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Rising Tourism in Saudi Arabia: Implications for Real Estate Investment
Full text linkOver the last few years, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has pursued a more aggressive approach towards economic diversification in order to plan for the future of its youth as nearly 60 percent of the country’s 3 million citizens are under the age of 30 (KSA-General Authority for Statics, 2017). Saudi Arabia traditionally has relied heavily on the public sector to absorb many of the educated Saudi nationals. However, the country is now looking to the private sector to create more jobs for its burgeoning population and has enacted policies that ease doing business in the country and make it more accessible to the outside world
Benchmarking Index 2019: Carbon, Energy, and Water
No full textThe sixth annual Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking study finds that participating hotels generally have continued to reduce their energy and water use, although the energy intensity recorded by luxury hotels continues to be relatively high. With information from over 11,000 hotels, the study includes data from substantially more hotels than in all previous years. While the bulk of the data come from hotels in the United States, the study also recorded a greater international participation, with forty-eight nations and seventeen international brands represented. Participating hotels contributed information regarding their energy and water use, as well as greenhouse gas emissions, with data complete as of 2017. While these data permit hoteliers and potential guests to see benchmarks for various hotel segments and locations, individual hotel amenities cannot be accounted for in terms of energy or water use. This year’s study further analyzed the range among data sets to identify the common “efficiency gap range” between the upper and lower quartile among similar hotels, presenting the opportunity and business case for designing and operating energy- and water-efficient hotels. Data collection is now underway for CHSB2020 study, and the authors encourage additional hotels to participate, especially those in the lower tier segments, which are not as strongly represented in these data
Implementing Revenue Management in Your Restaurants: A Case Study with Fairmont Raffles Hotels International
Full text linkIn 2015, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International implemented a system-wide revenue management program in its restaurants. Starting with an analysis of baseline data, Fairmont applied a five-step revenue management process to highlight potential revenue-enhancement opportunities. Restaurant managers and employees were invited to suggest tactics and strategies drawn from three categories: (1) all-purpose strategies, (2) strategies to use when a restaurant is busy (hot), and (3) strategies to use when a restaurant is not busy (cold). Appropriately chosen strategies were simple to implement in most cases, and guests often were pleased with the operational and menu changes. Within a year of implementation, Fairmont restaurants that implemented revenue management had generated five times more revenue growth than those not applying the program
Nature, Health, and Wellbeing: Insights from 2019 CIHF Roundtable
No full text[Excerpt] Taking a walk in the woods or even viewing nature through a window can improve our health and wellbeing in countless ways. It can reduce stress in our daily lives, help us recover from surgery, lower our blood pressure, and boost our memory. As the benefits of spending time in nature have been increasingly recognized, green spaces now play a critical role in how many communities are designed, how schools are structured, and how patients are treated at healthcare facilities.
The Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures (CIHF) sponsored a roundtable on April 26 that explored the impact nature can have on individuals in a variety of settings including: communities, schools, senior living, and healthcare facilities. Nearly 50 industry leaders, researchers, healthcare professionals, government representatives, and administrators of nonprofit organizations attended the conference at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
The Nature, Health, and Wellbeing roundtable opened with a “State of the Science” overview of the research exploring the intersection of nature and health on issues ranging from the impact gardens have on people with autism to the effect green space has on crime in urban neighborhoods. The “State of the Practice” discussions then examined strategies to integrate therapeutic environments into architectural design, city planning, recreational areas, and park systems. The roundtable concluded with a series of working groups that discussed identifying areas for future study, translating research into practice, and establishing a business case for the benefits of interacting with nature
Letter from the Editors
Full text linkThe Editorial Board of the Cornell Real Estate Review is pleased to present Volume 17 (2019). Under the direction of the Baker Program in Real Estate, the Review is a student run publication founded in 2002 as a forum for faculty, professionals, and real estate students to focus on the interdisciplinary nature of real estate. The Review covers a broad range of issues from various real estate fields including design, business economics, engineering, finance, law, planning, development, marketing, and property management. The publication blends informative articles on real estate practice with application-based academic research
36th Annual Cornell Real Estate Conference Recap
No full text[Excerpt] On October 19, 2018, the Cornell Real Estate Council (CREC) hosted the 36th annual Cornell Real Estate Conference in New York City. The conference brought together hundreds of industry professionals, alumni and current students for a day of networking and panel discussions surrounding recent trends. Cornell’s unparalleled alumni network within the real estate community facilitated a broad exchange of innovative ideas applicable across the industry, from design and construction to development and finance. Highlighting a “Focus on the Future,” five panel discussions, including keynote Speaker Seth Klarman (CAS ’79) and 2018 Industry Leader Award Recipient Kenneth Himmel (JCB-Hotel ’70), shed light on some of the most pressing questions currently facing the real estate industry
Calculating Hotel Industry Impact: The Case of Hilton Lightstay
No full textWith the development of such initiatives as the Paris Agreement and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), many of the world’s nations are pledging action to address concerns regarding carbon production and energy use. Likewise, a substantial number of hotel companies are participating in carbon-reduction efforts, even as the lodging and travel industry continues its rapid growth. The ability to measure the industry’s environmental performance is an essential first step toward addressing the industry’s conservation efforts. Building on the data collected for the Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking (CHSB) Index, this study is the first to lay the groundwork for measuring the industry’s collective impact by combining several data sets to estimate the total supply, energy usage, water usage, and carbon emissions of the hotel industry worldwide—based on room count. Taking the next step, the study uses results of Hilton’s LightStay program—a value-chain approach to improving environmental performance that engages franchisees and centers on management—as an example of its analytical methodology. Applying this sustainability management platform, the analysis finds that Hilton reduced its portfolio-wide energy usage intensity by 22 percent, water usage intensity by 22 percent, and carbon emissions intensity by 34 percent from 2008 through 2018. Through this example, the study demonstrates methods to evaluate the industry’s overall ability to improve performance and collaboration. Most critically, the analysis demonstrates a method that can be applied by any hotel or firm, regardless of size, including franchisees and independent properties
Robot Rooms : How Guests Use and Perceive Hotel Robots
No full textRobot-assisted hotel services get generally high marks in a study of guests at 88 hotels in China. Guests reported making fairly frequent use of the robots, primarily for such relatively simple functions as turning on the lights and turning off the TV. Chief problems occur when the robot cannot recognize operation commands, when guests must repeat their request, and when the robot isn’t actually programmed for a particular operation. Asked what services they expect from a hotel robot, guests cited food distribution, delivering goods, handling check-in and checkout, and providing travel information and consumption recommendations. Two-thirds of customers considered that “robot rooms” present a good value, and a similar proportion were willing to make a return visit to rooms equipped with robots. Keys to the acceptance of hotel robots are that they must provide worthwhile services and be easy to use. An economic analysis of ten properties found favorable return on hotels’ investment in robot rooms, particularly those in family suites
Economic Fundamentals, Capital Expenditures and Asset Dispositions
No full textThe real estate literature recognizes the real option to invest in capital expenditures (CAPEX) or sell a property but treats these options as independent. We show that these real options are interconnected. We provide empirical evidence that, consistent with the real option framework, CAPEX increases in income growth expectations but declines in their volatility; that CAPEX are partially capitalized into property market values; and that CAPEX signifcantly reduce the subsequent likelihood of sale. We also present evidence that, controlling for market timing, past property performance infuences CAPEX but not disposition choices, consistent with a value-add investment strategy