CHIA key terms

The share of a hotel's available rooms that were sold during a period, found by dividing rooms sold by rooms available. It shows how fully capacity was used but says nothing about price.

Total rooms revenue divided by the number of rooms sold for a period. It is the average price paid per occupied room, so it measures rate achievement but ignores unsold rooms.

Rooms revenue divided by rooms available for the period, or equivalently occupancy multiplied by ADR. It blends price and volume into a single rooms performance measure.

Total revenue from all hotel sources, including rooms, food and beverage, and other departments, divided by rooms available. It captures income that RevPAR leaves out.

Gross operating profit divided by available rooms. Because it nets out operating costs, it lets analysts compare profitability between hotels of different sizes and cost structures.

Rooms in a hotel that are ready for sale on a given night, after excluding out-of-order rooms. The figure is the denominator for occupancy and RevPAR calculations.

Sorting a hotel's demand into groups that book alike, such as transient business, leisure, group, and contract. Segment mix shapes pricing strategy and revenue forecasts.

A classification that groups hotels by brand affiliation and typical room rate, running from luxury through economy. It gives a frame for comparing hotels of similar positioning.

Managing rates and room availability by segment to maximize revenue from fixed capacity. When demand is strong, it favors higher-paying business over low-rate volume.

The lowest rate a hotel publicly offers for a date without special conditions such as advance purchase, membership, or negotiated contracts. It anchors the published rate structure.

The speed at which reservations arrive for future dates, typically compared with the same point last year. Rising pace suggests stronger demand and supports rate increases.

A comparison of the revenue a proposed group would generate against the revenue lost by holding rooms away from other demand for those dates.

A booking rule that requires a minimum number of nights or caps a maximum stay, used to shape demand and protect high-demand dates from short, low-value stays.

Accepting more reservations than there are rooms in order to offset expected no-shows and cancellations. The level must be balanced against the cost of walking guests.

Estimating future room demand by date and segment from historical patterns and current booking pace. Forecasts drive pricing, staffing, and inventory decisions.

The minimum rate worth accepting for a room on a given date. Bookings below it are turned away because they would displace more valuable business.

Deciding which distribution channels may sell which rates and inventory. Good practice protects direct bookings and avoids conflicts among intermediaries.

Rooms held for a specific group at a negotiated rate, with a cutoff date after which unsold rooms return to general inventory.

Predictable swings in demand across the calendar year that move occupancy and rates up or down. Pricing, staffing, and budgeting are planned around these peaks and troughs.

Total revenue minus departmental expenses and undistributed operating expenses. It measures profit from operations before management fees, rent, property taxes, insurance, and capital costs.

The percentage of additional revenue between two periods that becomes additional profit. It shows how well a hotel converts revenue gains into bottom-line results.

The share of a revenue decrease between two periods that appears as a profit decrease. It is the mirror image of flow-through and reveals how flexible the cost base is.

Operating costs that cannot be tied to a single revenue department, such as administration, sales and marketing, engineering, and utilities. They sit below departmental profit lines.

Money set aside from revenue, often a set percentage, to fund replacement of furniture, fixtures, and equipment. Analysts treat it as a fixed charge when valuing hotels.

A plan for a future period that sets expected revenue, departmental expenses, and profit by month. Actual results are measured against it throughout the year.

Explaining the gap between actual and budgeted or forecast results by isolating volume, rate, and cost effects. It shows which drivers pushed performance off plan.

An expense category divided by occupied rooms for the period. It allows cost comparison across hotels of different sizes and occupancy levels.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. In hotels it is usually GOP less management fees, rent, and other fixed charges, and is widely used in valuation.

A group of hotels selected as peers for benchmarking because they pursue the same guests in the same market. Their results are combined to form a comparison baseline.

A hotel's RevPAR divided by its competitive set's RevPAR, multiplied by 100. A value above 100 means the hotel is capturing more than its fair share.

A hotel's available rooms divided by the competitive set's available rooms. It is the share of demand the hotel would win if all properties performed identically.

A benchmarking report comparing a hotel's occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR with its competitive set, showing actual values, index scores, and percent changes.

A hotel's occupancy divided by the competitive set's occupancy, times 100. It shows whether the hotel is winning its fair share of room demand.

A hotel's ADR divided by the competitive set's ADR, multiplied by 100. It indicates whether the hotel is pricing above or below its peers.

A rule that withholds benchmarking results when too few hotels contribute to a sample, protecting confidentiality and preventing identification of individual property performance.

Sample data cover only hotels that participate in a reporting program, while census data cover all hotels in a market. The gap affects how market performance is interpreted.