Inventory & Yield Management
MinLOS and CTA: The Inventory Controls That Protect Your Best Nights
Minimum length of stay isn't a restriction — it's a yield tool. Used correctly, it prevents one-night bookings from blocking out higher-value multi-night demand.
4 min read
Minimum length of stay (MinLOS) and closed-to-arrival (CTA) controls are two of the most powerful — and most frequently misused — inventory management tools available to revenue managers. MinLOS forces a guest to book at least a specified number of nights to access a date, protecting peak nights from being isolated by short stays that prevent a longer booking from fitting.
CTA prevents new arrivals on a specific date, useful when a property is nearly full and extending a stay around an existing block is more valuable than new check-ins. Both controls require careful calibration: too aggressive and you block genuine demand; too conservative and you leave higher-value business out.