Revenue Management interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your CV.
2. Walk me through your most impressive RevPAR Index recovery, ADR strategy, or commercial decision.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.
4. Why a revenue management seat — and why hotels specifically?
5. Why the sector — what's your point of view on revenue management in this asset type and this market?
6. Why the firm?
7. If I handed you the firm's last STAR report, a 90-day pace report, and a channel-mix snapshot, walk me through how you'd diagnose revenue health in the first 30 days.
8. When a corporate traveller is choosing between the firm and a top competitor in the sector, what's your view on where the rate parity should sit — and how would you defend it?

Technical concepts to master

• Segmentation and displacement — the commercial spine of revenue management

  Market segmentation (transient vs group, leisure vs corporate, direct vs OTA) · Displacement analysis · Group ceiling · BAR (Best Available Rate) ladder

• Channel economics — direct vs OTA vs loyalty vs wholesale vs opaque

  Direct booking — website, voice, walk-in · OTA — Expedia, Booking.com, third-party agencies · Loyalty — branded programme member rate · Wholesale and consortia · Opaque — Hotwire, Priceline Express, Hot Rate

• Forecasting and yielding — pace, pickup, regrets, denials, length-of-stay controls

  Pace and pickup · Regrets and denials · Length-of-stay controls (MLOS, CTA) · Compression and yielding · Total Revenue Management (TRM)

• RMS and dynamic pricing — system discipline and override logic

  RMS forecasting and optimisation engine · Open pricing vs BAR ladder · RMS override discipline · Rate-shopping and comp set parity

Practical drills

• Your 350-key urban transient hotel is forecasting 82% occupancy at $235 ADR for a four-night Q2 stretch (1,148 transient room nights). A group lead arrives: 600 room nights over the same four nights at $195 ADR plus a $55K F+B minimum. Channel mix on the transient base: 45% direct (avg net ADR $230), 35% OTA at 18% commission (avg gross ADR $230, net $189), 20% loyalty (avg net ADR $222). F+B margin on banquet is ~28%. Walk me through: (a) the displacement math; (b) the net contribution; (c) what counter-offer you'd propose.
• You are taking over revenue at the firm. Last quarter closed at RGI 91, ARI 96, MPI 95 — share-negative on both rate and occupancy. RevPAR $158 vs comp set $174. Channel mix: 25% direct, 40% OTA, 15% loyalty, 10% wholesale, 10% group. Comp set median: 38% direct, 32% OTA, 18% loyalty, 7% wholesale, 5% group. Walk me through your 90-day plan.
• Your DOSM walks into your office: 'I've got a 2,400-room-night citywide piece for September at $179 ADR. The group's PCO wants a yes by Friday. The chair of the convention bureau is calling our property general manager tomorrow morning. I want to take it.' Your forecast for those September dates is 89% transient occupancy at $268 ADR. Walk me through your next 30 minutes.

Smart-question anchors

• Comp set composition and re-cut history — how the property's comp set was constructed, when it was last re-cut, and the regional Revenue team's view on its representativeness
• RMS and rate-shop technology stack — system in use, recent migration, override discipline, integration with brand / corporate revenue tools
• Commercial cadence — how the DORM, DOSM, property general manager, and regional Revenue team work together on the weekly commercial call, monthly forecast review, and quarterly budget cycle
• Channel-mix posture and direct strategy — direct booking share, OTA contract tier, loyalty contribution, and any stated direct-acceleration programme
• Total revenue management maturity — whether F+B, spa, and ancillary are integrated into the revenue toolkit or rooms-only, and the path to TRM

Sourced from

STR (CoStar Hospitality) — STAR report methodology, RGI / ARI / MPI definitions · HSMAI — CRME (Certified Revenue Management Executive) and CHDM curricula · Cornell Centre for Hospitality Research — revenue management and pricing publications · Duetto, IDeaS, Atomize, OTA Insight — revenue-management technology practitioner content · Glassdoor and Hospitality Careers revenue manager interview threads