Maximising profits : Do revenue managers have the skills ?

The paper explores the evolving role of the revenue manager and will argue the need for a formal revenue management (RM) qualification. When RM is deployed ineffectively this raises the financial risk inherent in the concept. Service firms need to clearly define RM roles and ensure those involved in RM have the right skill-set. With a view to regulating revenue management approaches, data was collected via surveys and scrutiny of current job descriptions, to identify the range of skills required to successfully deploy RM at the tactical and strategic level of the organisation. Some general trends emerged identifying the links between the revenue manager and optimum performance, in service businesses. To ensure profit enhancement, the results of this research will be deployed to develop RM benchmark standards in conjunction with a RM certification programme,