Pearson New International Edition International pcl tp indd 1

MANAGING FORECAST DATA
SECTION REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Section Objective:
Review the role and responsibilities of the FOM in the man-
agement of rooms forecast data.
Section Summary:
Modern PMSs provide data that an FOM can use to forecast
room occupancy (percentage of rooms sold) and availability (percentage of rooms
available to sell). However, the data are only one source of input to the FOM’s deci-
sions about room selling rates, and the data must be tempered with the FOM’s skill
and experience.
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TRACKING ROOM DEMAND
How can FOMs best track and then forecast room demand? As noted in Roadmap 2,
FOMs must rely on historical, current, and future data.
FRONT OFFICE SEMANTICS
Track:
Hotel term meaning to monitor or to examine.
Historical data:
Data related to events that have already occurred. Sometimes referred to as 
actual data.
Current data:
Data related to events that are entered into the PMS but have yet to occur. For example,
a room reservation can be entered into the PMS on Thursday for the following Friday night.
Future data:
Data related to events that have yet to occur and will not be found in the PMS. Although
unknown, the data can be estimated.