Robert Gilbert

President and CEO, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International
WHEN: Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 12:45 pm - 1:15 pm
TOPIC: Industry Leaders: Speaking Out for Travel, Tourism and Hospitality

As president and CEO of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI), Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHA, has been guiding HSMAI through a dynamic and exciting period of change with the 7,000-plus member organization re-establishing itself as the definitive hospitality and travel marketing association in the world. During Gilbert’s tenure, HSMAI has achieved tremendous success with a number of initiatives. More specifically, the Association has revitalized membership and established new chapters worldwide (it continually seeks out beneficial affinity programs for members), expanded its portfolio of customer events, and negotiated a number of alliances that build member benefit value. Furthermore, it has re-affirmed its commitment to industry-specific education through the creation of Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and a series of innovative Strategy Conferences. Today, HSMAI has SIGs in the areas of Revenue Management, Resort Marketing, Travel Internet Marketing, Sales & Marketing Faculty, and Hotel Directors of Sales & Marketing. Strategy Conferences produced annually address the following relevant subject matters: Travel Internet Marketing (two conferences per year), Resort Management, Revenue Management, Caribbean Sales & Marketing, and HDOSM. The most recent breakthrough is the introduction of the HSMAI brand in Asia with Asia Concept, a debut Industry Strategy Conference in Singapore, which is expected to spearhead HSMAI membership and chapter development in the region. In 2006, three strategy conferences will be held in the Asia Pacific Region. In addition, Gilbert was instrumental in the creation and launch of HSMAI University to provide a broad-based education program for all hospitality industry individuals. Other notable achievements under Gilbert’s leadership include the growth of customer events (eight to-date) through the expansion of HSMAI’s Affordable Meetings® with Affordable Meetings® West and Affordable Meetings® Mid-America (added to the existing Affordable Meetings® National), which along with the multi-city WorldQuest series, makes HSMAI the largest operator of forums with customers of hospitality sales & marketing professionals in the meetings industry. Also of great significance is the launch of HSMAI Foundation initiatives, including a research partners program, dedicated to conducting sales and marketing specific research studies for the hospitality, travel and tourism industry, and in keeping with that, the launch of eConnect, a one-stop portal to global information and resources on hospitality sales and marketing topics. eConnect delivers industry news and events; information on special interest groups, such as Internet marketing, revenue management, etc.; research papers and documents; industry links and resources; the Industry Update Trends Newsletter; and sophisticated search capabilities. Prior to joining HSMAI in 1995 (in an executive capacity), Gilbert was vice president of marketing for a leading hotel management company (which at the time was the largest hotel management company in the world), where he oversaw the corporate marketing support for 170 hotels representing every price tier and product type in the industry. Gilbert holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, and has been a member of HSMAI since joining the student chapter at Cornell. He is a frequent guest lecturer at Cornell. Gilbert serves on the Board of Directors of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and the Convention Industry Council (CIC), and is on the Board of Trustees for the World Tourism Foundation. He is also a member of the Travel and Tourism Coalition of the Travel Industry Association of America. HSMAI is an organization of sales and marketing professionals representing all segments of the hospitality industry. With a strong focus on education, HSMAI has become the industry champion in identifying and communicating trends in the hospitality industry, and bringing together customers and members at eight annual events, including HSMAI’s Affordable Meetings®, and HSMAI World Quest. Founded in 1927, HSMAI is an individual membership organization comprising more than 7,000 members worldwide, with 38 chapters in the Americas region.