Atlanta.  August 28, 2003.  The first-ever interactive CD version of Trends in the Hotel Industry-USA for 2003, published by PKF Consulting and The Hospitality Research Group, is now available, according to Mark Woodworth, Executive Managing Director of HRG.  The CD version of annual Trends contains all the charts, graphs, and narrative information detailing the financial performance of U.S. hotels through year-end 2002.

Long a standard text on the health of the hotel industry, PKF Consulting�s annual Trends is used not only by hotel owners, lenders, and mangers, but by universities all over the country, as well.  Trends is a popular tool in the college classroom, judging by enthusiastic reports from professors teaching hospitality related subjects in hotel and business schools.

James Eyster, Professor Emeritus at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, has used PKF�s Trends in the Hotel Industry-USA for years.  �There is no better or more thorough source,� he says.

�It�s the primary data source I utilize in developing and presenting feasibility study and operational analysis case studies in my hospitality financial management courses,� Dr. Eyster adds.

According to Paul Beals, Professor of Hospitality Property Development and Asset Management at the School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management at the University of Denver, �PKF�s Trends is invaluable in my teaching and consulting.  Our undergraduates gain an understanding of the data and the logic behind their selection and presentation.  Our MBAs in hospitality real estate use the data to perform in-depth operational analyses of disparate properties.�

Trends provides insights into the �how� of successful hotel operations for future hospitality managers.  As Raymond S. Schmidgall, Hilton Hotels Professor of Hospitality Financial Management at Michigan State�s School of Hospitality Business puts it, �Trends gives our students insight into how the average lodging operation is performing.  Of course, we suggest that they should manage their future operations to beat these averages.�

�Your breakdown of lodging numbers by segments,� Schmidgall continues, �further enables our students to understand differences in sales mix and profit expectations.�

Cornell�s A. Neal Geller, Robert A. Beck Professor of Hospitality Financial Management at the School of Hotel Administration, uses Trends in hands-on training.

�We use PKF Consulting�s Trends report in our financial management courses to familiarize our students with published industry reports and to give them practice in using these important data sources in the analysis of hospitality operations.  We conduct two actual hotel and restaurant case studies for which the students use Trends in their written analyses,� explains Prof. Geller.

Academics like to bring Trends into the classroom, because they understand how well it functions out in the world of business. 

�When my consulting clients see the volume and variety of the data available in PKF�s Trends, they are reassured that other of the firm�s publications, like the Benchmarker reports for their properties are great tools, as well,� says Prof. Beals.

In addition to data on the financial performance of US hotels, the CD version of the 2003 edition Trends in the Hotel Industry-USA contains the newly developed e-HotelTrends Worksheet, a special analytical tool that allows hotel owners and other professionals to perform financial benchmarking with the Trends data.  The CD version can be ordered by calling (404) 842-1150, ext.237.

The Hospitality Research Group (HRG), headquartered in Atlanta, is the research affiliate of PKF Consulting, the international consulting and real estate firm specializing in the hospitality industry.  PKF Consulting has offices in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Singapore.

Mark Woodworth
Executive Managing Director
The Hospitality Research Group
3340 Peachtree Road, Suite 580
Atlanta, GA 30326
(404) 842-1150 x222

Robert Mandelbaum
Director of Research
Information Services
The Hospitality Research Group
3340 Peachtree Road, Suite 580
Atlanta, GA 30326
(404) 842-1150 x223