Rate management for home holiday rentals: A data analytics approach

Home holiday rentals is a growing industry in the city of Lisbon, following the increase of the tourism volume, yet very little explored and with a great lack of studies and information about it. This leads to a need of research, in order to find new patterns in the guest’s and host’s behavior that allow the property’s owners to maximize their profits, by increasing their monthly occupancy rates. This study was made using several Data Mining techniques. This dissertation used the data from the property management company FeelsLikeHome, namely the properties information and reservations’ historical data from January 2017 to May 2019. The relationship between the monthly average rate per night and the monthly occupancy rate was studied, to understand if they affect or explain one another. After this, there was a need to understand which are the variables that better explain and predict the occupancy rate. Finally, with this information, a set of matrices were built based on the most important predictors, displaying the corresponding occupancy rate, with the objective of proposing changes to the rates per nigh currently implemented. A predictive model was obtained for the occupancy rate, through the interpretation of patterns in the properties’ occupancy. With this, properties’ profiles with high and low occupancy were identified and coefficients of rate change were proposed. These models offered useful knowledge for FLH and for the industry professionals, since it allowed them to develop marketing strategies to improve profits.O aluguer de casas de férias é uma indústria em crescimento na cidade de Lisboa, que tem acompanhado o aumento do volume do turismo, no entanto, é ainda muito pouco explorada, verificando-se uma grande falta de estudos e informação sobre esta. Isto leva a uma necessidade de investigação, a fim de encontrar padrões no comportamento dos hóspedes e dos anfitriões que permitam ao dono da propriedade maximizar os seus lucros, aumentando a taxa de ocupação mensal da propriedade. Este estudo foi feito com recurso a diversas técnicas de Data Mining. Esta dissertação utilizou dados da empresa de gestão de propriedades FeelsLikeHome, nomeadamente informação das propriedades e dados históricos das reservas de Janeiro de 2017 a Maio de 2019. A relação entre o preço por noite médio mensal e a ocupação média mensal foi estudada, a fim de entender se eles se afetam ou explicam mutuamente. Depois disto, houve uma necessidade de entender quais as variáveis que melhor explicam e preveem a taxa de ocupação. Finalmente, com esta informação, um conjunto de matrizes foi construído com base nos preditores mais importantes, exibindo a taxa de ocupação correspondente, com o objetivo de propor alterações aos preços por noite praticados atualmente. Foi obtido um modelo preditivo para a taxa de ocupação, através da interpretação de padrões na taxa de ocupação das propriedades. Com isto, foram identificados perfis de propriedades com predições de taxas de ocupação altas e baixas e foram propostos coeficientes de alteração do preço. Estes modelos oferecem conhecimento útil para a FLH e para os profissionais da indústria, uma vez que lhes permite desenvolver estratégias de marketing para aumentar os seus lucros

Selective Advance Reservations Based on Host Movement Detection and Resource-Aware Handoff

This paper proposes a new mechanism, which addresses the excessive advance reservation requirements of QoS guarantee methods for mobile Internet. To save resources for excessive advance reservations, the proposed mechanism employs a movement detection scheme for a mobile host (MH) using link-layer functionalities. With the movement detection scheme, advance reservations can be established at only where a MH is likely to visit soon. Another novel feature of our mechanism is resource-aware handoff direction scheme that allows a MH to choose its next BS according to not only the link-layer signal strength, but also the available amount of resources in the reachable base stations (BSs). It considerably decreases a probability that QoS is disrupted due to the failure in advance reservation request. Also, the proposed mechanism requires fewer functional and structural changes to the current Internet components and protocols since all the enhanced features are integrated only into leaf BSs and MHs. It does not suffer from the problems of the conventional approaches based on Mobile IP and RSVP Tunnel, such as non-optimal routing path and signalling overhead. Our experiment results show that the proposed mechanism successfully eliminates the overhead for useless advance reservations while guaranteeing seamless QoS for MHs. The performance comparison demonstrates that our mechanism slightly outperforms the conventional approaches while requiring fewer modifications and additions to the existing Internet architecture. This performance advantage of the proposed mechanism becomes noticeable when the network is congested and the mobility of a host is high. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Selective Advance Reservations Based on Host Movement Detection and Resource-Aware Handoff

This paper proposes a new mechanism, which addresses the excessive advance reservation requirements of QoS guarantee methods for mobile Internet. To save resources for excessive advance reservations, the proposed mechanism employs a movement detection scheme for a mobile host (MH) using link-layer functionalities. With the movement detection scheme, advance reservations can be established at only where a MH is likely to visit soon. Another novel feature of our mechanism is resource-aware handoff direction scheme that allows a MH to choose its next BS according to not only the link-layer signal strength, but also the available amount of resources in the reachable base stations (BSs). It considerably decreases a probability that QoS is disrupted due to the failure in advance reservation request. Also, the proposed mechanism requires fewer functional and structural changes to the current Internet components and protocols since all the enhanced features are integrated only into leaf BSs and MHs. It does not suffer from the problems of the conventional approaches based on Mobile IP and RSVP Tunnel, such as non-optimal routing path and signalling overhead. Our experiment results show that the proposed mechanism successfully eliminates the overhead for useless advance reservations while guaranteeing seamless QoS for MHs. The performance comparison demonstrates that our mechanism slightly outperforms the conventional approaches while requiring fewer modifications and additions to the existing Internet architecture. This performance advantage of the proposed mechanism becomes noticeable when the network is congested and the mobility of a host is high. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

The importance of information flows temporal attributes for the efficient scheduling of dynamic demand responsive transport services

The operation of a demand responsive transport service usually involves the management of dynamic requests. The underlying algorithms are mainly adaptations of procedures carefully designed to solve static versions of the problem, in which all the requests are known in advance. However there is no guarantee that the effectiveness of an algorithm stays unchanged when it is manipulated to work in a dynamic environment. On the other hand, the way the input is revealed to the algorithm has a decisive role on the schedule quality. We analyze three characteristics of the information flow (percentage of real-time requests, interval between call-in and requested pickup time and length of the computational cycle time), assessing their influence on the effectiveness of the scheduling proces

A Review of Trip Planning Systems.

This report reviews current information provision in all modes of transport and assesses the needs for and benefits of trip planning systems. The feasibility of trip planning systems is discussed given the current state of technology and information availability and supply. The review was stimulated by technological developments in telecommunications and information technology which are providing the possibility of a greatly enhanced quality of information to aid trip planning decisions. Amongst the conclusions reached were the following: Current information provision is considered deficient in many respects. Travellers are often unaware of alternative routes or services and many are unable to acquire adequate information from one source especially for multi-modal journeys. In addition, there is a lack of providing real time information where it is required (bus stops and train stations) and of effective interaction of static and real time information. Most of the projects, which integrate static and dynamic data, are single mode systems. Therefore there is a need for an integrated trip planning system which can inform and guide on all aspects of transport. Trip planning systems can provide assistance in trip planning (before and during the journey) using one or a number of modes of travel, taking into account travellers preferences and constraints, and effectively integrating static and dynamic data. Trip planning systems could adversely affect traffic demand as people who become aware of new opportunities might be encouraged to make more journeys. It could also affect travellers choice as a result of over-saturation of information, over-reaction to predictive information, and concentration on the same 'best' routes. However, it can be argued, based on existing evidence, that such a system can benefit travellers, and transport operators as well as the public sector responsible for executing transport policies. Travellers can benefit by obtaining adequate information to help them in making optimal decisions and reducing uncertainty and stress associated with travel. Public transport operators can benefit by making their services known to customers, leading to increased patronage. Public transport authorities can use the supply of information to execute their transport policies and exercise more control over traffic management

Capacity planning and stochastic scheduling in grid computing environments

Imperial Users onl

Stochastic Workflow Scheduling with QoS Guarantees in Grid Computing Environments

Grid computing infrastructures embody a cost-effective computing paradigm that virtualises heterogenous system resources to meet the dynamic needs of critical business and scientific applications. These applications range from batch processes and long-running tasks to more real-time and even transactional applications. Grid schedulers aim to make efficient use of Grid resources in a cost-effective way, while satisfying the Quality-of-Service requirements of the applications. Scheduling in such a large-scale, dynamic and distributed environment is a complex undertaking. In this paper, we propose an approach to Grid scheduling which abstracts over the details of individual applications and aims to provide a globally optimal schedule, while having the ability to dynamically adjust to varying workloa