- Identity Check: Which CHSP This Sheet Covers
- The Exam at a Glance
- Fees, Registration and Retakes
- Eligibility Snapshot
- The 14 Competency Topics, Grouped
- Markets and Market Segments: What to Know Cold
- Sales Functions: What to Know Cold
- Sequencing the 14 Topics Across Your Prep
- Renewal Sheet
- What Is Not Published (Do Not Assume)
- Cheat Sheet FAQ
- CHSP here means Certified Hospitality Sales Professional, delivered by AHLEI through ExamFlex with a required proctor.
- The current product lists 100 questions, a 2-hour limit and a 70% passing score.
- The official bundle is USD $398 and includes the application, online study guide and exam; renewal is USD $102.
- Fourteen topics sit under two groups: Markets and market segments (7) and Sales functions (7).
Identity Check: Which CHSP This Sheet Covers
The acronym "CHSP" is shared by several unrelated credentials. This cheat sheet covers only the Certified Hospitality Sales Professional, an AHLA-endorsed certification administered by AHLEI. If you have seen fee tables, domain lists or pass-rate claims from another field, set them aside. Nothing on this page applies to them, and nothing from them applies here.
If you are still orienting yourself, start with What Is CHSP Certification? or What Does CHSP Stand For?, then return to this page as your condensed reference.
The Exam at a Glance
These are the figures the current issuer product specifies. Memorize them so exam-day logistics never surprise you.
| Item | Current Published Detail |
|---|---|
| Credential | Certified Hospitality Sales Professional (CHSP) |
| Administered by | AHLEI (AHLA-endorsed), delivered via ExamFlex online/print |
| Questions | 100 |
| Time limit | 2 hours |
| Passing score | 70% |
| Proctor | Required (approved proctor) |
| Retakes | Two retake purchases within one year of application approval |
| Question format | Not specified by the current product |
| Scored/unscored split | Not publicly disclosed |
| Observed pass rate | Not publicly disclosed |
Two hours for 100 questions averages out to roughly 72 seconds per question. Plan to move steadily, flag anything that needs a second look, and avoid burning several minutes on any single item. For a deeper look at how the 70% threshold works in practice, see CHSP Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Fees, Registration and Retakes
The bundle price
The current official offering is an application, online study guide and exam bundle for USD $398. The member versus non-member split and any exam-only price are not disclosed, so do not assume a discount structure. A full breakdown lives in CHSP Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
How the process flows
- Purchase the bundle through the AHLEI shop (ExamFlex product).
- Submit your application so eligibility can be reviewed and approved.
- Work through the online study guide.
- Arrange your approved proctor for the exam sitting.
- Sit the 100-question, 2-hour exam and aim for 70% or higher.
Retake mechanics
The current global product allows two retake purchases within one year from application approval. The current retake fee has not been verified, so budget cautiously and check the shop listing before you pay. The one-year clock starts at application approval, not at your first attempt, which means a delayed first sitting shrinks your retake window.
For scheduling specifics, see CHSP Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Eligibility Snapshot
CHSP eligibility is built around hospitality sales duties and time in position, not a universal degree or training-hour count.
- Baseline: at least 50% of your duties in qualifying hospitality sales, plus six months in position.
- Time reductions: a Supervisor, Manager, Department Head or Executive Certification eliminates the time requirement. An accredited academic degree eliminates the six months.
- What reductions do not do: they do not waive the qualifying-duties requirement or the application approval step.
- Not required universally: no verified degree, experience-hour, training-hour or reference-count requirement.
The full eligibility walkthrough is in CHSP Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
The 14 Competency Topics, Grouped
The CHSP headings are current issuer-published competencies organized as fourteen subordinate topics under two parent groups. The two group headings are not additional topics, so the count is fourteen, not sixteen. Percent weights, scored-question allocations and a blueprint revision date are unpublished, so treat every topic as examinable and avoid trusting any site that quotes weighting percentages.
| # | Topic | Parent Group |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to Hospitality Marketing and Sales | Markets and market segments |
| 2 | The Marketing Plan: The Cornerstone of Sales | Markets and market segments |
| 3 | Marketing to Business Travelers | Markets and market segments |
| 4 | Marketing to Leisure Travelers | Markets and market segments |
| 5 | Marketing to Travel Agents | Markets and market segments |
| 6 | Marketing to Meeting Planners | Markets and market segments |
| 7 | Marketing to Special Segments | Markets and market segments |
| 8 | Managing the Marketing and Sales Office | Sales functions |
| 9 | Reservations | Sales functions |
| 10 | Revenue Management | Sales functions |
| 11 | Personal Sales | Sales functions |
| 12 | Telephone Sales | Sales functions |
| 13 | Internal Marketing and Sales | Sales functions |
| 14 | Marketing Catered Events and Meeting Rooms | Sales functions |
For a topic-by-topic expansion, read CHSP Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 14 Content Areas.
Markets and Market Segments: What to Know Cold
The first seven topics are about who you sell to and how you plan to reach them. Expect the exam to test whether you can match a segment to the right approach.
Introduction to Hospitality Marketing and Sales
The foundation topic. Be ready to distinguish marketing from sales and understand where the sales function sits in a hospitality operation.
- Know the relationship between marketing activities and the sales effort that converts demand into bookings.
- Understand the role of the sales team in the wider property.
- Expect vocabulary-driven questions here, so learn terms precisely.
The Marketing Plan: The Cornerstone of Sales
The title says it all: the plan drives sales activity. Review how a plan connects goals, target segments and the actions that follow.
- Understand why planning precedes outreach.
- Be able to reason about how a plan guides which segments get attention.
- Connect planning to later topics such as the sales office and revenue management.
Segment Topics: Business Travelers, Leisure Travelers, Travel Agents, Meeting Planners, Special Segments
Topics 3 through 7 each target a distinct buyer. The common exam skill is differentiation: what does this buyer value, how do they book, and what does an effective approach look like?
- Business travelers: think convenience, consistency and corporate relationships.
- Leisure travelers: think experience, packaging and seasonality.
- Travel agents: think intermediary relationships and how they differ from direct guests.
- Meeting planners: think group needs, space, logistics and decision-making that involves many details.
- Special segments: review the additional niche markets covered in your study guide rather than assuming a list.
Key Takeaway
For segment topics, build a one-line profile for each buyer: what they want, how they book, and who influences the decision. Scenario questions usually hinge on matching the right tactic to the right buyer.
Sales Functions: What to Know Cold
The final seven topics move from segments to the machinery of selling: the office, the reservation process, pricing logic and the actual conversations.
Managing the Marketing and Sales Office
How the sales department is organized and kept productive.
- Know the responsibilities typically housed in a hospitality sales office.
- Understand how office management supports consistent follow-through.
Reservations
The point where demand becomes a confirmed booking.
- Understand how reservations connect to sales effort and guest experience.
- Review how reservation handling feeds into revenue decisions.
Revenue Management
Often the topic candidates find most conceptual. Focus on the logic of managing inventory and pricing against demand.
- Understand why not every booking is equally valuable at every moment.
- Link this topic back to segments: different buyers book at different lead times and price sensitivities.
- Do not memorize formulas from outside sources; rely on your official study guide's treatment.
Personal Sales and Telephone Sales
Two topics about the selling conversation itself, one face to face and one by phone.
- Know the stages of a sales interaction, from opening through closing.
- Understand how needs identification, objection handling and follow-up apply in each channel.
- Recognize what changes when the buyer cannot see you.
Internal Marketing and Sales
Selling inside the property: aligning departments and staff so the promise made to a guest is the one delivered.
- Understand why employees are part of the sales effort.
- Connect internal alignment to guest satisfaction and repeat business.
Marketing Catered Events and Meeting Rooms
The closing topic, which brings group and event selling together.
- Review how catering and meeting space are marketed and sold.
- Tie this back to the meeting planner segment from the first group.
Sequencing the 14 Topics Across Your Prep
With roughly 40 hours of self-paced review material available, a sensible approach is to pair related topics so segment knowledge feeds directly into sales-function knowledge. This is one possible arrangement, not an issuer requirement. For the broader method, see CHSP Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.
Foundations
- Introduction to Hospitality Marketing and Sales
- The Marketing Plan: The Cornerstone of Sales
- Learn core vocabulary first; later topics reuse it constantly.
Buyer Segments
- Business travelers, leisure travelers and travel agents
- Meeting planners and special segments
- Write the one-line buyer profile for each segment.
Operations and Revenue
- Managing the Marketing and Sales Office
- Reservations and Revenue Management
- Revisit segments to see how each buyer type affects pricing and booking.
Selling Conversations and Events
- Personal Sales and Telephone Sales
- Internal Marketing and Sales
- Marketing Catered Events and Meeting Rooms
- Finish with a timed 100-question practice run in a 2-hour window.
Ending with a full timed run matters because the real exam is a 2-hour, proctored sitting. You can rehearse that pacing on the CHSP practice test site, and the guide to how hard the CHSP exam is helps you calibrate your readiness.
Renewal Sheet
Earning the credential is not the end of the process. The current renewal framework is short enough to memorize:
- Cycle: five years.
- Requirement: 50 recertification points within the five-year period, repeating every five years thereafter.
- Fee: USD $102 (current official figure).
- Caution: recertification points are not automatically equivalent to CEU hours. Detailed evidence rules must follow the current issuer program, so check the issuer's recertification guidance before you log activities.
To weigh the long-term picture, including renewal costs against career benefit, read Is the CHSP Certification Worth It? and, for hiring context, CHSP Jobs.
What Is Not Published (Do Not Assume)
A trustworthy cheat sheet also tells you what remains unknown. As of the September 29, 2026 source review, the following are not verified for CHSP:
| Unverified Item | How to Handle It |
|---|---|
| Topic weighting percentages | Study all 14 topics; ignore any site quoting weights. |
| Official blueprint revision date or outline year | Rely on the current issuer-published competency list. |
| Item format and scored/unscored split | Confirm in your official materials after registering. |
| Pass rate | Treat any quoted figure skeptically; see CHSP Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows. |
| Calculator and open-book rules | Ask your proctor and the issuer before exam day. |
| Detailed remote-proctor rules | Review the issuer's current proctoring instructions. |
| Retake fee and member/non-member pricing | Check the live shop listing before purchasing. |
Earnings figures are another area where caution pays off. For a qualitative discussion of what the credential can mean for compensation, see CHSP Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis.
Cheat Sheet FAQ
The current issuer product specifies 100 questions in a 2-hour exam with a required proctor. The passing score is 70%. The item format and the split between scored and unscored questions are not specified.
Fourteen subordinate topics under two parent groups: Markets and market segments (the first seven) and Sales functions (the final seven). The group headings themselves are not extra topics, and no official weighting percentages are published.
The current official bundle is USD $398 and includes the application, online study guide and exam. Member versus non-member pricing and an exam-only price are not disclosed, and the retake fee is unverified.
No universal degree, experience-hour or training-hour requirement is verified. The core rule is at least 50% of duties in qualifying hospitality sales plus six months in position, with time reductions for certain certifications or an accredited degree. Application approval is still required.
Renewal is on a five-year cycle and requires 50 recertification points within each five-year period. The current official renewal fee is USD $102. Points are not automatically equivalent to CEU hours, so follow the issuer's current evidence rules.