- The Number: 70% on a 100-Question Exam
- What 70% Means in Practice
- What the Issuer Does Not Publish
- Format, Timing and Proctoring
- Where Your Points Come From: The 14 Competencies
- Building a Score Plan Around the Two Topic Groups
- Registration, Fees and Retake Mechanics
- After You Pass: Renewal and Recertification Points
- Where the Credential Gets Used
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The current Certified Hospitality Sales Professional product lists a 70% passing score on a 100-question, two-hour exam.
- A proctor is required, and the exam is delivered through AHLEI's ExamFlex online/print system.
- Domain weights, scored/unscored split and pass rate are not publicly disclosed, so prepare evenly across all 14 topics.
- Two retake purchases are allowed within one year of application approval; the retake fee is unverified.
The Number: 70% on a 100-Question Exam
If you are searching for the Certified Hospitality Sales Professional (CHSP) passing score, the answer from the current issuer product is straightforward: 70%. The exam is specified as 100 questions in 2 hours, and a proctor is required. The credential is administered by AHLEI, the educational arm of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, and the exam is delivered through ExamFlex in online or print format.
That is the full set of confirmed scoring facts, and this article stays inside them. If you have seen other pages quote a scaled score, a cut score out of some larger range, or a precise pass rate, treat them with caution. The issuer's current product does not publish those details, and for the CHSP specifically, anything beyond the 70% threshold would be guesswork. Our companion piece on the CHSP pass rate explains why an observed pass rate is simply not available.
What 70% Means in Practice
On a 100-question exam, a 70% threshold is easy to translate into a target: you need roughly 70 correct answers if every question is scored. But there is a caveat. The issuer does not state whether all 100 questions count toward your score or whether some are unscored items used for testing. Because that split is undisclosed, the safest assumption is to aim well above the line rather than exactly at it.
A practical way to think about it:
- Bare minimum: 70% is the stated passing standard, so that is the floor, not the goal.
- Working target: Consistently scoring in the high 70s or 80s on realistic practice questions gives you a buffer for unfamiliar wording and nervous errors.
- Time budget: Two hours for 100 questions averages 72 seconds per item. That is comfortable for recall questions but tighter for scenario-style questions about rate quotes, segment strategy or event pricing.
The issuer does not specify the current item format for this product, and older descriptions of the exam as purely multiple-choice are not treated as current verification. Practice with a mix of recall and scenario questions so you are not surprised either way. For a realistic sense of how demanding that mix feels, read how hard the CHSP exam is.
What the Issuer Does Not Publish
Many candidates get anxious about the gaps in public information. Here is a plain list of what is and is not known, so you can plan around it instead of worrying about it.
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Passing score | 70% (current issuer product) |
| Number of questions | 100 |
| Exam length | 2 hours |
| Proctor | Required |
| Question format | Not specified by the current product |
| Scored vs. unscored questions | Not publicly disclosed |
| Domain percentages / formal blueprint | Not published |
| Observed pass rate | Not publicly disclosed |
| Calculator, open-book and detailed remote-proctor rules | Unverified; confirm with the issuer |
The practical conclusion is simple: because no weighting is published, you cannot safely skip any topic. A candidate who ignores one area on the assumption that it is lightly tested is gambling with information nobody outside the issuer has.
Format, Timing and Proctoring
The exam is delivered through ExamFlex, AHLEI's online and print delivery system, with an approved proctor. No external testing vendor has been verified for this product, so do not expect the walk-in test center experience associated with some other credentials. Details such as remote-proctoring technology requirements, whether a calculator is allowed, and whether any reference material is permitted are unverified in public sources. Ask AHLEI or your proctor before exam day and get the answer in writing if you can.
Revenue-related questions are the ones most likely to raise the calculator question, since the exam covers pricing, occupancy and demand. Build your arithmetic comfort so a missing calculator would not derail you, and verify the rule rather than relying on a guess.
Where Your Points Come From: The 14 Competencies
The CHSP content is organized as fourteen subordinate topics under two parent groups. The two group headings are not extra topics; the structural count is fourteen. These headings are the issuer's published competencies, not an official weighted blueprint, so do not read them as equal-weighted or as a complete list of everything that could appear. The full breakdown lives in the CHSP exam domains guide.
Group 1: Markets and Market Segments (Topics 1-7)
Domains 1 and 2: Foundations and the Marketing Plan
Introduction to Hospitality Marketing and Sales, and The Marketing Plan: The Cornerstone of Sales. These set the vocabulary and the logic behind every later topic.
- Know how a marketing plan organizes goals, target markets and tactics
- Understand why the plan is called the cornerstone of sales
- Expect later segment questions to assume this framework
Domains 3 through 5: Business, Leisure and Travel Agent Markets
Marketing to Business Travelers, Marketing to Leisure Travelers, and Marketing to Travel Agents.
- Contrast what each segment values when choosing a property
- Match sales approaches to each buyer type
- Understand how intermediaries such as travel agents fit into distribution
Domains 6 and 7: Meeting Planners and Special Segments
Marketing to Meeting Planners and Marketing to Special Segments.
- Understand what meeting planners evaluate when selecting a venue
- Recognize the distinct needs of niche segments
- Practice distinguishing segments in scenario questions
Group 2: Sales Functions (Topics 8-14)
Domains 8 through 10: Office, Reservations and Revenue
Managing the Marketing and Sales Office, Reservations, and Revenue Management.
- Understand how the sales office is organized and managed
- Know how the reservations function connects to sales results
- Be fluent in revenue management concepts such as pricing against demand
Domains 11 through 14: Selling Skills, Internal Marketing and Events
Personal Sales, Telephone Sales, Internal Marketing and Sales, and Marketing Catered Events and Meeting Rooms.
- Know the stages of a sales conversation, in person and by phone
- Understand how internal teams support selling
- Be ready for catering and meeting-room revenue questions
Building a Score Plan Around the Two Topic Groups
Since there is no published weighting, the sensible approach is to cover all fourteen topics and then deepen the ones that feel weakest. The issuer's self-paced review material is described as approximately 40 hours. That figure describes study time, not exam length or a mandatory training minimum, but it is a useful anchor for planning. Here is one way to sequence it, using the two groups as the backbone. For a fuller method, see the CHSP study guide.
Foundations and the plan (Domains 1-2)
- Learn the vocabulary first; every later topic depends on it
- Outline a sample marketing plan from memory
Segments (Domains 3-7)
- Build a one-page comparison of business, leisure, agent, meeting planner and special segments
- Test yourself on which segment fits each scenario
Operations and revenue (Domains 8-10)
- Spend extra time on revenue management, the area most likely to involve calculations
- Trace how a reservation request becomes revenue
Selling and events (Domains 11-14), then full practice
- Rehearse in-person and telephone sales sequences
- Finish with timed 100-question practice sets at the 72-seconds-per-item pace
You can pressure-test your readiness with timed sets on the CHSP practice test and use your misses to decide where to spend remaining hours. A one-page recap such as the CHSP cheat sheet works well for the final days.
Key Takeaway
With no published domain weights, your score plan is coverage first, depth second. Aim for the high 70s or better in practice so the 70% line is a buffer, not a tightrope.
Registration, Fees and Retake Mechanics
The current official product is an application, online study guide and exam bundle priced at $398. Member versus non-member pricing and any exam-only price are undisclosed, so do not assume a discount exists. The full picture is in the CHSP certification cost breakdown.
Eligibility matters before you pay. The current global issuer requirements call for at least 50% of your duties in qualifying hospitality sales and six months in position. Holding a Supervisor, Manager, Department Head or Executive Certification eliminates the time requirement, and an accredited academic degree eliminates the six-month portion. Those reductions do not waive the qualifying-duties requirement or application approval. No universal degree, experience-hour, training-hour or reference-count requirement has been verified, and a provider's twelve-hour course is not a universal minimum. Our CHSP requirements guide walks through how to qualify.
If you do not pass the first time
The current global product allows two retake purchases within one year from application approval. The retake fee is unverified, so confirm the amount with the issuer before budgeting. The one-year window runs from application approval, not from your first attempt, which makes it worth scheduling your first sitting with enough runway to use a retake if needed.
After You Pass: Renewal and Recertification Points
Passing is not the end of the credential's obligations. The certification renews on a five-year cycle with professional development, and the current official renewal fee is $102. Current issuer guidance requires 50 recertification points within five years, repeating every five years thereafter. These points are not automatically equivalent to CEU hours, and detailed evidence rules must follow the current issuer program, so check the issuer's recertification guidance rather than assuming other training counts one-for-one.
Understanding the renewal cost and effort helps when you weigh the credential's value. The analysis of whether the CHSP is worth it factors in both the upfront and ongoing commitments.
Where the Credential Gets Used
The Certified Hospitality Sales Professional credential is aimed at people who sell and market hospitality products, most obviously in hotels and lodging, where the AHLA endorsement carries weight. Relevant roles tend to sit in sales offices, reservations, revenue functions and catering and events, mirroring the fourteen topics you study. Because no verified salary or hiring statistics are published for this credential, this article does not quote any. If compensation is your main question, the CHSP salary guide and the overview of CHSP jobs discuss the career side qualitatively.
If you are still orienting yourself to the credential itself, start with what CHSP certification is and the broader CHSP certification overview.
Frequently Asked Questions
The current issuer product specifies a 70% passing score on a 100-question, two-hour exam with a required proctor. Scored versus unscored question allocation is not publicly disclosed.
No weighting has been published. The fourteen competencies are issuer-published topics, not an official weighted blueprint, so percentages and scored-question allocations are unavailable. Prepare across all fourteen topics.
The current global product allows two retake purchases within one year from application approval. The retake fee is not verified, so confirm the current amount with the issuer.
The observed pass rate is not publicly disclosed, so any specific figure you see should be treated skeptically. The pass rate article explains what can and cannot be said.
No. The roughly 40 hours refers to self-paced review material and describes study time only. The exam itself is two hours, and the 40 hours is not a universal mandatory training minimum.
The 70% threshold is simple, but passing it reliably comes down to covering every one of the fourteen topics, since no weights are published to tell you which ones to skip. Confirm the unverified rules with the issuer, give yourself room for a retake, and use timed practice questions to know you are comfortably above the line before test day.