Ithaca, NY, September 11, 2012 - When the 2012 Cornell Hospitality Research Summit (CHRS) convenes in just one month, well over 90 industry leaders and researchers will present the latest information on industry issues and solutions. The CHRS, set for October 8 and 9, at the School of Hotel Administration, will host up to 300 high level industry practitioners and academic researchers. Registration space is still available, and a strong group of participants has already registered.

With a theme of "Service Excellence and Performance Growth in the Global Hospitality Industry: Strategies and Approaches for Navigating Forward," the CHRS will feature two top-level keynote panels in addition to the 80-plus presentations, for a total of more than 90 presenters. Chaired by Steven Carvell, associate dean of the School of Hotel Administration, a CEO panel will analyze the hotel industry's strategy for moving forward, while a top-level international panel of deans of hospitality programs will be chaired by Kirk Kinsell, president of InterContinental Hotels Group. Kinsell and the hospitality program deans will outline the educational challenges for the industry.

The 80-plus presentations, plus the panel discussion details, can be found on the CHRS program, which is available on the CHRS website. "It is impossible to mention all of these excellent presentations individually," said Professor Rohit Verma, CHRS chair. "I encourage people to take a look, because these presentations will be both thought provoking and valuable for both industry practitioners and academic researchers. Some of the hot topics involve social media, revenue management, and the use of mobile devices, while numerous presentations in all areas focus on improving customer service and relationships."

The presentations are organized into the following session tracks: Achieving Service Excellence, Brand Management and Customer Focus, Contemporary Challenges, Customer Satisfaction, Environmental Sustainability and Performance, Healthcare and Hospitality, Mobile Innovations, Pricing and Revenue Management, Service Experience Management, Social Media and Service Excellence, Strategic Alignment and Performance, Strategic Planning, Technology and Service Excellence, Trends in Restaurant Industry, and Trends in Travel and Hotel Industry.

The CEO panel members are:

• Arthur Adler, managing director and CEO, Americas, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels;
• Sebastián Escarrer, former vice chairman and board member, Meliá Hotels International
• David Peckinpaugh, president, Maritz Travel Company;
• Ted Teng, president and CEO, the Leading Hotels of the World; and
• Adam Weissenberg, vice chairman, global and U.S. travel, hospitality and leisure leader, Deloitte & Touche USA.

The dean's panel members are:

• John Bowen, Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston;
• Kaye Chon, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University;
• Fabian Fresnel, Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne;
• Bjorn Hanson, Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management, New York University; and
• Christopher Muller, School of Hospitality Administration, Boston University.

The CHRS also features a series of innovative interactive workshops on the CHR's Tools for the Hospitality Industry. Using the school's computer lab, participants will have hands on demonstrations of customer analytics (sponsored by Accenture), Hospitality Valuation Software, the brand new Cornell Real Estate Market Indices, and the Restaurant Table Optimizer. They will also learn a new way to price room reservations.

About the Cornell Hospitality Research Summit
Designed as a unique environment that matches participation of industry and university, the Cornell Hospitality Research Summit is scheduled for October 8-9, 2012, on the beautiful Cornell campus in Ithaca, NY. The CHRS was developed at the suggestion of the advisory board of the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research, to create a forum for the exchange of actionable ideas and strategies for the hospitality industry and related businesses. Early registration featuring a reduced price is currently under way.

The CHRS Title Sponsor is The Leading Hotels of the World; Platinum Sponsor is HotelNewsNow.com, a division of STR; Gold Sponsors are Deloitte, Hilton Worldwide, HVS, IDeaS, J.D. Power and Associates, LRP Publications, PKF Hospitality Research, Proskauer, SAS, STR, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, and Wyndham Hotel Group. Media Sponsors are Cleverdis, eCornell, Hotel Business, HotelExecutive.com, Hotel Online, HSyndicate, and Travel Weekly.

For details on the agendas, presenters, and accommodations, please visit us at http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/events/chrs/

A unit of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, The Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) sponsors research designed to improve practices in the hospitality industry. Under the lead of the center's 78 corporate affiliates, experienced scholars work closely with business executives to discover new insights into strategic, managerial and operating practices. The center also publishes the award-winning hospitality journal, the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly. To learn more about the center and its projects, visit www.chr.cornell.edu.