Certification in Hotel Industry Analytics (CHIA) Exam - STUDY GUIDE

Most of the entities below are classified as "Chains". Which one is a "Parent Company" consisting of multiple chains?

Accor

Which is a true statement about Parent Companies?

Parent companies are the related chains that have changed over time

What are the three different operation types?

Chain Management, Franchise, Independent

Which is a true statement about independent hotels?

Independent hotels are not affiliated with a specific chain

Which is a true statement about Management Companies?

Management companies have contracts where they receive payment for their services and/or some portion of profits

Which is a true statement regarding geographic categorization?

STR uses the UNWTO definitions when it comes to recognizing countries

Which is a true statement regarding markets?

No market will ever cross country boundaries

In descending order of geographic size, which option below is correct?

Continent

Sub-Continent

Country

Market

Sub-market

Which two geographic categories are the most important for a hotel GM?

Market and Sub-market

Markets and submarkets are created based on what two determining factors?

Number of hotels and participation

Which is a true statement regarding sub-markets?

A sub-market may represent a small city in a rural market

Changes to how Markets and Sub-markets are geographically defined are made how often?

Annually

Which two non-geographic categories are the most important for a hotel GM?

Scale and Class

How many Scale categories are there compared to Class categories?

7 Scale categories and 6 Class categories

Which one of the following is an accurate statement regarding Scale and Class groups and a single chain?

A Ritz Carlton hotel will always be in the same Scale and Class groups in every country throughout the world

Which one of the following is an accurate statement regarding Class groups?

Independent hotels are slotted into Class groups based upon the ADR of the independent hotel compared to the chain hotels in the same market

Which one of the following is NOT a Location Category used by the hotel industry?

Oceanfront

Which is NOT a valid non-geographic category?

Guest Satisfaction Rating

Benchmarking in the hotel industry takes place at what level?

Property level for an individual hotel versus their Competitive Set

Corporate level for a hotel company, for example one brand versus others

Geographic level for tourism organizations, for example city versus comparable cities

Comp sets are used for many purposes in hotel operations, which of the following is one of these purposes?

Comp sets can be used to aid the sales and marketing departments in determining the effectiveness of various pricing decisions

Comp sets can be used in management contracts for performance requirements

Comp sets can have an effect on a general managers compensation

The four key considerations when creating a Competitive Set are?

Participation, Proximity, Pricing and Product

All of the following are good reason for a hotel to have an additional competitive set, except which one?

Have one set that you can easily beat and another which is a realistic target

When can a competitive set be created?

A competitive set may be created while the hotel is under construction

Who creates a competitive set for a chain hotel?

It is a joint effort involving many stakeholders

What is the average number of hotels in a competitive set?

Between 5 and 6

Which is a valid rule related to creating a competitive set?

When percentages are calculated, the rooms of the subject hotel, as well as the same chain and parent company, are excluded

When can a competitive set be changed?

At any time, although many wait until the beginning of the year

Which is NOT a valid rule related to changing a competitive set?

A single hotel may be added to a competitive set at any time

The definitions for Supply, Demand and Revenue used by STR and others in the lodging industry are taken from what source?

Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry

Which statement is true regarding raw data that is submitted to STR?

The majority of data is exported from the hotel company systems

Which is true regarding the type of performance data (Supply, Demand, Revenue) that STR receives?

Daily and monthly only

You receive your monthly STAR and find that it includes weekday and weekend performance, what days are included in "weekday" in most parts of the world?

Sunday thru Thursday

In which of the following situations will occupancy increase?

Supply decreases 10% and demand decreases 5%

Which statement is true regarding RevPAR?

It can be thought of as a combination of Occupancy and ADR

Which one of the following statements is accurate regarding "Sufficiency" as it related to competitive set data?

The sufficiency rules are in place to protect the confidentiality of the data

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for the Competitive Set (for example the average Occupancy) are:

Always based upon the aggregated raw data of each member of the competitive set

When you receive your STAR report, your ADR for the month was $100 and the competitive set ADR was $90. What can you tell?

Your ADR was $10 higher than the average of all of the members of the competitive set

What happens when there is a non-reporting hotel in a competitive set?

The comp set average is calculated based upon the reporting hotels

When you receive your STAR report your ADR index was 110 and your Occupancy index was 90. What do you know?

The RevPAR index will be in the neighborhood of 100

When you receive your STAR report, you see that your RevPAR index was 90 this year compared to 80 last year. What do you know for sure?

Your hotel will have a positive RevPAR Index Percent Change

When you receive your STAR report you see that your ADR Rank for the current month is "3 of 7". What do you know?

Your hotel has the 3rd highest ADR among the members of your competitive set

When talking about U.S. Industry Data, which is an accurate explanation of "modeled data"?

Modeled Data is derived by using actual data from reporting hotels to estimate performance for non-reporting hotels

The number of Rooms Available in a total market can change over time due to what four factors?

New hotel openings, Hotel closings, Hotel room additions, and Hotel room drops

What is the minimum number of reporting hotels for an industry segment to be considered "sufficient"?

Four

Hotels and hotel companies outside the U.S. may receive STAR reports in what currency?

Local Currency, US dollars or a third currency (the company gets to decide)

Modeled data is used in which country?

United States

How are exchange rates handled when it comes to multiple time periods, e.g. YTD, Running 3 month or Running 12 month?

Raw data is aggregated using the exchange rate for each individual month, then the KPIs are calculated for the time period.

Which one of the following is a non-geographic category shown on the STAR report?

Class

What information is never included on a STAR report?

Performance data for individual competitors

What are the four steps in the iterative process to effectively use the STAR data?

Analyze, Identify, Develop and Monitor

Which statement is true regarding the industry data that a hotel may see on a STAR report?

North America hotels will see industry data for Market, Market Class, Submarket and Submarket Scale

Which one of the following is an accurate statement regarding Segmentation and Additional Revenue data on the STAR Reports?

A good example of Contract Rooms and Revenue is airline crew business

Which one of the following is an accurate statement regarding the performance at your hotel?

Your Occupancy Index (MPI) has surpassed 100 in each of the four time periods shown

The line graph at the top of the Competitive Set Report in a monthly STAR report shows what?

Index values for Occupancy, ADR and RevPAR

The Competitive Set Report in a Monthly STAR Report shows what information?

18 months of monthly data and 3 years of YTD, Running 3-month, and Running 12- month data

Which of the following statements best describes performance of your hotel over the last six months?

Your hotel's Occupancy Rank has consistently been 2 of 5

Which is an accurate statement regarding the Day of Week and Weekday/Weekend tab in the Monthly STAR report?

It shows all the Key Performance indicators for all four time periods for the property and the comp set

It shows data by every day of the week, as well as a Weekday and Weekend subtotal

It is a very valuable tab and can be used to find areas of improvement

Based on the information provided above, which one of the following is an accurate statement?

The Weekend Occupancy for your hotel is consistently higher than your Competitive Set for all time periods

The "Weekly Performance At A Glance" tab on the Weekly STAR report displays what information?

Detail daily data for every day of the prior week

A weekly total

Running 28-day data

The "Perspectives" tabs of the Weekly STAR report show all but the following information?

Monthly performance numbers for the last 3 months

The "Daily Data for the Month" tab on the Weekly STAR report displays what information?

Provides a running MTD total based upon daily data

Shows KPIs for the subject property and the competitive set for each day of the current month

Displays graphs of index values for every day of the current month

Based upon the first nine days of the month, what can you determine about your hotel's Occupancy performance?

The Competitive Set's Occupancy was significantly below your hotel's occupancy for the first three days of the month

Which is NOT an accurate statement regarding the differences between STAR Reports, Ad-hoc Industry Reports, and Destination Reports?

Hotels and hotel companies cannot obtain Ad-Hoc Industry reports or Destination Reports

Which of the following is a rule related to requesting Trend report(s)?

You must select four or more participating hotels

A single hotel may account for a maximum of 50 percent of the participating room supply (in NA, 50% in non-NA)

If you request multiple Trend reports, the hotels you have selected must differ by more than one participating hotel on subsequent Trend request

Which of following is NOT a valid way to select hotels for a Trend Report?

Ask STR to select the best performing hotels in an area

Trend reports are available in which currency?

Any currency

Which of the following is NOT a valid type of data that you can request to include on a Trend Report, in addition to monthly data?

Weekly data

Several tabs in the Trend Report display columns with Census Props and Rooms and STAR participation. Which is an accurate statement about this data?

These columns show the total number of hotels and rooms for the selected group of hotels, as well as the percent of those rooms that submit performance data to STR

Which one of the following is an accurate statement?

The ADR for the first eight months of 2013 was up from the same period in 2012

What are the four phases for hotel projects in the development pipeline?

In-Construction, Final Planning, Planning and Unconfirmed

Which one of the following is an accurate statement regarding Supply growth over the last 5 years?

The Upscale segment experienced a significant increase in supply

Which two chain scales will probably experience the largest Supply growth in the near future?

Upscale and Upper Midscale

Which is a true statement regarding the Changes to Existing Supply tab of a Pipeline Report?

It shows the net gain or loss of hotel rooms over time by brand and scale

It shows changes to existing supply for two time periods, last 12 months and last 60 months

It can be used to analyze the conversion activity in a specific area

Which Upscale Brand experienced the most significant net change in room supply over the last 12 month period?

Crowne Plaza

A HOST or Profitability report displays what type of information?

Profit and Loss information, including revenue, expenses and profit accounts

The HOST Report displays data based upon what time period?

Yearly

A HOST or Profitability report display data for how many years?

Two

Which is NOT a true statement regarding a Destination Report?

Reports are available only on a monthly basis, but not weekly

What statement is true about a Multi-Segment tab of a Destination Report?

You can select several industry segments and their data will appear

You can select "comparable markets" to track the performance of other cities that you feel you compete with

The tab will display numbers for two different time periods, such as Current Month and YTD

What statement is true about a Multi-Segment tab of a Destination Report?

A. You can select several industry segments and their data will appear

B. You can select "comparable markets" to track the performance of other cities that you feel you compete with

C. The tab will display numbers for two different time periods, such as Current Month and YTD

D. All of the statements above are true

D. All of the statements above are true

Which statement is true regarding the format and timing of a STAR Report?

They are normally generated in Excel.

The "Perspectives" pages of the Weekly STAR report show all but the following information?

Monthly performance numbers for the last 3 months

The "Daily Data for the Month" tab on the Weekly STAR report displays what information?

a. Provides a running MTD total based upon daily data

b. Shows KPIs for the subject property and the competitive set for each day of the current month

c. Displays graphs of index values for every day of the current month

d. All of the above are displayed on this report

d. All of the above are displayed on this report

Group

rooms sold in a block of 10 or more

transient

rooms sold at rack, corporate, package, or government rates

contract

airline crews and permanent guests

smith travel accommodations report; 1987

what does STAR stand for? when was it launched?

(t/f) STAR reports always show individual property data for any other hotel except for the subject

false

STAR reports NEVER show individual property data for any other hotel except for the subject

what is the 4 step process in using STAR report?

1. analyze

2. identify

3. develop

4. monitor

STAR reports can be generated for participating hotels anywhere in the world.

True

There are four types of ____________ segments that hotels are compared to on a STAR report in addition to competitive sets.

industry