In today’s hotel sector an increasingly complex network of traditional and web based channels have to be managed to insure hotel success. Key questions include: how should you distribute over the web? What should you include on your brand.com website so people book through it? How can you maximise the potential of online travel agents (OTAs)? With the distribution environment both highly complex and constantly evolving, this course will give you comprehensive foundation of current industry practices to help jump start your career in this fascinating domain. Acknowledgements: Claire Bertrand, Vincent Chatain, Jessica Moses, Benjamin Six (ESSEC Business School), Emilie Dupré (Image-In), Gregory Halidy (Triplay)
This course is part of the Hotel Management: Distribution, Revenue and Demand Management Specialization
The fundamentals of hotel distribution
Offered By
About this Course
20,871 recent views
Skills you will gain
Hospitality ManagementRevenue ManagementHospitality Management StudiesHotel Management
Learners taking this Course are
- Receptionists
- Customer Care Reps
- Entrepreneurs
- Operations Analysts
- Sales Associates
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week
13 hours to complete
Setting the scene
The hotel business has evolved from its early days to today. Through this evolution, it has become increasingly specialized. This module introduces the business models, strategies for growth, levels of competition and biggest changes and challenges hotels have to face today.
9 videos (Total 36 min), 2 readings, 4 quizzes
9 videos
Historical evolution3m
The hotel business value chain4m
Franchise and Management agreements4m
Growth and the value of branded hotel chains4m
Hotels as economic units6m
Introduction to revenue management5m
Trends and challenges2m
Wrap-up and conclusion2m
2 readings
Complementary readings10m
Peer Review documents10m
3 practice exercises
Practice Lesson 16m
Practice Lesson 26m
Practice Lesson 38m
Week
24 hours to complete
A deep dive into hotel distribution
After a rapid introduction of key pieces of terminology and technology, this module will examine in details the components of online distribution today, and focus on how to make the most of an increasingly complex distribution system.
12 videos (Total 66 min), 2 readings, 5 quizzes
12 videos
The origins of hotel distribution4m
The web revolution6m
Working with the OTAs5m
OTA Business Model7m
The brand.com site3m
The forgotten majority: traditional channels3m
The distribution cost puzzle3m
The true cost of brand.com6m
The price parity paradox5m
Magnificent Meta-Search7m
Disruption in the market place?8m
2 readings
Complementary readings10m
Peer Review Documents10m
4 practice exercises
Practice Lesson 16m
Practice Lesson 26m
Practice Lesson 36m
Practice Lesson 44m
Week
34 hours to complete
Direct distribution: the key to hotel success
Distributing directly, thus building an effective and efficient website, is an essential success factor. Through this module, you will have a deep understanding of the web development process but also understand the cost of driving traffic, and the importance of using indirect distribution and online marketing techniques.
16 videos (Total 66 min), 1 reading, 5 quizzes
16 videos
Deciding what you want2m
Registering your domain name3m
Content5m
What is good hotel content?4m
Creating your web pages5m
Selecting a good hosting solution5m
Introduction to online marketing2m
Organic search engine marketing4m
Paid search engine marketing3m
Email Marketing4m
Display Advertising4m
Affiliate marketing2m
Social Media Marketing1m
Using Analytics for customer insight5m
Wrap-up and conclusion3m
1 reading
Complementary Readings10m
4 practice exercises
Practice Lesson 14m
Practice Lesson 26m
Practice Lesson 34m
Practice lesson 48m
Week
44 hours to complete
How to manage your OTA
In this final module you will attack the critical issue of how to work better with Online Travel Agents. Learning best practices from OTA managers themselves, you will make sure that you are exploiting these valuable and fast growing points of sale to their maximum potential.
16 videos (Total 89 min), 2 readings, 3 quizzes
16 videos
Why OTA's?2m
Reach5m
The Billboard Effect7m
Pay-per-Performance1m
Reactivity2m
Market Information2m
Introduction1m
Photos3m
Content2m
User Reviews5m
Competitive Rates2m
Manage Availability2m
How should a hotel work with Expedia?25m
How should a hotel work with Booking.com?11m
Conclusion3m
2 readings
Complementary readings10m
Peer Review Documents10m
2 practice exercises
Practice Lesson 18m
Practice lesson 28m
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Top reviews from The fundamentals of hotel distribution
I like it and I did never imagined the abundance of its content based on today's market.\n\nReally the course helped me a lot and immediately started implementing what I learned.\n\nThank you Coursera
Very well done, these teachers and other important figures involved in the course are sharing extensive knowledges and they are teaching very clearly making the topic easy to comprehend, BRAVO!!!
Instructors
Peter O'Connor
Professor of information systems, Director of the MBA in Hospitality ManagementInformation systems
Nicolas Graf
ProfesseurManagement
About ESSEC Business School
For over a century, ESSEC has been developing a state-of-the-art educational program that gives the individual pride of place in its learning model, promoting the values of freedom, openness, innovation and responsibility. Preparing future managers to reconcile personal interests with collective responsibility, giving consideration to the common good in their decision-making, and weighing economic challenges against the social costs are some of the objectives ESSEC has set for itself. Its ultimate goal? To create a global world that has meaning for us all.
About the Hotel Management: Distribution, Revenue and Demand Management Specialization
Market hospitality services, manage demand, and optimize revenue.
This Specialization covers the basics of hotel demand management, distribution, and revenue management. You’ll learn how e-commerce intermediaries such as online travel agencies are impacting the already-complex hospitality sector, and you’ll explore tools and techniques that will help you effectively market hospitality services and maximize business revenue in this new global industry landscape. In the final Capstone Project, you’ll evaluate the importance of hotel branding in business success through a hands-on, real-world case study. During the sessions, you will hear from senior hotel industry executives commenting on distribution, revenue and demand management issues. We will also interview two leading Online Travel Agents on how to maximise online business for your property, and have partnered with Duetto and SnapShot, two leading hospitality industry companies, to gain access to cutting edge knowledge, thus insuring that the competencies that you gain will make you operational immediately as well as bang up to date on industry trends.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Once you enroll for a Certificate, you’ll have access to all videos, quizzes, and programming assignments (if applicable). Peer review assignments can only be submitted and reviewed once your session has begun. If you choose to explore the course without purchasing, you may not be able to access certain assignments.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
What is the refund policy?
Is financial aid available?
More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.
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