HSMAI Foundation Distributes Second Round of COVID Relief Grants to Hospitality Professionals Around the World

The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Foundation is supporting the hospitality industry by distributing a second round of COVID Relief Fund grants to hospitality professionals worldwide, bringing the total amount of grants to $170,000 distributed to nearly 400 recipients worldwide.
The HSMAI Foundation COVID Relief Fund was established in 2020 with the generous support of benefactors and individual donors. The fund provides HSMAI membership and educational grants for HSMAI programs to members and non-member industry professionals in need due to challenging circumstances related to the global pandemic.
HSMAI Foundation COVID Relief Fund grant requests were distributed to in all HSMAI global regions: Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East. The grants represented a mix of educational services and programs.

• 56 percent of the grants were for membership.
• 26 percent of the grants were for certification and online education.
• 38 percent of the grants were for other educational programs around the globe.

Many of the hospitality professionals who applied needed assistance due to furloughs and layoffs because of pandemic downsizing, reduced budgets for professional development, and the desire to improve their knowledge or cross- train in other commercial disciplines to enable them to better support recovery strategies.

“I’d like to send a thank- you to HSMAI for the generous disbursement for the COVID relief grants to so many of our associates at Rosewood Hotel Group,” said Nicole Young, CRME, senior corporate director of global revenue management at Rosewood Hotel Groups. “In such a difficult year from a budget perspective, these grants are helping to fuel our educational offerings for our team members.”

“The awarding of grants supports the mission of the HSMAI Foundation, which is to attract, develop, and engage talent in the sales, marketing, and revenue ecosystem,” said Agnelo Fernandes, chief strategy officer and executive vice president at Terranea Resort and chair of the HSMAI Foundation. “We found a tremendous demand for educational resources, but many individuals and companies just could just not afford it in the current environment.”

The grants were made possible due to the generous support of donors to the HSMAI Foundation COVID Relief Fund, including Randy Smith and the Carolyn Smith Foundation, IDeaS Revenue Solutions, and individual donors including past and present HSMAI leaders Hoyt Bacon, Mike Leven, and Flo Lugli, among many others.

Hospitality companies and individuals are welcome to support the HSMAI Foundation and the COVID Relief Fund by making a donation. Additional rounds of funding are dependent on future donations to the fund. To learn more and give, visit Support the HSMAI Foundation online.