CCTE Core Week 1

Practical Accounting, Budgeting and Forecasting

• Current situation
• Travel forecast – airlines, hotels, rental cars
• The accounting cycle
• Financial statements
• Revenues and expenses
• Cost controls
• Budgeting – basis for planning and control
• Business forecasting
• Case study

Technology

• History of GDS
• Original and current distribution models
• Content issues
• Procure-to-pay solutions
• Other technology trends

Finance

• Understand the primary financial goal of “for profit” companies
• Understand the role of the chief financial officer
• Learn how travel managers can better fit into a company’s financial management system
• Learn how to apply financial skills to the position of travel manager

Persuasive Communication and Negotiation Skills

• The role of communication
• The power of language
• Communication change models
• The power of agreement
• General concepts for persuasion success
• Influencing skills
• Creating changes in patterns
• Key to long-term relationships
• Increasing perspective
• Negotiation change
• Understanding decision-making
• Uncovering values

Legal

• The agency relationship
• Agency vs. independent contractor
• Liability
• Corporate duty to travelers
• Contracts
• Recent court and statute issues unique to the travel industry

Core Week 2

Revenue Pricing Yield Management

• The challenge of pricing
• Ways to price products and services
• Value-based pricing
• Types of pricing strategies
• Understanding revenue management and strategic pricing
• Price customization
• Economic theory versus prospect theory
• Understanding frames of reference

Meetings from a Managerial Perspective

• Meeting types
• Pricing determinants
• Application and purpose
• Leveraging information
• Controlling purchase of ancillary items

Competitive Strategy

• Identification of competitive forces to recognize the components of competitive analysis and examine effectiveness of market signals
• How market conditions can change based on events outside the control of participants and how they must react to these changes
• Scenarios to examine the impact of economics of scales, networking and team building
• Developing strategic management skills

Negotiation Strategies:  Conflict Resolution and Managing Your Emotional Energy

• How to improve listening skills
• Resolving disagreements with others
• Reducing and Refereeing disagreements between others
• Solving client/customer/guest issues
• Seven rules for negotiation

Business Writing and Communication

• Pre-writing strategies
• Secrets to writing on-target communications
• Writing powerfully and persuasively for any situation
• Post-writing clean-up techniques
• Troubleshooting common writing problems

Risk Management and Contingency Planning

• Building the foundation
• Travel risk management
• Planning process
• Program execution
• Selling the program