Hotel & Motel Management - December 10, 2007 - (Page 36)

36 News H&MM December 10, 2007 | HotelMotel.com AH&LA chairman Continued from page 1 being an active member for 10 years, Corcoran was inaugurated as chairman on Nov. 11. “AH&LA is a voice for the industry,” he said. “It plays a key role.” Corcoran has a passion for cooking that he said was nurtured through his mother. He organizes and cooks breakfast or lunch once a month for employees of FelCor, the real-estate investment trust he co-founded in 1991. Corcoran said the meals help instill a “family” attitude within his company, and he often has business associates over for dinner at his home. ® CIRCLE NO. 126 At his inauguration at the Crowne Plaza Manhattan, the hotel staff cooked a meal from the Corcoran family recipe book, which included “Evelyn’s Hash Brown Deluxe Casserole,” his mother’s specialty. Outside of the kitchen, Corcoran brings leadership experience to his new role with AH&LA; he served as president and c.e.o. of FelCor for 15 years. Before co-founding FelCor, Corcoran developed his management skills with the Brock Hotel Corp. in Topeka. He moved with the company to Dallas, where he still lives with his wife, Kathy. He has three grown children, with whom he stays in close contact. “It’s important to balance work and family life,” Corcoran said. He makes time to visit with his sons and daughter as often as possible, including attending a Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band concert in Los Angeles with one of his sons last month. “I can’t imagine if my father had a text [enabled] phone, what we would’ve talked about,” Corcoran said. “Two of my children have BlackBerrys and it makes it that much easier to communicate. I make time for them because that’s very important to me.” Corcoran said he thinks it is important to have mentors, and that over the years, his children have helped him learn. “Just by seeing them and what they do,” he said, “I learned that a Tom Corcoran founded FelCor Lodging Trust with partner Harvey Feldman in 1991, and he still cooks breakfast or lunch for his employees once a month. mentor doesn’t have to be older.” Corcoran co-founded FelCor with partner Harvey Feldman, starting with one hotel, a Holiday Inn in Dallas. In 1994, the company went public with six hotels and $120 million of market capitalization. During Corcoran’s tenure, the company has grown to a publicly traded REIT with a portfolio of 83 hotels and an enterprise value of $3.4 billion. Last year, Corcoran became chairman of the company and he hired Rick Smith as c.e.o. “I wanted to devote more time to the industry,” Corcoran said. A guest that’s sure to stay. Meet GuestLINK™. These customized, built-in consoles are the most revolutionary in-room technology to occur in ﬁve decades. Installed in guestrooms, GuestLINK™ enables hotel guests to plug in a laptop, camcorder, digital camera, iPod, iPhone, Game Station console, DVD, personal movies or mp3 player and view images on super-sized LCD TV screens or listen to audio on surround-sound speakers. GuestLINK™ does more than boost a hotel’s bottom line with increased in-room time and room service; it also continues to expand the in-room technology revolution with the PowerWave. For a free quote call 800-679-9711 or visit GuestLINK-cii.com. CIRCLE NO. 107 In his new role with AH&LA, Corcoran plans to help the association continue to build membership. He said he hopes to expand the brand value of AH&LA, as well as get the next generation of hoteliers involved. On a broader scale, Corcoran said he is excited about the future of the lodging industry. “By most estimates, we are still expecting a fairly good increase in revenue per available room [for 2008],” he said. “That will be the ﬁfth year in a row, and the industry looks to be in great shape. Supply seems to be in check.” Corcoran discussed key issues facing the industry, including the credit crunch. “What we have going on is a correction, not a crisis,” he said. “Underwriting criteria has stepped up. Right now there is a cloud over the industry for whoever is trying to raise capital. “But what drives our overall business is travelers willing to travel, and that remains strong.” Corcoran said another one of his goals as chairman of AH&LA will be to help the group develop industry standards for a green program. He said the association’s goal is to take a leadership role and, along with a third party, possibly develop a certiﬁcation process that will outline steps a property can take to go green. “Everyone wants to know what they can do,” Corcoran said. “We want to get it out to everybody. There are things you can do for not a lot of money.” jfreed@questex.com FELCOR LODGING TRUST http://www.HotelMotel.com http://www.namepins.net http://www.GuestLINK-cii.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - December 10, 2007

Table of Contents News Wildfires test hotels' emergency plans LIIC roundtable: Capital available for hotel projects Departments Perspective Letters to the Editor At Your Risk Family Business Matters Sales Clinic On Finance Satisfaction Trends HotelWorld Update Events Trends & Stats Special Report H&MM's "year in review" tackles the top seven in 2007 Transactions Consumer Insight Travelers rank free breakfast high on must-have items Hot Products IH/M&RS Editors' Choice Award winners Construction Spending up, costs steady in construction Design Window treatments Ad/Editorial Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - December 10, 2007

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