Hotel Revenue ManagementCornell

Certificate Program

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.

Successful revenue management strategies hinge on the ability to forecast demand and to control room availability and length of stay. This course explores the role of the forecast in a revenue management strategy and the positive impact that forecasting can also have on staff scheduling and purchasing.

Authored by Professor Sheryl E. Kimes from Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, during this course you'll get a step-by-step approach to creating an accurate forecast as you learn how to build booking curves, account for "pick-up", segment demand by market, group, and channel, and calculate error and account for its impact.

You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Introduction to Hotel Revenue Management

A smart pricing strategy is the best way to increase revenue. This course teaches you how to set prices, develop rate fences (differentiate prices by customer type), and use multiple distribution channels to manage price more effectively.

You'll also learn about the impact of variable pricing and discounting on revenue management in the context of price elasticity, optimal price mix, perceived fairness, and congruence with positioning and sales strategies.

Discover the ins and outs of channel management, an essential tool for controlling differentiated pricing, maintaining rate fences, and increasing revenue. Explore various approaches to managing distribution channels including direct sales, agencies, the Internet, and opaque pricing channels. Sheryl E. Kimes, professor at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, will provide you with the knowledge you need to help run a successful organization.

You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Introduction to Hotel Revenue Management
• Forecasting and Availability Controls in Hotel Revenue Management

Businesses that accept reservations must cope with the problem of no-shows: customers who make a reservation but fail to honor it. Hotels can protect themselves against revenue loss from no-shows by overbooking. This course teaches you how to strategically overbook and how to evaluate groups in order to determine which rates to charge.

You will examine the components of a successful overbooking strategy: no-show forecasting, no-show rates, arrival uncertainty, pricing policies, and cancellation forecasts. You will consider the risks of overbooking and review strategies to minimize costs and mitigate customer impact.

This course, authored by Cornell University Professor Sheryl E. Kimes, will help you create a group forecast and explore yieldable and non-yieldable business and incremental group costs and revenue opportunities. Finally, you will employ models to calculate displacement costs and contribution margins to determine which customer groups will return the most profit.

You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Introduction to Hotel Revenue Management
• Forecasting and Availability Controls in Hotel Revenue Management
• Pricing Strategy and Distribution Channels in Hotel Revenue Management

Any business that has relatively fixed capacity, perishable inventory, and time-variable demand can increase revenue using revenue management—not just hotels. This course, authored by Cornell University's Professor Sheryl E. Kimes, reviews the basics of revenue management and outlines the application of revenue management principles to other businesses, both inside the hotel and beyond, such as spas, restaurants, and golf courses.

Through your work on the course project, you will reinforce what you have learned about the refinement and extension of revenue management practices and will develop notes and recommendations for implementing and extending revenue management at the organization where you work.

You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Introduction to Hotel Revenue Management
• Forecasting and Availability Controls in Hotel Revenue Management
• Pricing Strategy and Distribution Channels in Hotel Revenue Management
• Overbooking Practices in Hotel Revenue Management

Symposium sessions feature two days of live, highly interactive virtual Zoom sessions that will explore today’s most pressing topics. The Hospitality Symposium offers you a unique opportunity to engage in real-time conversations with peers and experts from the Cornell community and beyond. Using the context of your own experiences, you will take part in reflections and small-group discussions to build on the skills and knowledge you have gained from your courses.

Join us for the next Symposium, in which we’ll discuss how both day-to-day operations and strategic goal setting in the hospitality sector have rapidly evolved over the past two years, opening up new space for real-time conversations about the future of the industry. You will support your coursework by applying your knowledge and experiences to various areas of the industry, examining the innovations and accommodations you have all had to make throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and strategizing on future directions. By participating in relevant and engaging discussions, you will discover a variety of perspectives and build connections with your fellow participants from across the industry.

Upcoming Symposium: December 3 and 4, 2024

• Tuesday, December 3, 2024 11:00AM ET – 1:00PM ET
  • Building Employee Capabilities
• Wednesday, December 4, 2024 5:00PM ET – 7:00PM ET
  • From Good to Great: Elevating Customer Service

All sessions are held on Zoom.

Future dates are subject to change. You may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete any certificate program. Once enrolled in your courses, you will receive information about upcoming events. Accessibility accommodations will be available upon request.