NABHOOD Summit Selects Steve Kirby of The Mumford Company to Serve as a Guest Panelist

Steve Kirby of The Mumford Company recently served as a guest panelist for the 10th annual International Multicultural Tourism / Hotel Ownership Summit & Trade Show held by NABHOOD (National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers) at the Atlanta Marriott Century Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Newport News, VA (PRWEB) August 17, 2006 -- Steve Kirby of The Mumford Company recently served as a guest panelist for the 10th annual International Multicultural Tourism / Hotel Ownership Summit & Trade Show held by NABHOOD (National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers) at the Atlanta Marriott Century Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Although NABHOOD (National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers) holds about 25 smaller workshops a year the International Multicultural Tourism/Hotel Ownership Summit & Trade Show is their largest conference with 583 attendees in 2006. The goal of the Summit is to increase the level of education about the hotel industry in African-Americans and other minority groups. They hope to increase the quantity of minorities who own, develop, manage and operate hotels as well as boost the opportunities and executive level jobs. The board of directors recently held a meeting to discuss the future plans of the organization, several common goals were reached. One such goal is to have 400 hotels owned by African Americans in the next four years.

The Mumford Company was pleased to be represented by Steve Kirby, a Principal located in its Atlanta office. Kirby was a guest speaker at the Summit, for a workshop entitled: Buying Hotels or Looking for Sites – How to Effectively Locate, Engage and Use a Hotel Broker, which had over 100 people attend. He offered advice on how it’s an excellent time to be in the lodging industry with good deals steadily available. He also touched on the idea that the economy looks like it will be exceptional for several years to come. Steve has 20 plus years of Hospitality Industry experience and has been with The Mumford Company since 1999. The Mumford Company also participated in the trade show portion of the summit with a booth, and represented nearly 80 hotel properties throughout the United States.

According to Steve, “Attendees at the conference ranged from some of the largest hotel ownership companies in the country to entrepreneurial individuals seeking entry into the hospitality business. The blending of these groups with franchisers, brokers and service providers led to an atmosphere that provided working relationship opportunities to all in attendance.” He also felt that the conference was “extremely effective and had solid panelists.”

The opening orientation offered a review of trends for the lodging industry, which explained U.S. hotel revenues and profits are on the rise. 2005 marks the second consecutive year of double-digit profit growth for the U.S. hotel industry. Unlike previous years, a wider variety of properties have started to benefit from the industries upswing during 2005, the second year of recovery from the 2001-2003 recessions. U.S. hotels are also forecasted to enjoy their fourth consecutive year of profit growth in 2007. By year-end 2007, unit level hotel profit will have increased 59.8 percent from the depths of the industry recession in 2003 which demonstrates a solid tome to enter the Hospitality industry.

The Mumford Company is strategically located to serve clients nationally. Established in 1978 The Mumford Company is proud of its heritage as a leader in the hotel real estate industry. For more information on The Mumford Company and its’ services, please visit our website at http://www.mumfordcompany.com or contact Jackie L. Wilder at 757-873-0962 ext 303.

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