Hotel Management: Distribution, Revenue and Demand Management Specialization

With a fixed capacity, a highly disposable product and high fixed costs, hotels are a natural candidate for the application of revenue management. Originally developed by the airlines in the 1970s, these analytics-based techniques help predict consumer behavior at the hotel’s market level so that the hotel can sell each room each night at the optimum price.

With modern-day rising acquisition costs and distribution complexities, revenue management techniques have increasingly been adopted by both small and large hotel companies, making a comprehensive understanding of segmentation, forecasting and pricing an essential requirement for today’s hospitality professionals. The purpose of this course is to provide a core understanding of the fundamentals of revenue management, which ties into the larger picture of revenue strategy. The course is structured to provide an insightful look into Revenue Management. Created in conjunction with Duetto, this course is hosted by a group of revenue management leaders in both theory and with hands-on experience at properties around the world. Upon completion of the course students should be empowered with industry best practices, which can be applied across the vast diversification the hotel industry to empower those to optimize profits. Duetto delivers powerful revenue strategy solutions to the world’s leading hotels and casinos, combining unparalleled expertise with world-class cloud-based technology. Acknowledgement: Bela Nagy, Agnes Roquefort , Jonathon Liu, Frederic Toitot, Pierrick La Masne, Markus Keller - ACCOR Simone Truscello - ACE HOTELS. Richard Valtr - MEWS SYSTEM. Jean-Luc Chrétien - FAST BOOKING. Jeannette Ho - FAIRMONT RAFFLES HOTELS & RESORTS. Chinmai Sharma - TAJ HOTEL & RESORTS. Cindy Estis Green - KALIBRI LABS. Jason Thielbar - RED LION. Christopher Cooper - ROCCO FORTE. Rom Hendler - SANDS. Rafi Rejerano - AB Hotels. Riko Van Santen - KEMPINKI HOTELS & RESORTS. Vinod Sukhija - BANYAN TREE HOTELS & RESORTS. Olivier Flement - WALT DISNEY COMPANY. Cidalia Pinto Coehlo - LOUVRE HOTELS. Trevor Stuart-Hill - REVENUE MATTERS. Vincent Cusma, Marco Benvenuti, Eric Stoessel, Gayle Ehrean, Nevin Reed - DUETTO. Claire Bertrand, Vincent Chatain, Jessica Moses, Benjamin Six (ESSEC Business School), Emilie Dupré (IMAGE-IN), Gregory Halidy (TRIPLAY)

The biggest challenge facing the hospitality industry over the next 5 years is the lack of integration between the key commercial disciplines of sales, revenue, distribution and finance and the negative impact this will continue to have on delivering asset value and maximum profitability.

This course, spread over 4 key modules: Asset Management Demand Generation Digital Marketing Demand Optimisation aims to break down these commercial silos and reveal the journey from long-term asset development through to short-term profit tactics and how commercial teams can align themselves throughout the organisation. Created by SnapShot, this course is hosted by a group of experienced Industry guest lecturers in their fields of expertise and includes an ideal mix of accessible theory and practical exercises and simulations. SnapShot is a Hotel Demand Management company that specializes in helping hotels aggregate and use their data. We provide useful tools as well as innovative education and coaching services to empower hotels to take informed decisions in managing their demand to increase profits.

In this case study based exercise, you will apply the knowledge you have gained about distribution, revenue and demand management to a ‘real’ world case – Hotel “De l'étoile” - a prestigious upmarket internationally branded property in Paris that to the outside world seems to be doing well but is in fact unprofitable for its owner.

Actual data of the distribution performance, revenue management tactics, financial situation will be provided by the hotel partner. In addition detailed information about the hotel’s competitive environment will be provided by several industry partners. Video interviews with senior managers from the property will be used to supplement written material to create a more real world experience. As the new Director of Business Development hired to help the hotel decide how to proceed, you will evaluate the hotel’s current policies and performance, making recommendations for improvements and and plan how best to implement them.