Two reports have been named the winners of the 2010 Industry Relevance Award from Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research (CHR). The award is given to two reports issued in the prior three years, as chosen by members of the CHR Advisory Board and registered users of the CHR web site. The two winners both focused on the hotel industry's challenges in maintaining revenue flow during the recent recession, particularly in terms of the detrimental effects of discounting.

The two winners are "Competitive Hotel Pricing in Uncertain Times," by Cathy A. Enz, Linda Canina, and Mark Lomanno, and "Hotel Revenue Management in an Economic Downturn: Results from an International Study," by Sheryl E. Kimes. These and all other CHR reports, tools, and other publications are available for download at no charge, at

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Enz is the Lewis G. Schaeneman, Jr. Professor of Innovation and Dynamic Management; Canina is an associate professor of finance; and Kimes is the Singapore Tourism Board Distinguished Professor in Asian Hospitality Management—all at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. Lomanno is president of STR and chairman of the board of STR Global.

Enz, Canina, and Lomanno analyzed the effects of relative price positioning among hotels in competitive sets. They found that hotels that maintained a price relative to their competitors also recorded lower revenue, in comparison to the competitive set. Having comparatively higher occupancy did not offset this effect. Kimes surveyed hoteliers worldwide to determine their revenue management tactics during the Great Recession. She found that the chief tactic was discounting, which the hoteliers determined was essentially unsuccessful in spurring demand.

Two runners-up, both Cornell Hospitality Tools, were also selected, each of which continues the theme of maintaining revenue flow. They were: "The Eight-Step Approach to Controlling Food Costs," by J. Bruce Tracey, and "Revenue Management Forecasting Aggregation Analysis Tool," by Gary M. Thompson. Tracey is an associate professor of management, and Thompson is a professor of operations management, both at Cornell.

Tracey developed a set of detailed workbooks designed to educate food-service managers in how to procure, store, and use food products to lower food costs. Thompson's tool is a spreadsheet that allows hotel managers to enter their own data for revenue management analysis.

Previous winners of the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research Industry Relevance award can be found at . Thanks to the support of the CHR partners listed below, all publications posted on the center's website are available free of charge, at .

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

Jennifer Macera
Associate Director
(607) 255-3101
CHR