Course

Hospitality Distribution Management

Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Department
Hospitality Management
Course code
HOSP 3130
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 Weeks
Max class size
35
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Lab
Seminar
Online
Hybrid
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
The world of online distribution in hospitality is dynamic and it is critical to manage well in order to generate bookings, revenue and profit. The focus of this course will be on exploring how hotels bring transient and group market segments to their properties through travel intermediaries such as travel agents, wholesalers and meeting planners, with particular focus on online channels. Understanding which communication channels reach these distribution channels is also key to success in driving volume, rate and flow through to the bottom line. It is imperative that regardless of the distribution channels used by consumers, hotels must be able to understand the dynamic nature of each channel, and be able to analyze their costs and benefits in order to create revenue and profit streams that are sustainable moving forward.
Course content

  1. Hospitality Distribution: Context

  2. Hospitality Segmentation

  3. Traditional Distribution

    • Travel Agents

    • Wholesalers

    • Meeting Planners

    • Destination Management Companies

    • Call Centres

  4. Loyalty Channels

  5. Online Distribution

    • Global Distribution Channels (GDS)

    • Integration with the PMS Cloud and Resident

    • Online Travel Agents

      • Agency model

      • Merchant model

      • Hybrid model

      • Opaque model

    • Meta Search Engines

    • Booking Engines

    • PMS to CRS to DCs – Integration

    • Third party providers and dashboards

  6. Group Channels

  7. B2C Business to Consumer Channels

  8. Trends in Distribution

  9. Data Driven Decision Making

  10. Distribution Channels extended offerings

Learning activities

Combination of lecture/seminar, case andalysis and/or distribution management simulation exercise and group work

Means of assessment

Case study(ies) and or Simulation Exercise(s)                                                    15-30%
 
Critical thinking and application, through presentations and group discussion         10-20%

Group project(s) and presentation(s)                                                                 10-15%

Individual assignment(s)                                                                                 20-30%
 
Final exam                                                                                                     20-30%

                                                                                                                    100%

 

Notes:
1.  A minimum of 50% of the overall grade must be achieved through individual assessments.

2.  To pass the course, students must achieve a cumulative grade of 50% in all non-group assessments as well as 50% overall in the course. In other words, students must have achieved at least 50% on their cumulative individual assessments in order to be eligible to earn marks from group work.

3.  Students may conduct research as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans, which can require obtaining Informed Consent from participants and getting the approval of the Douglas College Research Ethics Board prior to conducting the research.

 

Learning outcomes

The successful student will be able to:

  1. Explain the pros and cons of various channels
  2. Evaluate market segments and select optimal distribution channels
  3. Weigh and aticulate the cost/impact of SEO/SEM
  4. Design an optimized channel mix
  5. Create a budget for an optimized channel mix
  6. Identify the life cycles for alternative channels
  7. Differentiate between organic and sponsored placements
  8. Identify distribution trends
  9. Create contingencies for downturns
  10. Use analytics to formulate decisions
  11. Demonstrate team skills
  12. Demonstrate report-writing and presentation skills
Textbook materials

Textbook as approved by the department and/or if no text assigned, selected readings to be assigned.

TI BA2 Plus business calculators to be used in compliance with Commerce and Business practice.

 

Requisites

Prerequisites

Courses listed here must be completed prior to this course:

 

[(ACCT 1110 & ACCT 1210) or ACCT 1235], HOSP 2240 and HOSP 2415

or be currently active in one of the following:

(PBD Hospitality Services Management and ACCT 3008),

(PDD Hospitality Management and ACCT 3008), or

(PDD Hospitality Marketing and ACCT 3008).

 

Corequisites

Courses listed here must be completed either prior to or simultaneously with this course:

  • No corequisite courses

Equivalencies

Courses listed here are equivalent to this course and cannot be taken for further credit:

  • No equivalency courses

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for HOSP 3130
College of the Rockies (COTR) No credit
Northern Lights College (NLC) No credit
Simon Fraser University (SFU) No credit
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU HMGT 3XXX (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC ORTM 2XX (3)

Course Offerings

Winter 2025