Empty rooms cost money. It’s often better to fill them up at a reduced rate (even at below cost) to keep the hotel running, generate more online reviews, and ensure the appearance of success which by itself attracts more guests.

 

How low is too, low, however? At what point do bargain rates begin to affect the reputation and character of your hotel?

 

Conversely, can charging sky-high rates during periods of peak demand alienate regular guests or have other unforeseen consequences? We turn to the art and science of revenue management to answer these questions in a rational way.

Revenue/Yield Management in Practice

When you have lots of potential guests, rooms are scarce; when you have plenty of rooms available, guests are scarce. You can’t create either out of thin air when there’s a shortfall. 

 

Technically, hotel reservations can be described as a fixed, time-limited resource. These occur in some other industries as well, so what you learn in this course may one day be useful in some context other than hospitality.

 

Whereas many pricing techniques rely primarily on psychology, the basis of revenue management is typically a thorough understanding of market conditions and customer needs. To this end, revenue management is usually based on extensive research, competitor analysis, and the segmentation and profiling of potential customers.

What This Course Will Teach You:

Unlike most of our courses, this one has a theoretical rather than practical emphasis. Once you’ve learned the relevant principles in the abstract, you should have no problem applying them in your particular area of responsibility, taking company policies and local conditions into account.

 

In four hours of lectures and exercises, you will be exposed to:

• The fundamentals of hotel revenue management.
• The “pillars” of a price optimization plan, the concepts involved, and potential shortcomings of this model.
• The link between revenue and inventory management.
• Making data-driven revenue management decisions.

 

Some hospitality properties are more seasonal than others, but all have predictable ebbs and flows in demand for their rooms. Especially when customers can search online for the best rates, it’s essential that your hotel embraces dynamic or at least adjustable pricing