Hotel revenue management will become more strategic, more analytical, and more focused on overall hotel profit measures, according to a survey of nearly 500 revenue management professionals conducted by Cornell Professor Sheryl Kimes.

"What we see is that revenue management will evolve from its current focus on maximizing room revenues to a more strategic approach that accounts for all of a hotel's revenue streams. The revenue management professionals also expect that the effectiveness of revenue management programs will be measured by total revenue or gross operating profit per available room," said Kimes, the Singapore Tourism Board Distinguished Professor of Asian Hospitality Management. She added that respondents expect function space sales to be the next revenue stream to be included in RM analytics. Other possible revenue streams include spas and golf courses.
 
"Much of this will be supported by more sophisticated technology," Kimes explained. "So, revenue managers will need strong analytical skills, along with leadership and communication skills. Above all, it's important to understand that revenue management will be a central strategic function that reports directly to the hotel general manager."

Kimes notes that these conclusions are based on a web-based hospitality survey that included both open-ended questions and questions involving rating scales. Kimes's research was supported by IDeaS, and she was assisted in analyzing nearly 485 responses to each of the open-ended questions by the SAS® Text Analytics team in the Singapore SAS office. SAS, the partner company of IDeaS, is a senior partner of CHR, which also supported the research. 

View an introductory video where Linda Hatfield, VP of Product Management at IDeaS, discusses with Sheryl Kimes how the revenue management functions will become more central to hotel operations ( www.ideas.com/index.php/resources/videos/video2 ).

The hospitality survey, "The Future of Hotel Revenue Management," is available at no charge from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) at:

www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/2010.html

About The Center for Hospitality Research
A unit of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, The Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) sponsors research designed to improve practices in the hospitality industry. Under the lead of the center's 81 corporate affiliates, experienced scholars work closely with business executives to discover new insights into strategic, managerial and operating practices. The center also publishes the award-winning hospitality journal, the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.