School of Hotel Administration Students Will Present Papers at 2015 HAMA Competition

Two students from the School of Hotel Administration were invited to present their papers at the annual Hospitality Asset Managers Associate (HAMA) convention in Dallas. The students, Yiwei Chen ’15 and Tia Wei ’15, were chosen as part of the HAMA Student Competition, which recognizes the best entries from Cornell University and Michigan State University. In their paper, Chen and Wei propose a framework that allows hotels to manage their relationship with online travel agencies (OTAs). Using what they call a “3R” framework of “Reach, Reduce, and Re-direct,” Chen and Wei address the issue of profit compression with third-party distribution channels. The students suggest that hotels seek to work with the most appropriate OTAs (Reach), incorporate commissions analysis into revenue management and push for a value-based commission model (Reduce), and improve the booking experience on Brand.com (Re-direct). As award winners, Chen and Wei will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Dallas for the HAMA spring conference, where they will present their paper and have the opportunity to meet HAMA members. HAMA is a networking organization of more than 140 professionals involved in asset management, acquisition, and disposition for hotels and other hospitality real estate and assets.