Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu (Read as G-Han Choban-oglu) is a Professor of Hospitality Technology and Dean of the College of Hospitality and Technology Leadership at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee (USFSM). He is a Certified Hospitality Technology Professional (CHTP) commissioned by Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals and Educational Institute of American Hotel & Lodging Association. Prior to his appointment at the USFSM, Dr. Cobanoglu served as an associate professor at the University of Delaware. He founded and managed eXperimental Guestroom (X-Room) from 2007 to 2010. He is a renowned Hospitality and Tourism Technology expert.
He is a co-author of four textbooks and two conference proceedings.
Dr. Cobanoglu served as the chair of American Hotel and Lodging Association’s (AHLA) Technology and E-Business Committee between 2009 and 2011. Dr. Cobanoglu served as a member of the board of directors of Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals (HFTP) from 2003 to 2006. Dr. Cobanoglu is a member of CHTP Advisory Council and Editorial Advisory Board of HFTP. In addition, Dr. Cobanoglu is a visionary board member of Hospitality Technology magazine. He serves as an editorial board member of Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Administration, and Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality and Tourism, Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, and Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Education. Dr. Cobanoglu is the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology and served as Internet Editor of International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Administration between 2008 and 2011. Dr. Cobanoglu also serves the industry as consultant.
His research involves the use and impact of technology in hospitality industry. He is an author or co-author of 35 refereed articles. Dr. Cobanoglu writes a column called “Last Words” in Hospitality Technology Magazine. Dr. Cobanoglu’s work has been featured in national and international media outlets such as BBC, NBC, ABC, CN8, Futurist Magazine, New York Times, Boston Globe and Lodging Magazine. Dr. Cobanoglu published in scholarly journals such as Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Tourism Management, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Education, International Journal of Hospitality Management, and International Journal of Market Research. His articles have been cited in more than 850 refereed articles. He has made numerous presentations in national and international conferences.
Dr. Cobanoglu is the recipient of University of Delaware’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2009 and International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education’s (I-CHRIE) John Wiley & Sons Innovation in Teaching Award in 2009. He received “Best Advisor for Student Clubs” from Student Government Association of University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee in 2011. He also received 12 best paper awards from International conferences.
Dr. Cobanoglu has written curriculum for three different hospitality software applications. Because of these efforts, hundreds of hospitality and tourism students around the world are using real-world software in their classes. All of the software is cloud based which means that the student does not need to install anything on their computer. These are:
- innRoad (http://www.innroaduniversity.com) : This is a real property management system that can be integrated into courses such as Front Office Management, Lodging Management, and Hospitality Technology.
- M3 AccKnowledge (http://www.m3university.com): This is a real hotel accounting software that is used in more than 3000 hotels around the U.S. This software is perfect to accompany hospitality accounting courses.
- M3 Link (http://www.m3linkuniversity.com): This is a real hotel business intelligence software that combines hotel revenue with guest satisfaction scores and other metrics. It is extremely valuable for students because the system is updated with real data (the names of the hotels are changed). It may be used in courses such as Revenue Management and Business Intelligence
- Dr. Cobanoglu is currently working on Point of Sale system, inventory control and cost control software.
His personal website is http://www.cihan.org
His phone number is +1 941 359 4774
His email address is cihan@sar.usf.edu
