Teaching Dynamic Pricing in the Digital Age: A Classroom Simulation for Hospitality and Tourism Revenue Management

This paper presents an experiential learning simulation designed to teach modern revenue management principles by adapting Talluri’s customer valuation game. The exercise tasks student groups with transitioning from customer roles, where they provide personal valuations, to the role of revenue managers optimizing prices for a fixed inventory of a digital service or experience. The simulation’s primary objectives are to illustrate core RM concepts like value-based pricing and segmentation while confronting students with contemporary challenges, including ethical trade-offs and the psychology of pricing. Implemented across six cohorts (n = 120), the game demonstrated a significant impact on learning, with a 22% average improvement in post-game quiz scores. The largest gains were in understanding demand elasticity (+41%) and segmentation strategies (+36%). Furthermore, it achieved high student engagement, with an average rating of 4.6/5. Qualitative feedback revealed an enhanced understanding of real-world pricing strategies. The simulation offers educators a scalable, active-learning tool that effectively bridges theory and practice in RM education.