In addition to contributing to the new book, Dave Roberts, professor, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, and former SVP, revenue strategy and solutions, Marriott, has been selected to receive the Revenue Optimization Educator of the Year Award from the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) during its Commercial Strategy Week, which is taking place in Toronto from June 26 to 29.
“I’m thrilled and very honored,” said Roberts.
He joined Cornell’s faculty in 2020, teaching courses in lodging operations and channel distribution, and previously taught graduate courses in business strategy and corporate finance at Virginia Tech. In 2022, Dave published his first book, “Hotel Revenue Management: The Post-Pandemic Evolution to Revenue Strategy.”
Roberts said he is excited to attend Commercial Strategy Week, for which he served as emcee last year, in order to keep up with the latest happenings in the industry. “I’m a big believer that every single human you come in contact with has something to teach you,” he said. “And here I am. I’ll be surrounded by, I don’t know, 800 commercial strategy professionals, and I’m going to learn a lot. Literally, I carry my black notebook everywhere and take notes. I’m always interested in how things work. But, also, I’m going to put some of these things into my courses.”
Roberts retired from Marriott in 2019 after 23 years with the company serving as SVP, revenue strategy & solutions, with global responsibility for revenue management, analytics and sales systems. At the time, he was also a member of IBM’s Business Analytics Advisory Board. Prior to Marriott, he was a manager in the finance department at American Airlines and a technical consultant on missile defense for the U.S. Department of Defense.
