Tisch Center internship spotlight: Eng Sou Ea and Tishman Hotel Corporation

Eng Sou Ea is a student in the BS Hotel and Tourism Management. This fall semester, she is interning at Tishman Hotel Corporation, in the Asset Management Division. Eng tells us more about her internship in this post. 

Where are you currently interning and what is your job title? 

I am interning at Tishman Hotel Corporation and my job title is Hotel Asset Management Intern.

What are your responsibilities? 

I work directly with the Director of Asset Management who oversees both The Westin New York Times Square and The InterContinental New York Times Square. My responsibilities vary day by day, but I attend many of the meetings with the THC team whether in person or via conference call. Some of the meetings we attend include weekly sales strategy meetings and monthly performance reviews with the operators (one with the Marriott team for The Westin and another one with IHG for InterContinental). By attending these meetings, I get to hear about the operators' performance every month and all the notes I take are used to help us write up monthly reports for the owners. Some of my other responsibilities include helping the team update our budget reports for 2020, financial modeling and analysis of proposed budgets from the operators, monthly Profit and Loss Statement reviews, and a bi-weekly update for the THC team on all major events, developments, or changes to our demand generators, especially within the neighborhood of Times Square and Hudson Yards. Another project I am currently working on is an analysis and proposal for both hotels in compliance to a newly introduced law (LL97) with regards to Greenhouse Gas emission limits for large buildings in New York. This includes working with the Director of Engineering to benchmark the hotels’ current energy usage and emission levels, reviewing 3rd party consultants and their proposals, and presenting all relevant information to the THC team. 

Is there a particular aspect of your internship that you are enjoying most?   

My favorite part of the job so far is attending meetings with the THC team. Tishman asset manages the two hotels but we also have ownership in both properties, thus, the team is more hands-on with all the day to day operations of the hotels than you might imagine. As owner's representatives, we are interested in all the different departments and activities going on in the hotels, whether there is a new marketing campaign from the brand, a big group contract that requires in-depth analysis of the group's displacement or negotiating with contractors and project managers on upcoming renovations, FF&E, and utilities and maintenance improvements for the properties. This wide breadth of responsibilities that asset managers oversee allows me to truly learn about all the work that goes into operating and also owning a hotel. I love that I gain exposure to so many aspects of what keeps a hotel running smoothly that goes beyond the eyes of what guests can see. 

What do you hope to take away from this internship?    

I hope to eventually work in hotel development in the future and the knowledge I am gaining through this internship will allow me to better understand what makes a hotel successful, and how to drive profitability to the bottom line on all assets in a hotel.    

What do you hope to accomplish and achieve in your last year at NYU?    

As an international student at NYU, it has always been a goal of mine to make the most of my degree and time in New York both inside and outside of the classroom. For me this means building meaningful connections with friends, colleagues, professors and mentors, engaging in the hospitality industry through conferences and internships and treasuring everything that NYC has to offer. This is what I will continue to do and hope to accomplish in my last year at NYU.