HSMAI Commercial Futures Forum: Focus on Business Travel and Loyalty

As Vice President of Sales & Partnerships for Cvent’s Hospitality Cloud, Janine Alsalam heads sales strategy for Cvent’s integrated hotel and venue software solutions. In her 15+ years with Cvent, she helped build the Cvent Supplier Network and Cvent’s Hospitality Cloud division from the ground up, led strategic accounts teams, and facilitated the integration of acquired companies. She hails from the Washington DC area and graduated from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce. Since March 2020, she has retreated to the mountains of Deep Creek Lake, Maryland and spends free time helping her husband manage his craft bread bakery, boating, cooking farm fresh vegetables, and spending time with their 2 young boys.

Robert Ambrozy, Chief Commercial Officer for GBTA, has extensive work experience in the hospitality and travel industry. Robert is currently the Executive Vice President of Global Sales & Business Development at GBTA | Global Business Travel Association, a position they started in September 2021.

Prior to their current role, Ambrozy worked at HRS Group from 2015 to 2021, where they held various positions, including Director of Hotel Solutions and Global Chains for North America. In this role, they developed relationships with the North American hotel industry, hired and established a team, built brand recognition, and achieved significant revenue growth. Robert consistently received company-wide awards for sales achievements during their time at HRS Group.

Ambrozy also served as the Interim Managing Director, North America at Hotel Reservation Service Ltd from 2020 to 2021.

Before that, they worked at Marriott International for several years in different roles, including International Senior Market Account Executive, Associate Market Director of Sales, Director of Sales and Marketing at the Brussels Marriott Hotel, Director of Sales at Renaissance Samara Hotel, and Key Account Director at Warsaw Marriott Hotel.

Overall, Ambrozy has a strong background in sales, business development, and relationship-building in the hospitality and travel industry.

Robert Ambrozy obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Hotel Management from the Hospitality and Tourism Management School of Warsaw between 1998 and 2001.

Chris Boyle is senior vice president, chief business and strategy officer for Sabre Hospitality Solutions. Within his role, he is responsible for driving alignment, consistency and cohesiveness across all of hospitality’s operational and strategic pursuits – enabling a high-performing organization driven for success.

Chris possesses over two decades of business development, strategy and corporate finance experience spanning a variety of industries. Most recently, Chris served as SVP, corporate development and M&A at Sabre, elevating from VP, corporate development and M&A in 2020. Prior to Sabre, Chris held a variety of finance and M&A leadership positions at TuneCore, Moorgate Partners, Wachovia Securities, MTM Technologies and JP Morgan. He also proudly served four years in the United States Navy.

Chris received a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Boston College and an MBA in finance from University of Michigan.

Outside of work, Chris prioritizes spending time with his two teenage boys and sharing his passion for skiing among other activities. He has a stack of books on his bedside table that are partially read (he really intends to get through them all someday). He also enjoys cooking; playing sports; listening to live music; and being in, on, and around the ocean whenever possible.

Sean Callinan leads the Lodging Product and Engineering teams at Navan, focusing on enhancing and expanding Navan’s accommodation offerings. Before Navan, Sean was with Expedia Group for eight years where he developed lodging shopping products and managed key partnerships in the hotel and insurance space

Vincent Campana, Chief Revenue Officer for HRS, has the exciting responsibility of leading a team to acquire new SaaS customers and manage the groups revenue across Global & Multinational segments. At HRS, the Company is highly focused on providing leading travel technology, and real-time insights for sustainability, safety, savings, security, and satisfaction.

Prior to joining HRS, Vinny was Chief Commercial Officer at LodgeLink, a crew travel Company in Alberta CA, where he led a talented commercial team resulting in triple-digit revenue growth.

Vinny has a long travel related background, for both B2C & B2B, while he was at American Express Company and American Express Global Business Travel (GBT). Here he was developing customer engagements to drive value, market share and customer alliances Globally.

He joined American Express back in 1990 through the Financial Management Program, and he spent 18 years with Global Merchant Services leading several industry verticals. From Leisure Travel to Every Day Spend, he led teams who managed the largest customers like Universal Studios & Theme Parks, Target, Kroger, Exxon Mobil, Whole Foods, AT&T, and many others.

In 2000 he left American Express to join Priceline.com to help launch Name your Own Price for Gasoline and was subsequently a principal in another internet venture. Vinny is a graduate of Wagner College and resides in Babylon NY, Long Island, with his wife Jeanne, along with their three children. When not in the office, he enjoys any outdoor activity with his family and spending time working on their home.”

Lovell Casiero is a dynamic figure whose life and career encompass a remarkable blend of ministry, corporate leadership, and personal empowerment. Born and raised in the South, Lovell’s journey in the hospitality industry is a tale of relentless progression, beginning as a sales administrator and evolving into a senior executive role as the Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy for PM Hotels.

Her career trajectory took a unique turn when she dedicated a decade to managing her family’s television ministry. Under her leadership, the ministry expanded its reach exponentially, moving from local broadcasts to a global presence on major cable networks, including BET. This period not only highlights her exceptional leadership skills but also her ability to inspire and influence on a large scale.

Lovell’s experiences have not just been about corporate and spiritual leadership; she is also a celebrated author, a captivating public speaker, and a life coach. Her approach to life coaching is deeply rooted in her personal life philosophy. She believes in the transformative power of sharing life’s trials and triumphs, a principle that resonates in her public speaking. She captivates audiences with authentic storytelling, sharing lessons learned from overcoming obstacles and realizing dreams.

Her southern roots have instilled in her a sense of hospitality and warmth, which she brings to every aspect of her life. Lovell’s mantra is that every personal challenge or difficult situation is an opportunity to grow and help others by sharing the wisdom gained. She approaches the stage and life with unwavering confidence, driven by determination, motivation, and a steadfast ‘never give up’ attitude. Lovell’s life and career are a testament to her belief that the only option in the face of adversity is to overcome, move forward, and win again.

After years of working with blue chip brands, international travel companies and developing some of the first e-commerce driven sites on the web, Matthew Clyde launched Ideas Collide in 2005 from Phoenix, Arizona. His expertise in adopting technology into marketing strategies (from AI to marketing automation) and connecting to authentic storytelling has placed him as a trusted advisor for some of the fastest-growing national brands and organizations in hospitality, health care, and high-tech.

Notable recognitions include being named one of Phoenix Magazine’s “Great 48” influential Phoenicians, a “2024 Titan 100” CEO, and as one of the “Top 25 Minds in Marketing” by HSMAI (Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International). Ideas Collide serves local, national, and global companies from offices in Arizona and Oregon. Under Matthew’s leadership and a team of over 75 marketing professionals, Ideas Collide was recognized as an Inc. 5000 company in 2020.

Ellis Connell is Chief Revenue Officer for Laasie. His work experience spans various roles in the hospitality, software, and recruiting industries. Ellis is currently serving as the Chief Revenue Officer at Laasie since 2022. Prior to that, they worked as a Guest Lecturer at NYU Tisch Center of Hospitality in 2021. In 2015, they were a Strategic Advisor at Hospitality Spotlight Recruiting. From 2019 to 2021, they held the position of General Manager – Sales and Account Management at Sabre Corporation. In 2018, they served as the Senior Vice President of Business Development at Zingle, which was later acquired by Medallia. In 2017-2018, they served as the Senior Vice President, Global Head of Sales at Cendyn (acquired by Rainmaker Group) and was responsible for leading the Go-To-Market strategy and sales efforts. Prior to that, they held the position of Chief Revenue Officer / Executive Vice President at TrustYou from 2013 to 2017, leading a team that drove all revenue generation for the company. From 2011 to 2013, they worked as a Senior Sales Director at Cvent, a market leader in event management software. Ellis started their career as the Director of Sales and Marketing at ARAMARK from 2008 to 2011 and as the Managing Partner at Enterprise Bleu from 2006 to 2008.

Dorothy Dowling, ISHC is a seasoned management consultant and growth advisor, with Horwath HTL with over 40 years of experience in the global hospitality industry. As the former Global Chief Marketing Officer and SVP of Sales at Best Western, she excelled at shaping marketing and commercial strategies. Dowling actively contributes to HSMAI and is a special advisor to the HSMAI Foundation Board. Her industry leadership earned her prestigious Lifetime Achievement awards from HSMAI, the NYU Investment Conference, and GBTA. She holds an Honours BA and MA from the University of Waterloo, completed executive programs at Harvard and MIT, and holds postgraduate certifications in D&I and ESG from Cornell. Dowling is also a public trustee at CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE), the third largest Storage REIT, and is Director-certified by the National Association of Corporate Directors

Cindy Estis Green’s career began in corporate marketing and senior operations with Hilton International. After founding the data mining company, Driving Revenue, and selling it to Pegasus Solutions, Ms. Estis Green spent twelve years as managing partner of The Estis Group working with hotel owners on targeting value growth in their assets.

Estis Green has been honored as one of the hotel industry’s 25 Extraordinary Minds in Sales and Marketing, was inducted into the prestigious Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame, named as one of Cornell University’s 90 Influential Hotelies and received the HSMAI Vanguard Award for leadership in moving the field of revenue optimization toward a focus on profit contribution. She was named an industry “game-changer” when honored by the Cornell Hotel Society as a member of the 2023 Class of the Hotelier Hall of Fame. A prolific published author, Estis Green is highly sought after as a speaker on topics related to digital disruption and the impact on the economics of hotels.

Ms. Estis Green co-founded Kalibri Labs, a next-generation commercial strategy platform to evaluate, predict, and benchmark hotel revenue performance. Using data science, Kalibri Labs helps hoteliers optimize profit contribution to improve asset value and supports the real estate community with tools that refine underwriting for investment and development. Estis Green holds a BS degree from Cornell University and an MBA from The American University.

Agnelo Fernandes is CEO for Cote Family Companies. For over 100 years, Cote Family Companies has distinguished itself by providing an array of hospitality services specializing in the management of resort facilities and services, real estate and development operations.

Fernandes’ specialty lies in turning around asset performance and establishing brand reputation and value creation. Throughout his career he has outperformed the market, leading with setting a strong workplace culture, crafting sustainable growth strategy and fostering innovation. With more than 30 years of global leadership experience, he has helped position independent luxury resorts in the US, Caribbean, Central America and Asia. A thought leader within the hospitality industry and luxury lifestyle segment, Fernandes has been frequently invited to share his transformational perspectives on leadership, service culture, growth strategy, communications, global marketing and branding. His experience spans across hospitality, spa and wellness, real estate, travel and tourism and restaurants. He has held senior executive positions with brands like Canyon Ranch, Sonesta Hotels, and was most recently with Coral Tree Hospitality and its flagship, Terranea Resort as chief strategy officer and executive vice president.

Fernandes serves on Visit California’s Marketing Advisory Board and is the immediate past chair of the Branding Committee, overseeing the strategic brand position of the state of California. Along with the executive committee, he chaired the deployment of the $110 million ‘Dream Big’ brand campaign that represented California as the leading destination. Fernandes also serves on the Executive Committee for the HSMAI Board of Directors and is the immediate past chair of the HSMAI Foundation, where he focused on attracting, developing, and retaining talent in the hospitality industry.

Fernandes has been recognized as an industry thought leader and is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including Lodging Magazine’s Best and Brightest Hotel Innovators and Visionaries; Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Resort Marketer of the Year and Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales, Marketing and Revenue; i-Lead Leader of the Year by Two Roads Hospitality, and the prestigious ‘Spirit of Lowe’ Award by Lowe and CoralTree Hospitality.

Lori Kiel, CHDM, SVP, Revenue Management for Pyramid Global Hospitality is a thought leader in our industry, pushing the Commercial Strategy discipline and philosophies forward through her work with HSMAI and Kessler Collection.

Lori has over 33 years of experience in the Hospitality Industry and has worked in various positions throughout her career, from 20 years in operations to 13 years above property. Her roles have spanned the ranks of Rooms Division, GM, Regional Revenue, Corporate Director, and now Chief Commercial Officer. Lori’s analytical skills and passion for commercial strategy offer a unique combination of talent perfectly paired with her leadership. Additionally, Lori has worked with all major brands, soft brands, and independent hotels.

Lori has earned degrees in Hospitality Management and Leadership. Lori’s passion for continued enrichment has found its home with HSMAI, where she serves on the Sales Advisory Board, is Co-Chair of the Commercial Excellence Workgroup, is Chair of HSMAI’s Foundation Board, and sits on the Americas Board. Lori is the author of LinkedIn’s Commercial Strategy Evolution newsletter and actively speaks on panels, podcasts, and keynotes throughout industry events.

Ryan Mann, Partner at McKinsey & COmpany, helps travel and hospitality organizations around the world develop growth strategies, map opportunities, build new businesses, and scale existing operations. He helps major hotel chains, airlines, cruise lines, and mobility companies make substantial performance improvements by evaluating and defining new business models, optimizing distribution channels, leveraging analytics for decision making, and strengthening marketing and sales capabilities.

Ryan’s recent client experience includes the following:

• assisting a world-renowned hotel chain in doubling its share of direct digital revenue through launching agile projects, including personalization-at-scale initiatives and new distribution channels
• working with a US-based hotel chain to design and launch a new business model
• supporting a large hotel chain as it sought to acquire a smaller chain by developing the value story and building its impact-performance approach, post integration
  designing a new distribution approach for a global midscale hotel chain to grow revenue by ten percent
• advising a hospitality company on its growth strategy, helping it scale to ten times its original size
• helping a global cruise line develop its strategic planning capabilities, as well as its broad-based performance improvement plan
  – supporting the ground-up development of a new mobility start-up designed to compete with rideshare organizations

Robert McDowell is Chief Commercial Officer for Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the largest and most successful lodging franchisors in the world. In this role, he is responsible for developing and leading Choice’s digital commerce, loyalty, revenue management, procurement and customer care functions.

Mr. McDowell joined Choice in May 2011 as Senior Vice President for Global Distribution and was appointed to his current leadership role in 2016. During his tenure, he developed and executed the company’s customer acquisition strategy through an integrated digital advertising campaign, built an industry-leading revenue management platform, relaunched the Choice Privileges loyalty program and continued to evolve Choice’s digital platform.

Prior to joining Choice, Mr. McDowell spent nearly 15 years with United Airlines, where he served as Managing Director of Distribution and eCommerce, overseeing the airline’s distribution strategy through direct and non-direct sales channels, including its website and contact centers. Mr. McDowell also served as Chief Operating Officer at C&H International, overseeing the travel agency’s daily operations.

Mr. McDowell holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the New York Institute of Technology.”

Katie Moro is a veteran of the hospitality industry and a pioneer in hospitality demand data. She joined TravelClick (now an Amadeus company) in 2011 and is responsible for the global expansion of Demand360©, the hospitality industry’s only and most comprehensive forward-looking data tool designed to help hotels maximize their revenue.
Previously, Katie led a major accounts sales team at Rubicon, a provider of competitive market intelligence to the travel and hospitality industry and held sales roles at Morgans Hotel Group and Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.
Katie was named by Hotel Management Magazine as one of 2018’s Influential Women in Hospitality. In 2020, Katie joined the board of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI). Katie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Georgia.

Duane Overgaard leads the Connectivity business unit for DerbySoft and is a highly effective global business leader in electronic distribution and technology. Prior to joining DerbySoft, Duane worked for Sabre for over 10 years in Sales, Marketing and Partnership Management leadership positions, where he held a track record of meeting and exceeding operational goals. Before Sabre, Duane held positions at Wyndham, Hilton and Pegasus.

Joff Romoff brings extensive experience in the travel sector to his role as Group President of Lodging at Corpay, including time as VP of Market Management at Expedia and as Head of Supplier Management at SAP Concur, the largest online expense and travel management cloud supplier in the world. Joff also served as VP of Commercial Operations at Amadeus, where he led the NORAM Commercial sales group that was a leading driver in global distribution systems for the retail and corporate travel sectors. Most recently, Joff held the role of VP of Commercial Operations for IHG Hotels and Resorts in Southeast Asia and Korea, where he led a team that oversaw the commercial operations of more than 100 hotels across nine countries.

Michael Shiwdin, SVP, Group for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, has extensive experience in finance and operations, having worked in various leadership roles within the hospitality industry. Michael currently oversees guest engagement, loyalty, and partnerships. In addition to his current role, Michael has led teams in revenue strategy, digital commerce, and finance at companies such as Drive Shack Inc. and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Michael holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business & Technology Management with a focus on Finance from New York University.

Amanda Voss is the Vice President of Sales at the prestigious Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. With a strategic vision, she provides leadership to the Hotel Sales, Catering, Convention Services, and Group Dining Departments, shaping the resort’s success.

Amanda’s journey to her current role was marked by a series of significant achievements at MGM Resorts International. She was part of the inaugural teams for ARIA and Vdara Resorts and played a pivotal role in transforming the Monte Carlo Resort into the stunning Park MGM. Amanda’s forward-thinking approach was instrumental in expanding the convention business at the resort, introducing innovative meeting spaces like the Madison Meeting Center and Ideation Studio, tailored to the evolving needs of meeting planners.

Recognized for her remarkable contributions, Amanda Voss was named one of HSMAI’s Top 25 Most Influential Minds in Sales, Marketing, and Revenue in 2018. She also earned a place in Connect Association Magazine’s “40 Under 40.” Amanda holds a Certified Meeting Professional designation from the Events Industry Council and earned her bachelor’s degree in Hotel Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her dedication and innovation continue to shape the landscape of the hospitality industry.

Kimberly Wilson, SVP, Sales for Preferred Hotels & Resorts, has a strong background in sales and profitability, with experience in managing corporate and leisure accounts generating millions of dollars in annual revenues. Kimberly has worked in various roles, including Senior Sales Manager positions at Hotel Derek and Alden Hotel. Kimberly also has a successful track record at InterContinental Houston Hotel, where Kimberly quickly progressed from Office Manager to Executive Meeting Manager. Kimberly holds an Associate’s Degree in Social Sciences from Houston Community College and has attended the University of Houston-Downtown.