ITHACA, N.Y. -- What makes some hotel companies more profitable than others? Do strategies for investing in employees actually improve a company's bottom line and, if so, which strategies do this best?

Soon hoteliers will get answers to key questions like those and others affecting their profitability thanks to a new strategic alliance between the top hotel school in the United States and PKF Consulting, a firm that manages the most comprehensive proprietary database on the financial performance of U.S. hotels. The new alliance between the Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and PKF is the only one ever made between the consulting firm and a research university.

Hotel School Professor Cathy Enz, director of the CHR, said: "PKF's database reaches back many years and offers detailed information that is unparalleled, particularly that on same-store sales. With access to that database, our researchers will be able to explore key hospitality topics, such as the new study we are undertaking on firm performance and labor-related investments."

Twelve Hotel School faculty are currently research fellows with the CHR, which sponsors research aimed at improving the hospitality industry's fundamental operating knowledge. Their recent studies range from measuring how safe and secure U.S. hotels are to proving that when gas prices rise, hotel room occupancy drops, to determining how food-service operations can improve their relationship with suppliers.

The CHR also has strategic alliances with firms that collect data on lodging (Smith Travel Research) and dining (Gazelle Systems). All studies are posted on the CHR web site: http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/CHR . For information, call (607) 255-9780.