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By Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHBA, President and CEO, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI)
The evolution within the hospitality industry to break down silos between commercial disciplines – especially sales, marketing, revenue management, and distribution – continues to accelerate. “Commercial Strategy” is on the tip of many tongues these days in the press, in the academic world, across HSMAI’s advisory boards, and in the corporate offices of hotel brands, management companies, and owners. There are lots of questions about commercial strategy including:
- What is it?
- How should it manifest itself at the property level?
- What does it mean for corporate structures?
- What titles should sales, marketing, and revenue optimization professionals have in a commercial organization?
- What skills are required to lead a commercial-centric team?
- How can we leverage it for profit optimization?
- And more!
While many hotel companies are testing new organizational models, there are few concrete answers at the moment.
To help the industry make progress on the road to commercial strategy, HSMAI’s Executive Committee identified an opportunity to dive deep with industry thought leaders: learning from other industries; looking at current best practices in hospitality; and determining what leadership attributes are unique to our industry to manage the commercial functions.
To that end, I’m excited to announce that our Curate Executive Insights Forum — October 18-19, 2022 in Frisco, Texas — will focus on designing and building commercial-centric organizations that are strategically constructed to optimize profits.
At Curate 2022, leaders from inside and outside of the hotel industry — paired with interactive discussions and collaborative brainstorming — will help you harness the innovations and technologies that have emerged from the convergence of sales, marketing, and revenue optimization to create a strategic commercial organization.
Curate is an exclusive, complimentary event for HSMAI’s 73 Organizational Member companies and universities. An invitation will be sent this week to the primary membership contact in your organization. If you would like to be a delegate for your company, contact them. If you are unsure who your company contact is, check with Stacy Gleason, our director of membership. Curate is October 18-19, 2022, at the Westin Stonebriar Golf Resort & Spa in Frisco, TX. I hope you’ll be part of the conversation.
In the meantime, consider skimming these recent articles to see what others are saying about “all things commercial:”
I hope to see you in Frisco, Texas in October!