- What CHTP Means: The Credential in Plain Terms
- Who Stands Behind It: HFTP and the Delivery Setup
- The Three Domains You Will Be Assessed On
- What We Know (and Don't) About the Exam Format
- Application and Eligibility Mechanics
- Fees and What the Bundle Includes
- Staying Certified: The Two-Year Renewal Cycle
- Who Benefits From the Credential
- Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Domains
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CHTP stands for Certified Hospitality Technology Professional, issued through Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP).
- The exam is assessed in three separate sections, and you need 70% in each one.
- The indexed bundle is US$1,075, with 365-day access and two attempts per section.
- Application approval is required before you can test; confirm the current eligibility matrix with HFTP.
What CHTP Means: The Credential in Plain Terms
CHTP stands for Certified Hospitality Technology Professional. It is a professional certification aimed at people who run, select, secure, and support the technology that keeps hotels, resorts, restaurants, and other hospitality operations functioning. Think property management systems, point-of-sale platforms, payment processing, network infrastructure, and the vendor relationships and budgets that surround them.
Because the acronym is used elsewhere in other fields, it helps to be precise: everything on this page concerns the hospitality-technology credential and nothing else. If you want shorter explainers on the naming itself, see What Does CHTP Stand For? and CHTP Meaning. For a certification-focused overview, What Is CHTP Certification? covers the credential from a slightly different angle.
Who Stands Behind It: HFTP and the Delivery Setup
The certification is offered through Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), an association serving finance and technology practitioners in the hospitality industry. HFTP is also the body that handles applications, exam delivery, and recertification, so it is the authoritative source for any detail that changes over time.
Exam delivery runs through the HFTP Academy, which is built on the Canvas learning platform. Testing is remotely proctored using Proctorio, with automated proctoring available 24/7. In practical terms, that means you sit the assessment from your own location on a schedule that suits you rather than traveling to a testing center. It also means you should check your computer, webcam, and internet connection well before test day.
The Three Domains You Will Be Assessed On
The CHTP content is organized into three domains. A detailed breakdown lives in our CHTP Exam Domains guide; here is the orientation version.
Domain 1: Hospitality Applications
This domain deals with the business software that hospitality operations run on day to day, and how those systems support guest-facing and back-office workflows.
- Property management and reservation systems and how they exchange data with other platforms
- Point-of-sale and food-and-beverage systems in restaurants, bars, and banquet operations
- Revenue-related and guest-service applications and how they connect to the rest of the technology stack
- Interfaces and integrations between systems, where many real-world failures originate
Domain 2: Technology Management
This is the leadership side of the credential: planning, buying, governing, and protecting technology rather than configuring it.
- Technology planning, budgeting, and evaluating whether an investment is justified
- Vendor selection, contracts, and service-level expectations
- Information security and payment-data protection responsibilities
- Policy, risk, and continuity thinking, including what happens when systems fail
Domain 3: Core Technology
This domain covers the infrastructure underneath the applications.
- Networking fundamentals, including wired and wireless environments in hospitality properties
- Servers, workstations, and supporting infrastructure
- Guest-facing connectivity and the operational demands it creates
- Foundational concepts that let you understand what vendors and technicians are telling you
What We Know (and Don't) About the Exam Format
Here is what can be said with confidence about how the assessment is structured:
- Three separately assessed sections. You are not scored on one blended total. Each section stands on its own.
- 70% is required in each section. A strong result in one area does not rescue a weak result in another. See CHTP Passing Score for more on how that threshold works in practice.
- Remote, automated proctoring through Proctorio, available around the clock.
Several details are not confirmed at this time, and you should verify them directly with HFTP rather than rely on secondhand claims: the exact number of questions, the split between scored and unscored items, the item format, the time allowed, and whether the exam is open-book, calculator-permitted, or adaptive. The pass rate is also not publicly disclosed, which is why we avoid quoting one; our CHTP pass rate analysis explains what can and cannot be inferred.
| Exam Detail | Status |
|---|---|
| Number of sections | Three, assessed separately |
| Passing threshold | 70% required in each section |
| Delivery | HFTP Academy (Canvas) with Proctorio, automated 24/7 |
| Total question count | Unverified; confirm with HFTP |
| Scored vs. unscored split | Unverified |
| Time limit | Unverified |
| Open-book, calculator, adaptive rules | Unverified |
| Published pass rate | Not publicly disclosed |
For a candid look at difficulty given these unknowns, read How Hard Is the CHTP Exam?
Application and Eligibility Mechanics
CHTP is not a "sign up and sit" credential. Application approval is required before you can test. The application is where HFTP evaluates whether your background fits the certification.
The historical points model
An earlier eligibility framework (documented from 2016) worked on a 100-point system that weighed three kinds of background: education, professional experience, and HFTP membership. The application also called for two professional recommendations, employer verification, and evidence of education. Treat this as a historical reference point, not a current rulebook. The present-day matrix needs to be confirmed with HFTP before you rely on it.
The approval window
Once approved, the approval window is one year. That timeline matters: it gives you a defined period to complete your assessment sections, so it pays to apply when you are genuinely ready to start preparing, not months ahead of your actual study time. Our CHTP Requirements guide goes deeper on qualifying, and CHTP Exam Dates covers scheduling considerations.
Key Takeaway
Gather your documentation first: employer verification, education evidence, and two recommenders who can speak to your technology experience. Delays in collecting these are the most avoidable source of friction in the application process.
Fees and What the Bundle Includes
The currently indexed bundle price is US$1,075. A historical January 2020 schedule listed US$675 for members and US$1,075 for nonmembers, but the current member checkout price is unverified, so do not assume the member discount still applies at that figure. Check the live checkout page for the price that applies to you.
The bundle includes:
- 365 days of access to the program materials
- Two attempts per section, which matters because sections are scored independently
- Unlimited practice-quiz attempts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Indexed bundle price | US$1,075 |
| Historical member / nonmember (Jan 2020) | US$675 / US$1,075 |
| Current member checkout price | Unverified |
| Access period | 365 days |
| Attempts | Two per section |
| Practice quizzes | Unlimited attempts |
The two-attempts-per-section structure is worth planning around. If one section is a weak spot, you effectively have a retry on that section only, rather than having to repeat the whole assessment. A full cost walkthrough is in CHTP Certification Cost.
Staying Certified: The Two-Year Renewal Cycle
Earning the credential is not the end of the obligation. CHTP uses a two-year renewal cycle. The historical requirement was 60 maintenance points, structured like this:
- At least 50 education points
- Within those, at least 15 hospitality-technology points and four ethics points
- Up to ten membership points counted toward the total
The current implementation or renewal fee is unverified, so confirm it with HFTP when your cycle approaches. The practical lesson is to log qualifying education as you complete it rather than reconstructing two years of activity at the deadline.
Who Benefits From the Credential
CHTP fits professionals whose work sits where hospitality operations meet technology. Typical homes for the credential include:
- Hotel and resort IT leaders responsible for property systems, networks, and vendors
- Multi-property and management-company technology teams that standardize systems across a portfolio
- Restaurant and food-service technology managers overseeing POS and payments
- Hospitality technology vendors and consultants who want credibility with operator clients
- Finance and operations professionals who sign off on technology spending and risk
We do not quote salary figures here because none are established for this credential in the facts we can verify. For a qualitative discussion of earnings and role types, see the CHTP Salary Guide and CHTP Jobs, and for a value judgment, Is the CHTP Certification Worth It?
Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Domains
Because each section is scored separately at 70%, the smartest preparation order puts your weakest domain first, while you still have both attempts and the full 365 days in hand. Here is one way to map the three domains across a roughly three-block plan:
Your weakest domain
- Work through the practice quizzes for the domain where you have the least day-to-day exposure
- If you come from operations, this is likely Core Technology; if from IT, likely Hospitality Applications
Technology Management
- Study budgeting, vendor evaluation, security responsibilities, and continuity planning as connected topics
- This domain rewards judgment, so practice explaining why a decision is right, not just what it is
Cross-domain review
- Revisit integrations, since a POS-to-PMS interface touches Applications, Management, and Core Technology at once
- Retake quizzes on anything still below your comfort level
For a fuller plan, see the CHTP Study Guide, the one-page CHTP Cheat Sheet, and the overview of available CHTP training options. When you want to test yourself under realistic conditions, our CHTP practice tests are built for exactly that kind of domain-by-domain checking.
Frequently Asked Questions
CHTP stands for Certified Hospitality Technology Professional. It is a certification offered through Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) for people who manage and support technology in hospitality businesses.
Yes. The exam is assessed in three separate sections and 70% is required in each. A strong score in one section does not offset a failing score in another.
The currently indexed bundle price is US$1,075, which includes 365 days of access, two attempts per section, and unlimited practice-quiz attempts. A historical schedule listed US$675 for members, but the current member price is unverified, so check HFTP's checkout page.
Yes. Application approval is required. Historically, eligibility used a 100-point system across education, experience, and membership, plus two professional recommendations, employer verification, and education evidence. Confirm the current criteria with HFTP.
CHTP renews on a two-year cycle. The historical requirement was 60 maintenance points, including at least 50 education points with 15 in hospitality technology and four in ethics. Verify the current renewal terms and fee with HFTP.