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Dr. Chekitan Dev

Hospitality Branding and Marketing

Ithaca, New York, United States
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Internationally renowned scholar and thought leader on marketing and branding in the hospitality, travel, and tourism industries. As an expert witness, he has testified in numerous cases involving hotel owner–brand relationships and the online travel industry.

Key Consulting Services

  • Expert witness
  • Litigation consulting
  • Branding
  • Strategic Marketing
  • Marketing Planning

Expertise

Professor Dev has consulted on marketing and branding to major corporations. He has more than forty years of experience analyzing an array of issues involving hotels, travel, and tourism. His recent research has focused on how branding and rebranding affect both public perception and profitability in the hospitality industry. In particular, he has assessed key drivers of profitability and customer loyalty, including branding, digital marketing, and consumer service. Professor Dev has also evaluated brand portfolio strategy in the context of hotel mergers.

Background

  • An award-winning author, Professor Dev wrote Hospitality Branding (Cornell University Press), as well as over one hundred articles in leading academic and practitioner journals, including the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Marketing Research, and Harvard Business Review. He has coauthored multiple case studies for Harvard Business School, and in 2019 received the overall winner award for best case study from the Case Centre at the Cranfield School of Management (UK). The American Marketing Association recognized Professor Dev and his coauthors as finalists for the Best Service Research Paper of the Year Award for their article “Return on Service Amenities” (Journal of Marketing Research, 2017).

Testimonial

I engaged Professor Dev as an expert witness on behalf of my client, a franchisee with a very well-known international hotel and resort company. The franchisee owned and operated a unique hotel property in northern California. The franchisee and franchisor were engaged in a heated dispute that involved, primarily, the terms and operation of the franchisor’s loyalty program. Professor Dev was of substantial assistance in preparing a detailed written report and testifying impressively before the American Arbitration Association administered Arbitration Panel. Although the Panel did not find in favor of my client, the final award was based on grounds unrelated to Professor Dev’s opinions.

I was impressed with Professor Dev’s expertise on the subjects of marketing, brand management, and the operation of loyalty programs, generally, and within the hospitality industry, specifically. Professor Dev’s knowledge, his insights to the hospitality industry, and his appreciation for the legal process were key elements in my client’s claims and defenses.

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James R. Condo, Counsel, Snell & Wilmer

Professional & Other

Professor Dev is a sought-after commentator on hospitality trends. He has been interviewed numerous times in the mainstream media, and his research featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Economist, and the International Herald Tribune, among others. The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) has selected Professor Dev as one of the “Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality, Travel and Tourism Sales and Marketing.” At Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, Professor Dev teaches courses on brand and marketing management.

Industry Associations

Hospitality Branding

Dr. Chekitan's Latest Articles & Case Studies

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Dr. Chekitan Dev

The Future of Hotels

By Dr. Chekitan Dev Jan 19, 2023

Hotels have always been a high-touch low-tech business. Today, and into the foreseeable future, hotels are moving away from the pure ‘people...

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Dr. Chekitan Dev

How Hospitality Can Get Back To Business

By Dr. Chekitan Dev Jan 19, 2023

A few months ago, travel forecasts were optimistic, growing, carefree. Consider the following developments: New brands were being introduced at a never...

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Dr. Chekitan Dev

Hotel Brand Conversions

By Dr. Chekitan Dev Jan 19, 2023

In hotel brand conversions, two factors seem to drive the financial results for converted hotels—the relative strength of the brand and the fit between the brand and the property.

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