Das kundenzentrierte Revenue Management als Verbindung der beiden Forschungsdomänen der Kapazitätssteuerung und des Kundenbeziehungsmanagements kann dazu beitragen, wertvolle Kunden auch vor dem Hintergrund begrenzter Kapazitätsressourcen an den Anbieter (wie Airlines, Hotels oder Fertigungsunternehmen) zu binden. Da hierbei gewisse Unsicherheiten auftreten, die in der Folge die Güte der Steuerungsentscheidungen beeinflussen und damit auch Erlösrelevanz besitzen, und diese bisher nur unzureichend beleuchtet wurden, ist eine umfassende Unsicherheitsanalyse vorangetrieben worden. Nach Darlegung des aufgrund der Heterogenität nötigen Begriffsverständnisses zur Unsicherheit sind die unsicheren Situationen im Anwendungskontext mit Hilfe eines konzeptionellen Bezugsrahmens einer detaillierten Charakterisierung und Bewertung unterzogen worden. Unterstützt durch die Erkenntnisse einer systematischen Literaturanalyse wurden dafür elf Problemfelder (mit insgesamt 36 Teilaspekten) herausgearbeitet. Die vorliegende Systematisierung kann Revenue Manager dabei unterstützen, das eigene Unternehmen in das Spannungsgefüge einzuordnen, anhand der anbieterspezifischen Merkmalsausprägungen der Dimensionen und Umfeldfaktoren einen Überblick über die vorherrschende Unsicherheitsproblematik zu gewinnen und zudem Rückschlüsse über den vorliegenden Grad des Unsicherheitsausmaßes vornehmen zu können.

This thesis aims to improve sales forecasting in the context of passenger airlines. We study two important issues that could potentially improve forecasting accuracy: day-to-day price change rather than price itself, and linking flights that are likely to be considered as pairs for a round trip by passengers; we refer to the latter as the Round-Trip Model (RTM). We find that price change is a significant variable regardless of days remaining to flight in the last three weeks to flight departure, which opens the possibility of planning for revenue maximizing price change patterns. We also find that the RTM can improve the precision of the forecasting models, and provide an improved pricing strategy for planners. In the study of the effect of price change on sales, analysis of variance is applied; finite regression mixture models were tested to identify linked traffic in the two directions and the linked flights on a route in reverse directions; adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) is applied to develop comparative models for studying sales effect between price and price change, and one-way versus round-trip models. The price change model demonstrated more robust results with comparable estimation errors, and the concept model for the round-trip with only one linked flight reduced estimation error by 5%. This empirical study is performed on a database with 22,900 flights which was obtained from a major North American passenger airline.

Practical inventory settings often include multiple generations of the same product on hand. New products often arrive before old stock is exhausted, but most inventory models do not account for this. Such a setting gives rise to the possibility of inter-generational substitution between products. We study a retailer that stocks two product generations and we show that from a cost perspective the retailer is better off stocking only one generation. We proceed with a profit scheme and develop a price-setting profit maximization model, proving that in one and two generation profit models there exists a unique solution. We use the profit model to show that there are cases where it is more profitable to stock two generations. We discuss utility and preference extensions to the profit model and present the general n-product case.

In 2004, 6% of the Crowne Plaza Auckland Hotel's guests were Priority Club members. Two years later, this number has more than doubled to 13%. Are the Priority Club guests contributing to leverage the hotel's profitability? This research is aimed at answering the question if the continuous increase in the number of Priority Club guests staying at the Crowne Plaza Auckland Hotel is an opportunity for the property to effectively optimise its revenue generation performance. The study is essentially focused on assessing the ability of the loyalty programme to generate revenue to the hotel. The Priority Club Rewards is a demand-based, revenue-orientated marketing strategy which is predominantly aimed at 1) promoting and attracting its 30 million members worldwide to stay at the company's extensive portfolio of hotels as well as 2) to entice the club members to spend money on the hotels' services and facilities. In return for their loyalty, these customers are entitled to receive benefits that correspond to their membership level. From a revenue management perspective, the programme exists to strategically help hoteliers not only to achieve higher occupancy levels through repeat visits from the club members but to also leverage the hotel's revenue generating performance through encouraging its members to not only stay in suites and club rooms but also to use the property's services and facilities more regularly. In other words, the objective of the Priority Club Rewards is to help hoteliers attract customers to their properties and at the same time encourage them to spend money whilst onsite. It was found that the Priority Club programme is fulfilling its first core objective, which is to bring more customers to the Crowne Plaza Auckland property. Hence, this research is predominantly focused on assessing the rewards programme's ability to also assist the Auckland hotel to increase profitability. The objective of this project is to analyse whether or not the increasing growth in the number of club members staying at the property can also be interpreted as a growth in the hotel's revenue generation performance. Firstly, a thorough review of the literature was conducted in order to identify any previous academic work that specifically analysed the relationship between the areas of revenue management and loyalty marketing. However, no extensive previous research was found that effectively analysed how these two fields interact with each other, particularly in the hotel industry. Nevertheless, research from Internet articles and other web-based media resources was highly beneficial to the success of this research. There were two data collection processes employed in this research: a Priority Club Survey identified the needs and preferences of the club members when staying at the Auckland hotel and, secondly, a Spending Pattern Analysis was conducted based on the hotel guests' account statements. The results from these two research methods were then carefully analysed and interpreted in order to achieve an accurate set of resourceful conclusions and recommendations.

Universiẗat, Diss.--Bochum, 2007.

This doctoral dissertation thesis focuses on current turnover management following principles of Revenue management in the field of hospitality in the Czech Republic. Final part of the thesis offers also prognosis of future development. The goal is to introduce Revenue management as an economic and management approach to direction of accommodation establishments, which maximize turnover. It uses optimum recovery ratio of accommodation capacity in combination with maximum average rate and price per available room, leading to optimization of economic results (when costs adequately controlled). It is a very complex theme which surpasses the capacity of this thesis. Therefore, the author chose a few segments with important influence on key economic indicators of accommodation establishments and where the initial optimum strategic settings are very important. These segments were examined both theoretically and practically. The author defines key terms using Czech and foreign literature, her own training materials and structured interviews with revenue/hotel managers. Several questionnaires, foreign case studies and personal experience of revenue management techniques implementation in accommodation establishments in the Czech Republic were used in the period from 2013 till 2016 as supporting materials for the practical part of the thesis. Results show that Revenue management has developed and requirements for the third generation of revenue managers are on the same level as for the top management. Czech accommodation establishments have, in comparison with western world or international chains, still room for improvement. The situation improves also in regions thanks to strong enlightenment and necessary reaction to strong competition and difficult economic conditions. Research shows that the best practice combines adequate modern technologies with well-trained and experienced human resources. Results point out room for further development of research in the field of Revenue management techniques usage, not only for hospitality services, but also for the field of tourism generally.

In the field of aviation forecasting is used, among other things, to determine the number of passengers to expect for each flight. This is beneficial in the practice of revenue management, as the forecast is used as a base when setting the price for each flight. In this study, a forecast evaluation has been done on seven different routes with a total of 61 different flights, using four different methods. These are: Mean Absolute Scaled Error (MASE), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), Tracking Signal, and a goodness of fit test to determine if the forecast errors are normally distributed. The MASE has been used to determine if the passenger forecasts are better or worse than a naïve forecast, while the MAPE provides an error value for internal comparisons between the flights. The Tracking Signal and the normal distribution test have been used in order to determine whether a flight has bias or not towards under- or overforecasting. The results point towards a general underforecast across all studied flights. A total of 89 % of the forecasts perform better than the naïve forecast, with an average MASE value of 0,78. As such, the forecast accuracy is better than that of the naïve forecast. There are however large error values among the observed flights, affecting the MAPE average. The MAPE average is 38,53 % while the median is 30,60 %. The measure can be used for internal comparisons, and one such way is to use the average value as a benchmark in order to focus on improving those forecasts with a higher than average MAPE. The authors have found that the MASE and MAPE are useful in measuring forecast accuracy and as such the recommendation of the authors is that these two error measures can be used together to evaluate forecast accuracy at frequent intervals. In addition to this there is value in examining the error distribution in conjunction with the Mean Error when searching for bias, as this will indicate if there is systematic error present.

The South African Revenue Service has since 2009 introduced “reference pricing” as a tool to detect undervaluation of customs values of imported clothing and textiles. The term “reference pricing” is not defined in the Customs and Excise Act No.91 of 1964 which is the legislation that governs the importation of goods into the Republic of South Africa. The mandate of the South African Revenue Service, amongst others, is to facilitate legitimate trade. By applying the reference pricing guidelines the South African Revenue Service will target all importers who declare customs values which are less than the reference price for a targeted tariff heading associated with an item of clothing or textile. The Customs and Excise Act No.91 of 1964 is clear in that the transaction value which is the price paid or payable for the imported goods shall be the value used for customs duty purposes. The Customs and Excise Act No.91 of 1964 also requires that the interpretation of the sections 65, 66 and 67 of the said Act shall be subject to the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (Valuation Agreement). Part I of the Valuation Agreement deals with the rules for customs valuation. Article 17 of part 1 allows for customs administrations to satisfy themselves as to the truth or accuracy of any statement, document or declaration presented for customs valuation purposes. The Technical Committee on Customs Valuation of the World Trade Organisation decided the following in so far as Article 17 of the aforesaid agreement is concerned: “1. When a declaration has been presented and where the customs administration has reason to doubt the truth or accuracy of the particulars or of documents produced in support of this declaration, the customs administration may ask the importer to provide further explanation, including documents or other evidence, that the declared value represents the total amount actually paid or payable for the imported goods, ....” It would appear that the South African Revenue Service is using reference prices as a tool to support its reason for doubting the truth or accuracy of the declared customs values. The indiscriminate use of reference pricing, it is submitted, affects legitimate trade adversely. This treatise provides an understanding of how the customs value should be determined in terms of the Customs and Excise Act No.91 of 1964 and the Valuation Agreement. It then provides a background to reference pricing and how reference pricing will be used to detect undervalued imports of clothing and textiles, the advantages and disadvantages of using reference pricing and a comparative analysis of the approach adopted by the Mexican Tax Administration Service in so far as the use of reference pricing is concerned. It was established that the reference price cannot replace the customs value of an imported clothing item as the customs value is based on the price actually paid or payable for it and not on some arbitrary or fictitious value. The reference price can only be used as a tool to identify importers that are possibly undervaluing the customs values. The disadvantages far outweigh the advantages of using reference pricing. The treatise further provides a background to the use of a valuation database as a risk assessment tool and compares this to the use of reference pricing. The use of reference pricing and its impact on trade facilitation is then discussed as well as whether the use of reference pricing is consistent with the risk management principles as discussed in the World Customs Organisation Risk Management Guide. It was established that the South African Revenue Service has not disclosed the basis of arriving at the reference price per tariff heading that it targets and the use of reference pricing is not sanctioned by any international guideline or agreement. It was also established that the use of reference pricing targets compliant importers unnecessarily and this practice goes against the principles of trade facilitation. The use of reference pricing can be used as a tool to detect undervalued imports of clothing but should not be used as a basis to stop every consignment of clothing simply because the customs value declared is less than the reference price. It should not be used as a stand-alone tool but rather enhanced further with the recommendations provided. In the final analysis, recommendations are provided which seek to enhance the reference pricing mechanism and to further identify and exclude compliant importers and limit the use of reference pricing to target non-compliant importers who undervalue the customs value of imported clothing and textile items.

This thesis focuses on the management of the four-star hotel in Catalonia, Spain. It mostly analyses marketing management and revenue management indicators. The main objective of the thesis is to find out the problems in management procedure and suggest measures and solutions that could repair the economic damage the business has suffered, with the objective of being profitable. The first part provides a theoretical point of view of the hotel management. The second part is a comparative of the Spanish, and more specific, Catalonian tourism and hospitality industry market, giving also specific characteristics of the hotel. The practical part contains the analyses of the hotel management indicators, the marketing mix and the situation on the local market. The final chapter shows de outcomes of the analysis and contains recommendations to improve the actual management.

The purpose of this paper is to assess consumer behavior in the airline industry from a perspective beyond the effects of price discrimination. First the consequences of dynamic pricing will be assessed before looking at the role of social media and offline social influences, consumer satisfaction and airline equilibrium networks and their effects on consumer loyalty. Final implications on aviation revenue management will be drawn.