see how the AI Assistant can transform your operation.
