Ithaca, NY, May 15, 2012 - A new restaurant table simulator, an analysis of international hotel challenges and opportunities, and a profile of Schneider Electric's Energy University have been newly posted by the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) at the School of Hotel Administration. Part of CHR's popular Hospitality Tools series, the simulator tool and all publications are available at no charge from CHR.

New Cornell Restaurant Table Simulator Uses Excel Platform

The Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) has released the Restaurant Table Simulator (RTS), which gives restaurant managers a way to analyze table usage in their restaurant. The RTS was developed by Gary Thompson, a professor at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. It is available at no charge from the CHR.

"I wanted to make the simulator more accessible and useful to the restaurant industry," said Thompson. "So, it's based on Excel, which will allow a wide application. All the users have to do is plug their numbers into the spreadsheet and it will return such metrics as table usage, customer wait, and customers lost, given a particular set of inputs."

The RTS provides a series of charts and results tables that allow managers to test "what if" scenarios, so that they can improve their restaurant's mix of tables. One other innovation of RTS is that it accounts for the many restaurants where customers select their own tables, instead of being assigned to a table by a host or hostess.

The global hospitality industry is gaining strength, but certain challenges remain, according to participants in the first International Hospitality Roundtable, produced by the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR). One major challenge involves human resources, although the specific issues change from country to country. Proceedings for the roundtable, "The International Hospitality Industry: Overcoming the Barriers to Growth," by Jan Hack Katz and Glenn Withiam, are available at no charge from CHR. Katz is a senior lecturer at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, and Withiam is the CHR's director of publications.

To start the roundtable, Katz, who chaired the roundtable, presented the results of a survey of 143 hotel managers in 56 countries. "I found that the hotel managers worldwide were optimistic about their future prospects," she said. "The hotel managers identified a general rise in tourism and an expansion in both international and domestic travel. However, there remains a perception that guests are still being careful in spending."

Regardless of the local development issues for each nation, roundtable participants identified excellence in operations as the key to success. Thus, hotel companies must work to ensure high quality service in a superior facility at the right price.

Cornell White Paper Features Energy University

—Schneider Electric's innovative website offers free, university-level information

A new paper in the Cornell Hospitality Industry Perspectives series highlights Energy University, developed by Schneider Electric for the benefit of building managers in all industries, including the hospitality industry. Available at no charge from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research, the white paper, "Energy University: An Innovative Private-Sector Solution to Energy Education," was written by R. Sean O'Kane and Susan Hartman, both of Schneider Electric.

"Our model is similar to the CHR, since we provide all our course materials and information without charge," said O'Kane, who is Schneider's director of hotel strategic alliances. "Also like Cornell we are vendor neutral. Our goal is to provide the information required by building managers to make good decisions to be become more energy efficient."

Added Hartman: "There was a real need for energy education when we started Energy University three years ago. We are delighted at the hospitality industry's response, and we particularly appreciate the alliance with the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, which uses our courses for professional certification." As Schneider's global manager of customer education programs, she manages Energy University.

With more than 70 courses in 11 languages, Energy University is a virtual, professional, college-level training program focused on energy consumption and efficiency that can be used by building and facility managers at all levels (www.MyEnergyUniversity.com). O'Kane and Hartman emphasize that the decision to make the information vendor neutral has been critical to the success of this idea. Then, by opening the courses to all people, whether customers or not, Schneider has created an unmatched resource, both in terms of depth and breadth of courses.

About the Center for Hospitality Research

The purpose of the Center for Hospitality Research is to enable and conduct research of significance to the global hospitality and related service industries. CHR also works to improve the connections between academe and industry, continuing the School of Hotel Administration's long-standing tradition of service to the hospitality industry. Founded in 1992, CHR remains the industry's foremost creator and distributor of timely research, all of which is posted at no charge for all to use. In addition to its industry advisory board, CHR convenes several industry roundtables each year for the purpose of identifying new issues affecting the hospitality industry.

Center Members: Accenture • Access Point Financial, Inc. • Barclaycard US • Cvent • Davis & Gilbert LLP • Deloitte & Touche USA LLP • DerbySoft • Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts • Fox Rothschild LLP • Hilton Worldwide • Host Hotels & Resorts • Hyatt Hotels Corporation • IDeaS Revenue Solutions • InterContinental Hotels Group • Jumeirah Group • Marriott International • NTT DATA • Preferred Hotels & Resorts • priceline.com • PwC • The Rainmaker Group • RateGain • ReviewPro • Revinate • Sabre Hospitality Solutions • STR • Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces • Tata Consultancy Services • Wipro EcoEnergy • Wyndham Hotel Group

Jane Henion
607.255.9780
CHR