Research Seminar Delivered by Prof. Peng Liu

On 3 April 2025, Prof. Peng (Peter) Liu, a distinguished Professor of Real Estate and Finance at Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University, delivered an insightful seminar titled “From Competence to Capital: How Managerial Ability Shapes Hotel Market Value”. The event was chaired by Prof. Haiyan Song, Director of the Research Centre for Digital Transformation of Tourism (RCDTT), and was attended by faculty members and students from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) as well as members of the RCDTT, sparking vibrant discussions about the role of managerial skills in driving hotel market performance and competitive advantage.

Prof. Liu, who holds the Singapore Tourism Board Distinguished Chair in Asia Hospitality Management at Cornell’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration and serves as Editor of The Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management, shared his extensive expertise on the intersection between managerial competence and hotel valuation. Drawing on a comprehensive analysis of 38,845 hotel-year observations from the top 40 U.S. hotel markets spanning 2010 to 2024, his study demonstrated the significant impact of managerial ability, measured through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), on hotel market value. Prof. Liu revealed that a one standard deviation increase in managerial ability corresponds to approximately a 20% higher transaction price for sold hotels and about a 30% higher market value for those not listed for sale.

This seminar follows recent presentations by Dr Junxi Qian from The University of Hong Kong and Prof. Scott McCabe from the University of Birmingham. Prof. Qian explored the rural renaissance movement in China, emphasizing cultural, economic, and social revival, while Prof. McCabe discussed “Social Tourism: Enhancing Participation and Well-being”, examining the inclusion of disadvantaged individuals in tourism through socially oriented measures. Collectively, these seminars illustrate RCDTT’s dedication to exploring diverse perspectives in tourism research, spanning managerial competence, rural revitalization, and social inclusion.

These seminars underscore RCDTT’s ongoing commitment to advancing academic knowledge and offering actionable insights for stakeholders in hospitality management and real estate sectors. Attendees left with enriched perspectives on the critical importance of managerial competence in shaping the financial success and strategic positioning of hospitality businesses.