A Message From HSMAI’s Leaders
Over the past two years, the hospitality industry has seen changes and transformation we never thought possible. The pandemic turned our profession upside down, putting us face to face with some of the hardest challenges of our careers, leading many of us to make tough decisions and all of us to accept that how we operate moving forward won’t be the same as we did in the past.
While 2020 was a year no one expected, 2021 allowed us to acknowledge this new normal and approach new challenges with agility, creativity, and innovation. In the midst of evolving COVID-19 variants, ever-changing travel and safety rules and limitations, and the shortage of talent across the industry, we have seen our community come together in inspiring ways that show just how exceptional those in our profession really are. And as travel continues to rebound and we head toward a state of recovery, there will be more opportunities for restoration and reconnection of the community locally and around the world.
In 2020, HSMAI’s primary goal was to support our members with the resources they needed to respond, adapt, and recover during the pandemic. In 2021, we continued upon that goal and expanded it to provide valuable insights based on what we all learned from the previous year. Alongside our volunteer leaders, chapters, partners, sponsors, volunteers, and staff, we’ve garnered many accomplishments because of this, and we’ve highlighted them in this annual report.
For example, in 2021, HSMAI’s organizational membership renewals grew significantly. We launched the Commercial Decisions Digest and continued delivering the Customer Insights newsletter. Participation in our Online Essentials courses and certification program stayed strong, and we took our celebration of the “best of the best” — the Adrian Awards — virtual for the first time. In addition to continuing to gather insights among industry leaders via our roundtable series, we surpassed attendance expectations with our face-to-face events last September and October — our first since the pandemic started.
These are just some of the highlights featured in the 2021 annual report. As we continue onward, we look forward to creating more opportunities for our members to contribute to the hospitality industry in a strong way and to better themselves — personally and professionally — in the process.
Bob Gilbert,
President & CEO
Marina MacDonald, CHDM
Immediate Past Chairman
Chief Marketing Officer
Red Roof Inn
