29 November 2007 HotelBenchmark™ and Lincoln University join forces to assist the New Zealand hotel industry

HotelBenchmark™ and Lincoln University are now working together under a new agreement to provide more comprehensive information and analysis for the hotel industry in New Zealand next year.

Commenting on the announcement, Lorna Clarke, Executive Director of HotelBenchmark™ at Deloitte said: “We are delighted to work with Lincoln University and combine our research to provide the hotel industry with even more critical information to help them understand their performance and operating environment. As we currently boast the largest independent operated survey in the region monitoring hotel performance – this is an exciting relationship and we are looking forward to developing reports to provide enhanced information in response to the changing needs of the industry”.

The HotelBenchmark™ Survey is the market leader in monitoring hotel performance tracking over 485 markets across 140 countries. The New Zealand edition of the survey currently reports on the monthly occupancy, average room rates and revenue per available room (revPAR) performance of 12 markets across the country. 

Dr Anthony Brien, Senior Lecturer in Hotel Management at Lincoln University, added: “In addition to being committed to the hotel industry in terms of providing management education and qualifications – our research provides enormous benefits to all interested parties. Our relationship with Deloitte will provide an efficient and effective tool for hotels to benchmark their performance in a variety of ways and we will now be able to extend our research and analysis by including other variables to provide a more complete picture of the New Zealand hotel industry.”

For further information about HotelBenchmark™ and Lincoln University’s industry research please contact Dr Brien or email briena@lincoln.ac.nz 

The HotelBenchmark™ Survey by Deloitte is the market leader in monitoring global hotel performance tracking 7800 hotels in over 485 markets across 140 countries on a daily and monthly basis. Run as an industry initiative, there are no costs involved in joining the survey. For further information or details on how to join the survey please visit www.HotelBenchmark.com 

About the Lincoln University Commerce Division
The Commerce Division is the largest of the four divisions at Lincoln University, accounting for around 40 per cent of total student numbers. The Commerce Division provides teaching, research and professional services in the areas of Accounting, Business Management & Law, Economics, Finance, Marketing and Property. It has an extremely active Postgraduate Programme with around including 50 PhDs. It also has an established Executive Development Programme (EDP) aimed at managers and professionals who are unable to study full-time or on-campus of which there is a specialisation in Tourism and Hotel Management. www.lincoln.ac.nz

About Deloitte
In this press release references to Deloitte are references to Deloitte & Touche LLP which is among the country’s leading professional services firms, providing audit, tax, consulting and corporate finance services. Deloitte & Touche LLP is the United Kingdom member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (‘DTT’), a Swiss Verein whose member firms are separate and independent legal entities. Neither DTT nor any of its member firms has any liability for each other’s omissions. Services are provided by member firms or their subsidiaries and not by DTT. Deloitte & Touche LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press. For further information, visit our website at www.deloitte.co.uk

Elizabeth Owens, External Relations Director, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand

Dr Anthony Brien, Senior Lecturer in Hotel Management, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand