Ithaca, NY, March 9, 2016 – The 91st Annual Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC 91) at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration (SHA) will further explore key issues emerging from "the new normal" phenomenon in hospitality by examining trends in two critical industries: real estate, and food and beverage (F&B).
On March 18, 2016, from 2:45 to 3:45 p.m., Arthur Adler '78 (managing director and CEO-Americas, JLL Hotels and Hospitality Group) will moderate a panel of hotel real estate owners and investors as they discuss challenges for the industry and changes to the current investment landscape. On March 19, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., Damian Mogavero (CEO and founder, Avero) will moderate a panel of hospitality professionals in their discussion of new developing trends in the food and beverage world. Both panels will be held in Statler Auditorium in Statler Hall on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca.
While the U.S. lodging industry enters its seventh straight year of RevPAR growth and experiences all-time high occupancy rates, it also faces challenges relating to geopolitical instability, stock market volatility, rising interest rates, brand consolidation, and supply issues in some markets. This panel of active international and domestic hotel investors will discuss real estate ownership and investment trends and the current investment sentiment in the U.S.
The speakers for the real estate panel are: Stephen G. Haggerty '90, executive vice president and global head of real estate and capital strategy, Hyatt Hotels Corporation; Tracey Gamble '99, principal, Apollo Global Management LLC; and Michael Goodson, head of global hospitality, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
As the founder and CEO of Avero, a software company which aggregates $24 billion of F&B data, Damian Mogavero has unprecedented insight on the pulse of the hospitality industry and the practices that separate the top performers from the bottom performers. In this panel discussion, he will elaborate on the trends in hospitality that run through the most forward-thinking, successful F&B establishments and how these trends can be implemented universally. Joining him on the panel are some of the most influential names in hospitality who have embraced and embody these trends.
The speakers for the food and beverage panel include: Drew Nieporent '77, owner, Myriad Restaurant Group; Jeannette Ho (via videoconference), vice president of revenue management and customer analytics, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International; Jeff Zalaznick '05, managing partner, Major Food Group; and Abby Murtagh '92, resident manager, Waldorf Astoria New York.
Please visit www.hotelezracornell.com for more information about the program and other conference events.
