Definition
Capture ratio is the share of a hotel's in-house guests who eat in its own outlets for a given meal session — the measure of how much of the captive audience the F&B operation actually converts.
Also called: F&B capture ratio · Capture rate
In practice
Breakfast is usually the highest-capture meal a hotel has, because the guest is in the building and often on a rate that includes it. Lunch and dinner are where capture falls away, and where the gap between a hotel's resident base and its covers is most visible.
Capture ratio is more diagnostic than APC for judging whether outlets are working, because it separates two different problems: a weak capture ratio means in-house guests are choosing to eat elsewhere, while a healthy capture ratio with a low average per cover is a pricing and menu-mix question instead.
The companion number is the count of non-resident guests dining at the hotel. A restaurant that draws outside covers is building a business beyond the room base; one that does not is wholly dependent on house count.
Why it matters to an owner
Reading capture ratio and non-resident covers alongside APC is what turns F&B reporting from a revenue total into a diagnosis. It tells an owner whether the problem is attracting diners or pricing them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Because it separates attracting diners from pricing them. A weak capture ratio means in-house guests are eating elsewhere; a strong one with a low APC is a menu-mix and pricing question.
Breakfast, because the guest is already in the building and often on a rate that includes it. Capture typically falls at lunch and dinner.