Atlanta Lodging Outlook 2018

A crowd of 340 area hotel industry professionals attended the 19^th annual seminar.  This year’s event was held at the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead.  Our host was Brian Ettelman ’87, Director of Catering.

Atlanta Lodging Outlook is organized by the CHS Georgia Chapter with promotional assistance from the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Georgia Hotel and Lodging Association. The seminar is designed to provide hotel owners and operators with the information they need to prepare their marketing plans and budgets for the upcoming year.

CHS Georgia chapter Vice President Sachin Desai ‘14 opened the proceedings, followed by Jim Sprouse, President of the Georgia Hotel & Lodging Association.

During the first half of the seminar, Kirk Kinsell ’80 moderated a discussion on current sales and marketing issues. The panelists included Brian Berry ’91, SVP of Revenue Management for Host Hotels and Resorts, Apo Demirtas, Ph.D., CEO of Intelligent Hospitality, Natalie Osborn, Director of Marketing for SAS Hospitality and Gaming, and Kathy Hood, VP of Sales, Marketing and Revenue Management for Davidson Hotels and Resorts.  Special thanks to Bob Gilbert ’82, President and CEO of Hotel Sales and Marketing Association International for helping put the panel together.

Following the sales and marketing discussion, a panel of local area experts presented their outlook for 2018:

• Roger Tutterow Ph.D., Professor of Economics at Kennesaw State University
• Mark Vaughan, EVP and Chief Sales Officer for the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Mark Woodworth ’77, Senior Managing Director of CBRE Hotels’ Americas Research

Proceeds from the event help support the Georgia chapter’s scholarship fund.