“We anticipated this change taking place in another 12 to 18 months,” Quek
said, “but both groups are so busy that it made sense not to wait.”

The Hospitality Research Group began as PKF Consulting’s research
department,  whose main responsibility was compiling hotel statistical data
for the firm’s Trends in the Hotel Industry publications.  Two years ago, it
was spun off as a separate company and charged with expanding into both
custom and proprietary research across a broad spectrum of hotel and real
estate industry topics.

Under Woodworth, HRG employs a staff of twelve researchers and consultants
supervised by Robert Mandelbaum, the Director of Research Information
Services, and Dr. John B. (Jack) Corgel, the Managing Director of Applied
Research.  A recognized authority in hotel real estate statistical research,
Dr. Corgel is a former professor at the Cornell School of Hotel and
Restaurant Management and at Georgia State University.

Mandelbaum oversees the Trends database, a body of hotel statistics that
dates back to the 1920s.  He is also responsible for creating custom
research inquiries for public and private sector clients in the hotel and
travel industries.

Dr. Corgel has been developing an array of research tools to measure
performance in hotel real estate.  The first in the series of tools,
Benchmarker, was released late last year and has quickly developed a
following among hotel companies, developers, and investors.  Soon to be
released are two more tools, PriceRanger and PricePredictor, which, based
upon the success of Benchmarker, promise to expand HRG business even
further.

“We’ve got balls, indian clubs, spinning plates, all in the air at the same
time, and it’s my job to make sure they keep moving, along with adding
flaming batons and a couple of trained seals,” Woodworth says.
Woodworth will maintain his ties to current consulting clients who need
sophisticated research projects performed for them.  In addition, he will be
developing new clients for  current and prototype HRG programs.
Woodworth came to PKF Consulting in1996 to head the firm’s Atlanta practice.

Previously, he was Chairman and National Leader of Coopers & Lybrand’s
Hospitality Industry Consulting Services Group.  Prior to that, he was
Partner-in-Charge of Management Advisory Services in Atlanta and Charlotte
for Laventhol & Horwath.  He has resided in Atlanta since 1979.

Peter Keim, who takes charge of the Atlanta consulting practice, is a
veteran of more than three decades in the hospitality industry.  He began
his career with the MAS division of Laventhol & Horwath, where he worked in
that firm’s Kansas City, Philadelphia, and Boston offices.  He managed the
L&H consulting practice in New England.  His resume includes an Associate
Professorship in Hotel Administration at the University of New Hampshire.
Prior to joining PKF Consulting in 1999, he was asset manager for the
four-star, four-diamond Registry Hotel in Naples, Florida, one of the Top
Ten destination hotels in the U.S.

“Peter knows the hotel business, inside and out,” Woodworth remarked.  “We
couldn’t be turning the Atlanta practice over to a more experienced
professional.”

PKF Consulting provides a broad range of consulting and appraisal services to clients in hotels, resorts, casinos, golf courses, restaurants, and other leisure-time activities.  Through its affiliated company, Hospitality Asset Advisors, the firm provides brokerage services for hotels and related real estate.  The firm has had an office in Houston since 1992.

“We’re delighted to establish a permanent presence in North Texas to better serve the large number of hospitality industry companies in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, and we’re pleased to have such a knowledgeable industry professional as Greg Crown in charge of our operation here,” said John Keeling, Senior Vice President and head of the PKF Consulting practice in Texas.

Crown, a long-time Texas resident, has held a variety of executive positions with major hospitality companies, among them Hilton Gaming Corporation and Embassy Suites, Inc., where he served in each as Director of Development. He currently lives in Richardson, Texas.

“I’ve known and worked with Greg for a long time, and I’m excited to be teamed with him as the next step in PKF Consulting’s growth in the Texas market,” said Keeling.

“Greg’s knowledge and experience gives us an extremely strong and mature resource to offer our clients and the whole industry throughout the Southwest,” Keeling added.

The new PKF Consulting office is located in the heart of the Dallas North Tollway office corridor.  The address is 14881 Quorum Drive, Suite 700, Dallas, TX 75240.  The phone number is (972) 364-0520.

PKF Consulting, its brokerage affiliate, Hospitality Asset Advisors
Incorporated, and its research affiliate, The Hospitality Research Group, are subsidiaries of Hospitality Asset Advisors International, a U.S. Corporation. The firm has offices in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Singapore.