Pearson New International Edition International pcl tp indd 1

Managing Occupancy
The DOSM is most often responsible for maximizing the hotel’s sales efforts, but the
revenue manager is responsible for maximizing the hotel’s occupancy. These two
tasks are related but not identical. Skillful revenue managers make decisions that
improve occupancy rates based on unique demand situations experienced by their
property. A few examples will demonstrate this.
Assume that the Altoona Hotel’s sales team has successfully booked many guests
for a specific weekend one month from now. Assume also that this 300-room hotel’s
revenue manager faces the situation in Figure 8. Demand for rooms is very strong 
on Saturday, weaker on Friday, and much weaker on Sunday. The revenue manager’s
goal is to maximize RevPar, so he or she must attempt to increase occupancy by iden-
tifying Saturday as a day that has MLOS (minimum length of stay) attached to it or,
alternatively, by designating Saturday as a day that is CTA (closed to arrival).