FORT WASHINGTON, PA., February 1, 2007—

The management team at the newly renovated Fort Washington Hotel will be conducting an innovative research market study project with Temple University's School of Tourism and Hospitality Management (STHM). This month in conjunction with the hotel's new chain affiliation with the Intercontinental Hotel Group, the students will re-introduce the hotel to its surrounding marketplace as the new Holiday Inn Fort Washington.

"This truly is a one-of-a-kind experience for these students, many of whom wish to pursue careers in the hospitality or sales industries," said Greg DeShields, director of industry relations and adjunct professor at Temple University.

Forty students will be divided up into two teams that will focus on different types of sales approaches widely accepted by hotel sales professionals as a means to communicate with potential clients. The group will be provided with a database of businesses within a 15-mile radius of the hotel. One team will be tasked with "cold calling" corporate office complexes and the other team will telemarket specific companies to set up face-to-face meetings.

In addition to generating sales leads for the hotel, the sales blitz is a chance for the students to build relationships and develop business leads.

"Through the project, I hope to learn and practice sales techniques and approaches that I may use in the industry," said junior Lauren Ziemba. "I've enjoyed many real-life learning opportunities since enrolling in the program at Temple."

This research project is part of an ongoing student course, 'Hotel/Lodging Operations Management' designed to give students hands-on hotel sales and marketing experience.

Both teams will be required to target and speak to more than 200 key business executives at corporations that are responsible for hotel selection and usage. Students will research whether a limited service or full-service hotel is better suited to address a company's needs. They will study which hotel's frequent guest programs, in terms of functionality and user-friendliness, are presently favored in the marketplace. The amount of business these companies direct to each of the competing hotels in the marketplace and how much of that business a company would be willing to test at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington will also be assessed. "As part of the students' curriculum, they are provided with very measurable goals where they can learn invaluable sales techniques within their own local Pennsylvania environs," said Ron Callari, VP of Sales and Marketing for Marshall Management, the company which manages the hotel.

About the Holiday Inn Fort Washington
The newly renovated Holiday Inn Fort Washington is one of the few full-service hotels in the marketplace, with meeting space that can accommodate events from 10 to 350 including audio-visual services. It is conveniently located a 1/2 mile off I-276 PA Turnpike at Exit 339 and is within walking distance of SEPTA train service. For more information call 215-643-3000 or visit www.fwholidayinn.com.

About Temple University School of Tourism and Hospitality Management (STHM)
Temple University's School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, affiliated with The Fox School of Business and Management, was established in 1998 to meet the growing demands for highly-qualified professionals in tourism, hospitality, sport and recreation in the Philadelphia region and beyond. The STHM offers both undergraduate and graduate degree programs in two major areas of concentration: Sport and Recreation Management and Tourism and Hospitality management. For more information visit www.temple.edu/sthm.