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2011 HOST Study
July 28, 2011
Looking for extensive data on U.S. hotel industry revenues and expenses? Published by STR, the Hotel Operating Statistics (HOST) Study compiles statistics from more than 6,200 hotel operating statements. In addition to revenue and expense data, the HOST Study provides analysis of the current hotel environment, focusing on rooms, food & beverage, marketing, utility costs, property & maintenance, administrative & general, and selected fixed charges.
The 2011 HOST Study can be found on the library’s reference shelf (call number TX901 H695).
Medical Tourism
July 1, 2011
As an example of niche tourism, medical tourism involves people travelling abroad in search of cosmetic enhancements or surgical solutions to serious medical conditions. Medical tourism benefits, but also challenges, local healthcare providers, and contributes to regional economies and the tourism industry.
The rise of medical tourism emphasizes a number of contemporary themes including the privatization of health care in post-industrial economies, the growing dependence on technology, uneven access to health resources, the accelerated globalization of health care and tourism, rampant consumerism, and body image.
The Nestlé Library contains a variety of resources for the emerging field of medical tourism. Contact the library staff for more help with research related to medical tourism.
Technology Strategies
June 24, 2011
With an emphasis on aligning technology to business strategy, Technology Strategy for the Hospitality Industry provides an interesting study of how IT has shifted from a back-of-the-house support role to one of strategic significance. IT in the hospitality industry has evolved from a focus on performing manual processes more cost-effectively to an emphasis on knowledge-based systems that can help drive revenues, make better business decisions, and create a competitive advantage.
Technology Strategy for the Hospitality Industry contains 13 chapters and covers issues such as IT fundamentals and specific software and systems in the hospitality industry. Technology Strategy for the Hospitality Industry can be found on the New Book shelf in the library (call number TX911.3 E4 N95).
Top Ranked Hotels
June 16, 2011
U.S. News & World Report has issued their annual ranking of the top hotels, covering 852 luxury hotel properties across 49 popular travel destinations in the United States.
A Hotel Score is calculated for each property, consisting of the weighted average of scores for three components: Awards & Recognition, Hotel Class, and Guest Rating. The number of points earned by the hotel is combined and then divided that by the number of points for which the hotel was eligible. On a given list, hotels are ranked highest to lowest according to the Hotel Score. Hotels with high expert/user ratings and many industry accolades are likely to perform best.
The Top 10 U.S. hotels:
- Elysian Hotel Chicago – Chicago, IL
- Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea – Maui, HI
- Trump International Hotel & Tower, Chicago – Chicago, IL
- Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco – San Francisco, CA
- The Fairmont Olympic Hotel – Seattle, WA
- The Hermitage Hotel – Nashville, TN
- The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park – New York, NY
- Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV
- Trump International Hotel & Tower, New York – New York, NY
- The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples – Naples, FL
See the full list on the U.S. News & World Report website.
Benefits of Online Food Ordering
June 3, 2011
Despite the benefits of online food ordering, few restaurants are taking advantage. According to the report Online, Mobile, and Text Food Ordering in the U.S. Restaurant Industry, restaurants are taking a cautious approach to online food ordering. Consumers, on the other hand, appear ready to embrace online ordering. A recent survey of 277 respondents found that 187 (67%) said they have ordered food online; nearly half prefer to order takeout online. The most common foods respondents had ordered online: Pizza (88%), Asian food (32%), Chicken Concepts (32%), and Mexican (28%).
The report, published by Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research (CHR), concluded that order accuracy and productivity also increases with online ordering. With the online order comes a paper trail that allows the order taker and kitchen to get the order right. Online orders are also usually taken in advance, particularly with group and catering order.
CHR cited a Technomic survey of 1,000 adults. Of the 18-34 year-olds, 59 percent who used electronic ordering indicated it was easier than speaking to a live person. In this same key consumer target, 42 percent said their order fulfillment was more accurate and 59 percent indicated it was faster. Interestingly, Technomic’s report also found that a significant portion of respondents felt less “rushed” using electronic ordering.
Top 500 Chain Restaurants
May 20, 2011
McDonald’s is by far the top chain restaurant in the U.S., according to the 2011 Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report. The limited-service segment grew sales 1.9% and was responsible for the net increase in total restaurant industry sales. McDonald’s, representing 9% of the entire industry’s take, saw U.S. sales increase 4.4% to $32.4 billion. Subway experienced another exceptional year of growth, reaching $10.6 billion in U.S. system wide sales, an increase of 6%. Starbucks, now the third largest restaurant chain in the U.S., recovered from a year when it closed hundreds of underperforming stores in 2009, achieving a U.S. system wide sales increase of 8.7% in 2010.
The Top 500 U.S. restaurant chains, which represent nearly two-thirds of the U.S. restaurant industry’s total sales, increased sales 1.8% to $234 billion in 2010, a turnaround from the 0.8% aggregate sales decline experienced in the prior year. Limited-service chains within the Top 500 ranking grew sales 2.6% overall, whereas full-service chains’ sales remained flat compared to 2009.
The Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report is available to the Cornell community from the Nestlé Library website. From the Technomic home page, click the Current Release tab under the Publications section.
Hotel Freebies
May 2, 2011In 2009, a select sample of hotels that routinely offer free services to their guests spent an average of $723 per available room (PAR) to provide complimentary food, newspapers, and cocktails. This is the actual cost to the hotel, not the theoretical retail value of savings afforded to the guest.

The data comes from an analysis of rooms department expenditures for Complimentary Services and Gifts (GSG) at 1,600 properties in PKF’s Trends in the Hotel Industry database. The Trends in the Hotel Industry publication is available in the library (call number TX909 A1 T74). You can also view the Hotel Freebies report on the PKF website.
2011 Restaurant Technology Study
April 22, 2011
After years of struggling in a negative business environment, restaurant technology spending is back, according to the 2011 Restaurant Technology Study published by Hospitality Technology.
The annual publication (in its 13th year) tracks information technology trends within the restaurant industry. This year’s study covers crucial areas such as IT spending by technology type, direction of change in business metrics, point-of-sale systems, and more.
A copy of the 2011 Restaurant Technology Study can be found on the reference shelf in the library (call number TX945 A57).
Top Global Brands
April 13, 2011
Coca-Cola is the number one brand in the world, but tech companies make up seven of the top ten brands. The fasting rising brand is Google, which jumped from number seven to number four. For the 11th year in a row, Interbrand has published their list of the 100 Best Global Brands.
Interbrand uses a variety of criteria when dolling out the ranks including the many ways a brand touches and benefits an organization, whether it attracts top talent and how well it delivers on customer expectation. Three key aspects that contribute to a brand’s value are the financial performance of the branded products or services, the role of brand in the purchase decision process and the strength of the brand to continue to secure earnings for the company.
View the full list of the top 100 global brands.
Hotel Rankings
April 8, 2011
MKG Hospitality has released its annual rankings of the top global hotel groups and brands. International Hotel Group is the top hotel group by a wide margin, with 647,161 rooms compared to 605,938 rooms for second-place Hilton Worldwide. Wyndham, Marriott, and Accor round out the top five.
As far as hotel brands, Best Western continues to hold the top spot, with 307,155 rooms, although their total number of rooms fell off 0.4% from 2010. Holiday Inn (230,117 rooms) is second on the brand list.
View the full lists on the Hotel Online website.
2011 Restaurant Industry Forecast
March 28, 2011
The Nestlé Library has received the 2011 copy of the Restaurant Industry Forecast from the National Restaurant Association. The 42nd annual publication provides research and insights based on analysis of the latest economic data, as well as extensive surveys or restaurateurs and consumers.
This year’s report sections include: Inside the Mind of Today’s Consumer, Sales Outlook, Workforce Outlook, and Food & Menu Trends.
The 2011 Restaurant Industry Forecast can be found on the library’s reference shelves (call number TX943 N38).
Lodging Market Potential Index
March 21, 2011
Using a matrix of 10 data dimensions to determine the cities with the highest long-term potential for hotel investment, the Lodging Market Potential Index can be a critical tool for hotel developers and investors. Developed at The School of Hospitality Business at Michigan State University, the Lodging Market Potential Index provides a systematic and formal analysis of aggregate market potential.
The Lodging Market Potential Index identifies market areas that show long term potential for hotel investment. It enables hotel developers and investors to conduct a relative comparison of the 25 largest lodging markets (as tracked by Smith Travel Research) along 10 diminsions. Dimensions are measured using 30 different indicators and are weighted to determine their contribution to the overall market potential index. The Lodging Market Potential is based on a scale of 1 to 100.
View the Lodging Market Potential Index. The most recent data is from 2010.
STR Pipeline Report
March 11, 2011
The March issue of the Smith Travel Research Pipeline Report has arrived in the library. The STR Pipeline Report provides a monthly summary of the number of pipeline projects, recently opened hotels and the number of existing hotels split by scale, key countries and markets.
Hotel segment information is provided by parent company, chain affiliation, year of opening and phase progression. The STR Pipeline Report is the ideal report for a full picture of the current and future supply within North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Europe.
Copies of the STR Pipeline Report can be found on the Current Periodicals shelf in the library.
Conference Center Industry Trends
February 21, 2011
The 2010 edition of Trends in the Conference Center Industry is now available in the library. Published by PKF Consulting, it provides a statistical and financial profile of the conference center industry, covering facility profiles, rate and occupancy statistics, meeting statistics, marketing, revenues, expenses & profits and human resources.
Trends in the Conference Center Industry is located in the library reference section (call number TX911.2 T74). For additional sources, check out the library’s MICE industry guide (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Events).
The Restaurant: From Concept to Operation
February 11, 2011
The new edition of The Restaurant: From Concept to Operation covers everything aspiring restaurateurs need to know to conceive, open, and run any type of restaurant. Issues covered include: ownership, menu planning, purchasing, operations, budgeting, food production, training, and more.
The Restaurant: From Concept to Operation shows the logical progression from dream to reality, from concept to finding a market gap to operating a restaurant. Along the way, it gives a comprehensive picture of the restaurant business.
The Restaurant: From Concept to Operation can be found on the New Book shelf in the library (call number TX911.3 M27 W352).
Sustainable Restaurants
December 21, 2010Chef Arthur Potts-Dawson shares his very personal vision for drastically reducing restaurant, and supermarket, waste — creating recycling, composting, sustainable engines for good (and good food). According to Potts-Dawson, restaurants (and the food industry in general) are the most wasteful industry in the world.
Click the image below to hear his vision for sustainable restaurants.
Corporate Travel 100
December 10, 2010This 23nd annual Corporate Travel 100 benchmarking report shows a 21 percent decline in overall spending, to $8.1 billion in 2009 from $10.3 billion in 2008. The bottom fell out for the Corporate Travel 100 this year, as the threshold for inclusion among the biggest U.S. business travel spenders fell not only below the $40 million mark, which constituted the lowest volume on the list for the past several years, but the last five companies on the list this year were below the previous longtime low-watermark of $30 million.
The Corporate Travel 100 is compiled by Business Travel News and reflects company market share for travel management companies. Click the image below to view the detailed report of each Corporate Travel 100 company.
Benefits of the Brand
November 30, 2010
Many hotel companies are taking advantage of the private branding movement. Sometimes referred to as private labeling, private branding is when a large retail operation buys from a manufacturer in bulk and puts its own name on the product.
In a recent Hotel Interactive article, Hotel School professor Alex Susskind commented on the effect of private branding in the hotel industry: “If the brand itself has brand equity in the market that people look toward, the decision the hotel makes can transfer to other things.”
For more information on private branding for hotels, read the full article on the Hotel Interactive website.
Secrets of the Sommeliers
November 18, 2010
In Secrets of the Sommeliers, some of the world’s top wine professionals reveal their industry secrets. The book’s authors interviewed the elite of the sommelier community, whose insights, recommendations, and envy-inducing stories are featured throughout.
Secrets of the Sommeliers provides an immersion course in tasting and serving wine and shares strategies for securing hard-to-find bottles at good prices. The insider perspective offers a unique glimpse into the art and craft of fine wine service.
Secrets of the Sommeliers can be found on the Nestlé Library new book shelves (call number TX925 P35).
Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index up 35% in 2010
November 15, 2010The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index ended October at 2,162, a 6.3-percent increase for the month and a 34.8-percent increase for year-to-date 2010.

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index from 11/08 to 11/10
The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index is a co-branded index created by Robert W. Baird & Co. (Baird) and Smith Travel Research, Inc. (STR). The market-cap weighted index is comprised of 15 of the largest market capitalization hotel companies publicly traded on a U.S. exchange and attempts to characterize the performance of hotel stocks.
Posted by Nestlé Library
In an attempt to reach out to customers in more meaningful ways, many restaurant chains are adding blogs to their social media strategy. Some of the chains are using their blogs to offer a kitchen perspective – sharing a behind-the-scenes look the research and development process, answering consumer questions, talking about the latest food trends, and more.
Social media has become the go-to marketing tool for many businesses, including restaurants. From free drinks for Foursquare check-ins, to Twitter notifications about happy hours, to Facebook messages about free food, there is no shortage of social media applications for restaurants.
The annual National Restaurant Association survey of American Culinary Federation member chefs is one of the industry’s leading culinary forecasts. More than 1,500 professional chefs gave their professional opinion of whether 226 culinary items will be a “hot trend,” “yesterday’s news,” or “perennial favorite” on restaurant menus in 2011. The survey reveals that local and hyper-local sourcing, healthy children’s meals, sustainable seafood, and gluten-free cuisine will be among the hottest trends on restaurant menus in 2011.

