The Australian Revenue Management Association (ARMA) is fostering collaboration between industry and academia with the launch of the Global Revenue Management Student Symposium, taking place on March 30.

Curated by the Institute of Revenue Management – a division of ARMA – and its advisory board of hospitality and tourism professionals, the online symposium is designed to open the lines of communication between businesses and students to support the development of future leaders.

“The Symposium is designed to provide thought leadership to students on real world challenges, changes and trends in revenue management, and also any innovative approaches,” said ARMA Founder and CEO Melissa Kalan.

“It’s a chance for industry to work with academia and provide real world insight which is really valuable to students and to the academic facilitators as well.”

Available for free access for students for a 24-hour period, the educational program will include panel sessions, tutorials, keynote presentations and a discussion forum.

Each year at the symposium, students will be invited to take part in a challenge – for a nominal submission fee – to win educational prizes including a 12-month ARMA membership.

The challenge will require students to work together to solve a complex revenue and profit optimisation problem. A month later – on April 30 this year – students will have the opportunity to present a business case for the Advisory Board for review and feedback.

All submissions will have feedback provided and the top three winning teams will be announced at the APAC Revenue Management Summit which runs from May 23-24, 2023.

The winning team will also have the opportunity to complete the Level 1 industry professional revenue management certification online.

Kalan believes its important to support students on their journey to a career in revenue management, particularly as numbers are dwindling in the wake of the pandemic.

“The pandemic certainly has impacted student numbers,” she said. “That pipeline of people that we had has been watered down.

“People have opted out of the industry just because they had to survive. And so, we certainly need to have a real stronger focus on that student market to create interest in the discipline.

“Everything we do is essentially around trying to provide education for the industry, and now the student market as well because they are the revenue managers of the future.”