Yield management in UK hotels: A systems analysis

A yield management (YM) system is one of the most recent examples of systems development in the hotel industry. YM systems interact with global distribution systems, property management systems and front office systems. However, despite the prevalence of the term ‘systems’, little operational research or systems analysis has been conducted in the hotel sector. In hospitality research journals, yield management is the most researched aspect of hotel operations, but such research is largely conceptual, with limited examples of empirical or systems analysis. This study was designed to undertake, for the first time, a soft systems analysis of yield management in hotels and to develop a systems model. Research was conducted in a number of hotels implementing yield management. One of the case studies is presented to illustrate this. Using this conceptual model, YM theory is critiqued, YM practice is discussed, and subsequently a number of YM issues are identified.