On Wednesday, September 4, 2019 the Georgia Chapter of the Cornell Hotel Society held its annual Atlanta Lodging Outlook breakfast seminar.  A crowd of 350 area hotel industry professionals attended the 21st annual seminar.  This year’s event was held at the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead.  Our host was Brian Ettelman ’87, Director of Catering.

CHS Georgia chapter President Sachin Desai ’14 opened the proceedings, followed by Jim Sprouse, President of the Georgia Hotel & Lodging Association and Rachel Humphrey, Interim President and CEO of the Asian American Hotel and Lodging Association.

The first panel of speakers discussed the hotel labor costs, recruitment, retention, and productivity.  The session was moderated by Professor Bruce Tracey, Ph.D.  Panelists included: Del Ross – Chief Revenue Office of Hotel Effectiveness, Bryan DeCort – Executive Vice President of Hotel Equities, and Greg Winey – President of North Pointe Hospitality.

Following the labor panel, local area experts presented their outlook for 2020:

• 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 Research

Thanks to eCornell who donated a certificate for $3,600 worth of online courses.  The certificate was auctioned off, and the proceeds were used to support the Georgia chapter’s scholarship fund.

Atlanta Lodging Outlook – September 4, 2019