In addition to offering a wide range of programs and resources for hospitality sales, marketing, and revenue optimization professionals, HSMAI has found it helpful to focus on a few key areas:

1. THE NEW KPIS: Even before the pandemic, our KPI Workgroup was tracking the evolution of hotel performance metrics, but now their work has new urgency. It’s imperative that we figure out what success looks like after an industry-resetting crisis. This was also the focus of our recent Global Curate event, a virtual program that brought together HSMAI members from the Americas and Europe to brainstorm the KPIs that will be most relevant to hospitality professionals moving forward. In the coming months, we’ll be sharing resources developed by the KPI Group as well as from the insights we captured during Global Curate.

2. THE TALENT PIPELINE: It’s a terrible irony that the furloughs and layoffs necessitated by the pandemic now leave the industry potentially unprepared for the recovery from that same pandemic. New research from the HSMAI Foundation – whose mission is focused on talent and leadership development – identifies problems with the talent pipeline, including hospitality students who are unsure and even concerned about pursuing a career in the industry as well as general declines in the number of hospitality degrees being awarded. To make sure hotel companies are adequately staffed for the return of leisure and group business, the Foundation is continuing to develop resources that position hospitality as an attractive, viable career option.

3. THE RETURN OF LIVE EVENTS: Speaking of business, HSMAI is as excited as anyone about the prospect of meeting again. We’re returning to in-person events this fall, with our Marketing Strategy Conference and ROC Americas in Dallas on Sept. 28–29 and our Sales Leader Forum on Oct. 26 in Charlotte, and will be incorporating KPIs and talent development into all three programs. We hope to see you there.

And we hope you’ll find the articles in the HSMAI section of this issue of Hospitality Upgrade valuable to your own recovery efforts. Our lineup includes Kelly McGuire on the post-pandemic realities of revenue management, Michael Goldrich on the importance of direct bookings, Jennifer Hill and Cindy Estis Green on the evolution of commercial strategy, Mark G. Haley on Self-Sovereign Identify (SSI) technology, and Nick Price on the Decentralized Identity Foundation’s new Hospitality & Travel Special Interest Group. Welcome to the recovery! It’s good to finally be here.







Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHBA


We hope that the clustering of these related articles is helpful to you and that it represents a whole section you can easily share with your sales, marketing, and revenue management colleagues. And if there are ideas for additional topics you’d like to address, let Geneva (geneva@hospitalityupgrade.com) or myself know (bgilbert@hsmai.org).