LOS ANGELES? The UCLA Extension Hotel Industry Investment Conference being held at the Century Plaza Hotel & Tower here this week attracted a record 1,900 attendees, according to James Burba, conference chair and senior managing director of Insignia/ESG Hotel Partners. More than 70 top executives from lodging companies as well as industry analysts and experts are addressing the conference, which is themed ?Foreseeing the Future of the Hotel Industry.? Three new research studies are being released at this week?s event. They include: ?The Price Elasticity of Lodging Demand,? a study that was prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers to define how elastic demand is at the various product levels in the industry; ?CapEx 2000,? a study examining the capital expenditure issue in hotels by the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC); and ?The Hotel Mortgage Performance Report,? research sponsored by the American Hotel & Motel Association? Council of Inns & Suites which measures the performance of hotel mortgages for all industry segments in the United States. Many topics are being covered at breakout sessions and panel discussions. Subjects range from franchising, private capital markets and horizontal growth to technology issues such as e-commerce and in-room technology. Various awards are being presented at the conference. Roy Winegardner and John Q. Hammons are being recognized with Lifetime Achievement Awards, while ISHC is giving its Pioneer Award to Michael Leven, president/CEO of US Franchise Systems. Special appearances are also scheduled by comedian Bob Newhart and author/futurist Alvin Toffler.
