CHTL Student and Faculty help with the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota’s Restaurant Study

Georgia Malan, one of the master of science students in the hospitality management program, and Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu helped the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota Hotel to assess the value of the Vernona Restaurant, a fine dining restaurant of the hotel. Through three focus group studies, one local and one national survey research, the CHTL research team identified the success factors of a hotel restaurant. Given the change in the demographics of the clientele of luxury brands like the Ritz-Carlton, Malan and Cobanoglu suggested significant changes to the current Vernona restaurant. With the help of the USFSM report, The Ritz-Carlton Sarasota team convinced the owners to invest in a new restaurant concept: Jack Dusty. Please read about this story in Justine Griffin’s article in the Herald-Tribune Media Group.