‘No Vacancy’ signs are vanishing
You’ve been driving for a good chunk of the day, you’re pulling into an unfamiliar town, and you need a place to stay for the night. Happily, there’s a comforting sight just ahead: a motel with an illuminated “Vacancy” sign — the “No” darkened.
The “(No) Vacancy” sign has greeted road-weary American travelers for generations. But just as paper maps and toll booth clerks increasingly seem quaint relics of the analog age, the classic sign may soon become another victim of shifting travel habits.
It’s not clear who came up with the ingeniously simple pairing of “Vacancy” and “No Vacancy,” which allows the motel operator to toggle the “No” on or off, but it was probably sometime in the 1930s or before.
By 1946, the signs had become so ubiquitous that singer Merle Travis recorded a song called “No Vacancy,” which reached No. 3 on the country charts.
America’s postwar boom in the 1950s and ’60s, which led to an explosion of automotive travel and roadside lodging, further solidified the sign as a staple of U.S. travel culture.
But a lot has changed. “We don’t really have any customers who want that type of sign anymore,” said Alex Lauretano of the Lauretano Sign Group, a leading sign manufacturer for the hospitality industry. “At one point they were useful but not anymore, with online booking.”
Julie Hall, a spokeswoman for AAA, confirmed that vacancy indicators are on the wane and online booking is a key factor.
What about the freewheeling road trippers who don’t book days in advance and simply follow their wanderlust? Even that type of traveler can now use smartphone apps, or Google lodging options in the next town down the highway and call to check on availability.
But the digital revolution isn’t the only threat to vacancy indicators. Another factor is the dwindling number of independent momand-pop motels and the corresponding growth of chains, such as Days Inn and Super 8.
“The chains tend not to have these ‘Vacancy’ signs,” said Jefferson Rogers, professor of geography at the University of Tennessee-Martin and co-author of “The Motel in America.” “They want you to walk in not knowing whether a room is available so if they’re full, they can send you to another one of their properties in the vicinity and keep the business in-house. It’s a strategic decision.”
Omitting vacancy indicators also allows for overbooking, Rogers said, (“If it’s late and you’re fully booked, but someone with a reservation hasn’t shown up, you can sell the same room twice”) and it gives managers wiggle room when sizing up customers.
“If people come in asking for a room, and you think they look like trouble-rowdy college students, if you have ‘Vacancy’ out there, you’re kind of obligated to give them a room,” he said. “Without the sign, you can just say, ‘Sorry, we’re full,’ even if you’re not.”