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Live Together or Die Alone

NEW YORK CITY-The Brands to the Rescue panel brought some much-needed advice to sinking franchisees, whose interests parrot their own.

By Ryan Clark | Updated on September 11, 2009

NEW YORK CITY-”We’re all in this together,” said Robert Hazard III of Hersha Hospitality Trust, explaining that portfolio owners, brands and franchisees have the same goals and similar struggles as the economy flags.

The neon glow of Times Square played host to RealShare’s Third Annual Hotel Investment Summit: The Upside of the Downturn. Hotel experts and the lodging industry elite assembled in the Marriott Marquis and mingled under an optimistic aegis, attempting to find rays of sunshine in the gloomy hospitality outlook. After the morning keynote speakers, a panel gathered in the afternoon to enlighten its audience with the scope and efforts of brands in the Brands to the Rescue panel, which begged the question: ‘What are the brands doing to assist owners getting through the downturn?’

Moderated by Real Estate Forum’s senior editor–as well as editor of Real Estate New Jersey and GlobeSt.com’s own hotel expert–Maria Wood, the panel consisted of Hazard, VP of acquisitions and development for Hersha; Laura Benner, VP of real estate portfolio management at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.; William Fortier, SVP-development, Americas at Hilton Hotels Corp.; Shane Platt, VP franchise sales-west for Choice Hotels International, Inc.; and Gina-Lynne Smith, president of value Place Franchise Services, LLC.

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