Alumna Nasim Binesh ('22 PhD Hospitality Administration) and Amanda Belarmino, Ashok K. Singh, and Carola Raab (all Hospitality) and colleague Jean-Pierre Van der Rest published a new study "Forecasting hotel room prices when entering turbulent times: a game-theoretic artificial neural network model" appeared in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a unique challenge in terms of forecasting for hotels, similar to other macro economic disruptions. What is the best method for forecasting hotel room price during these times, and how are those decisions influenced by competitors? This study found that using neural network forecasting, a form of AI, yielded a more accurate forecasting model than traditional methods and that accounting for competitors improved that model.