Cornell Hospitality Research Summit Outlines Hotel Industry Recovery

Even as the hotel industry recovers from the recent recession, hotel operators must find a way to work on pricing and distribution in the brave new world of the internet. Keynote speakers and presenters at the Cornell Hospitality Research Summit (CHRS), produced by the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research in October 2010, discussed the status of the industry's recovery and outlined the job ahead. The Cornell Hospitality CHRS Proceeding is available at no charge from the CHR at http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/.

Keynote speaker Randell Smith, CEO and co-founder of STR, noted that although occupancy for U.S. hotels crashed to 54 percent in 2009, the industry as a whole remained profitable, due to improved operating and capital structures. In the same vein, Mark Woodworth, president of Colliers-PKF, said that the industry survived the worst year on record, but is experiencing slow price improvement, in part due to the "jobless recovery." Both Smith and Woodworth said that the end of supply additions will help the industry build occupancy, as demand has recovered rapidly.

Another keynote speaker, Gerald Lawless, executive chairman of Jumeirah Group, pointed to another potential limitation on hotel growth: the number of airline seats available for a destination. He urged the world's governments to increase the number of routes to top destinations. Woodworth also noted the strong correlation between airline seat capacity and hotel demand in major markets.

Smith explained the importance to the hotel industry of finding a way to work with online travel agents (OTAs) in pricing and distributing rooms. Presenter Kurt Ekert, chief commercial officer of Travelport GDS, pointed out that OTAs will continue to grow, if only because substantial levels of business currently go through nonelectronic channels. He sees much of the growth coming in developing markets. Expedia's Brian Ferguson, vice president of supply strategy and analysis, suggested that hoteliers think about how would-be guests use the internet. He pointed out that in particular they are searching for value. Along the same lines, Smith declared that "value is king."

These speeches and presentations covered just one of many topics presented at the CHRS, which brought together top-level industry practitioners. With four keynote speakers and a total of 45 breakout presentations, the CHRS also covered such issues as restaurant issues, revenue management, social media, and sustainability.

The CHRS was made possible by the following sponsors: Avaya, Charlie's Grilled Subs, Hotel Business, HotelExecutive.com, HotelMarketing.com, HotelNewsNow.com (HNN), Hsyndicate.com, and J.D. Power and Associates.

Thanks to the support of the CHR partners listed below, all publications posted on the center's website are available free of charge, at www.chr.cornell.edu.