SHA531 - Introduction to Hotel Revenue Management

Course Description

Revenue management is key to any business that has relatively fixed capacity, perishable inventory, and time-variable demand. This course introduces you to the basics of revenue management in the hotel industry: how to apply pricing and length-of-stay tools and how to measure your revenue management performance. It is designed to inspire you to shift your thinking about revenue management from a focus on occupancy and average room rate to a focus on revenue per available room (RevPAR).

This course teaches you how to accurately forecast guest arrivals at your hotel, examine pricing models in accordance with revenue management principles, and to manage overbooking. All of the techniques and practices discussed in this course are applicable to a variety of service management roles.

By completing this course you will have compiled detailed notes and recommendations for implementing revenue management at the organization where you work.

 

Faculty Author

Sheryl E. Kimes is a professor of operations management at the School of Hotel Administration. From 2005–2006, she served as interim dean of the School and from 2001-2005, she served as the school’s director of graduate studies. Kimes teaches restaurant revenue management, yield management and food and beverage management. She has been named the school’s graduate teacher of the year three times. Her research interests include revenue management and forecasting in the restaurant, hotel and golf industries. She has published over 50 articles in leading journals such as Interfaces, Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Service Research, Decision Sciences, and the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. She has served as a consultant to many hospitality enterprises around the world, including Chevy’s FreshMex Restaurants, Walt Disney World Resorts, Ruby’s Diners, Starwood Asia-Pacific and Troon Golf. Kimes earned her doctorate in Operations Management in 1987 from the University of Texas at Austin.

Benefits to the Learner

• Discuss the strategic levers of hotel revenue management and how they can be manipulated to increase revenue
• Recommend ways in which revenue management can be applied to other hospitality-related industries
• Explain the role of forecasting hotel revenue management and create a forecast and measure its accuracy
• Recommend room rates and apply length-of-stay controls to your hotel, in part to manage overbooking
• Recommend approaches to making price more variable
• Develop a functional revenue management plan, from gathering baseline data to monitoring post-implementation results

Target Audience

• Directors, general managers, and other hospitality professionals responsible for improving the financial performance of their organizations
• Front desk managers, night auditors, and sales and marketing analysts who want to take on more responsibility for improving profitability in their property
• Those who aspire to hospitality management positions and need a strong foundation of revenue concepts

Applies Towards the Following Certificates

• Hospitality Management 360 : Core Courses
• Kempinski Business Development and Revenue Optimisation : Required Courses
• Revenue Management 360 : Core Courses