Moving the Hospitality Industry Forward with Social Media and Technology

Abstract

In a concentrated two-day period, the Cornell Hospitality Research Summit 2012 presented over 80 presentations on a wide variety of hospitality-related subjects, all focused on the key issues to advance the hospitality industry. A solid set of presentation track addressed the industry’s current status and strategies relating to social media, one of the fastest-moving areas of industry concern. Given the industry’s many moving parts, specialized disciplines, and parallel enterprises, the overall message from the CHRS is the need to engage all stakeholders in the critical elements that create success for hospitality enterprises: providing service and facilities that satisfy customers, giving operators the tools to expand revenues, and controlling costs to provide a reasonable return for investors. In the process, hospitality executives and academic researchers presented their research on the many disciplines and issues that come to bear on the contemporary hospitality industry, including customer service, distribution, hotel investment and value, human resources, internet analytics, pricing and revenue management, restaurant service and operations, social media, sustainability, and technology. This proceedings summarizes the presentations covering social media and technology.