The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association (HSMAI) Americas is now accepting nominations for its Marketing and Public Relations Lifetime Achievement awards and Top 25 Extraordinary Minds in Sales, Marketing, and Revenue Optimization honors. The nomination period ends Dec. 20 and coincides with the annual HSMAI Adrian Awards competition.

HSMAI Lifetime Achievement Awards

HSMAI’s Albert E. Koehl Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hospitality Marketing and Winthrop W. Grice Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hospitality Public Relations recognize hospitality professionals who have dedicated their careers to the hospitality and travel industry. These leaders continually strive for the betterment of the hospitality industry in a lasting way, over an extended period.

Submit nominations for these awards by visiting HSMAI Lifetime Awards. The HSMAI Lifetime Awards Committee, which comprises previous recipients, will review all nominations and select this year’s winners.

Last year, Dorothy Dowling, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Best Western Hotels & Resorts was honored with the Albert E. Koehl Award. Mary Gostelow, publisher of the Gostelow Report received the Winthrop W. Grice Award.

“On behalf of the HSMAI Lifetime Awards Committee, I encourage professionals from all parts of the industry to nominate experienced hospitality and tourism leaders who have made tremendous contributions to the field of hospitality,” said Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHBA, president and CEO of HSMAI. “There are many worthy leaders in our industry who deserve the recognition and honor.”

HSMAI Top 25 Extraordinary Minds Honors

In addition to the Lifetime Achievement awards, HSMAI is accepting nominations for its Top 25 Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality Sales, Marketing, and Revenue Optimization program. These awards honor exceptional sales and marketing leaders of hospitality, travel, and tourism organizations for their achievements in the preceding 12 months.

A diverse panel of experienced industry executives select the Top 25 based on the creativity and innovation of their cutting-edge sales, marketing, and revenue optimization campaigns and their ability to overcome challenging situations.

“We have seen tremendous leadership emerge in the industry from all of the challenges that occurred during the last year and a half of the pandemic,” Gilbert said. “HSMAI’s Top 25 award recipients represent what it means to be a resilient leader in hospitality and those individuals deserve recognition now more than ever.”

Along with being recognized in person, Top 25 awardees will also be featured in a special report published online and distributed to HSMAI members and press.

Top 25 Extraordinary Minds of 2020:

  • Todd Arviso, Vice President and Commercial Director, Americas Managed Hotels, Hilton
  • Heather Bailey, CHBA, Senior Director, Worldwide Sales – Hotel Sales Optimization, BWH Hotel Group
  • Gathan D. Borden, CHDM, Vice President, Marketing, VisitLEX
  • Johnathan Capps, Vice President of Revenue, Charlestowne Hotels
  • Craig Carbonniere Jr., CHDM, Senior Director of Sales, Milestone, Inc.
  • Dana Cariss, CHDM, Vice President, Revenue Strategy and Distribution, CoralTree Hospitality
  • Sabrina Cendral, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Club Med
  • Denise Chapman, Director of Marketing, Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Club
  • Sonali Fernando, Regional Director of Revenue, Virgin Hotels
  • Elana Friedman, Chief Marketing Officer, AKA
  • Bettina Garibaldi, Senior Vice President, Managing Director of Ketchum – Travel, Hospitality and Leisure
  • Griff Garwood, Senior Director, Global Media, Marriott International
  • Stephanie Glanzer, CMP, Chief Sales Officer and Senior Vice President, MGM Resorts International
  • Michael J. Goldrich, CHDM, Global Head of Digital Marketing, Club Quarters
  • Eliot Hamlisch, EVP, Loyalty and Revenue Optimization, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
  • Rhett Hirko, CRME, Global Vice President, Revenue Optimization, Preferred Hotels & Resorts
  • Sara Joseph, Senior Vice President, Head of Travel and Lifestyle, BerlinRosen
  • Nicole Lierheimer, Vice President, PR and Communications, Accor
  • Gissell Moronta CMP, RVP, Sales and Marketing, Atrium Hospitality
  • Staci Olney, Vice President, National Sales, Red Roof Inns, Inc.
  • Shawn Paley, CHDM, Senior Director, MDS Studio, Marriott International
  • Eve Paré, President and CEO, AHGM
  • Peter Ricci, CHA, CHSE, CRME, EDD, CHBA, Director, Hospitality and Tourism Management Program, Florida Atlantic University (FAU)
  • Anne Sayers, Acting Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Tourism
  • David Warman, Principal, Red House Strategy
  • Cesar Wurm, Vice President, Commercial and Revenue Management CMH, IHG

(Positions and companies listed were accurate at the time that recipients were initially nominated.)

The HSMAI Top 25 and Lifetime Awards are part of the 2021 HSMAI Adrian Awards. The 65th annual Adrians competition focuses on capturing the great work done by hotels, destinations, and their agency partners to get the country moving again, showcase safety and security, and welcome those travelling for the first time in more than a year.

Nominations for all awards will be accepted through Dec. 20, 2021. Winners will be notified in 2022. Details for an in-person celebration in 2022 will be available soon.

Become an Adrian Awards partner by contacting Elise Rhinehart at [email protected]. To receive more information on the Top 25, contact Kaitlin Dunn at [email protected]. For more information on the Adrian Awards competition, please contact Ellen Wilson at [email protected] or visit the Adrian Awards.

About HSMAI

The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) is committed to growing business for hotels and their partners and is the industry's leading advocate for intelligent, sustainable hotel revenue growth. The association provides hotel professionals and their partners with tools, insights, and expertise to fuel sales, inspire marketing, and optimize revenue through programs such as the Marketing Strategy Conference, Adrian Awards, Sales Leader Forum, and HSMAI ROC. Founded in 1927, HSMAI is a membership organization comprising more than 5,000 members worldwide, with 40 chapters in the Americas Region. Connect with HSMAI at hsmai.org.