RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif., Feb. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Foundation, led by Agnelo Fernandes, Chair of the HSMAI Foundation, and Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President of Terranea Resort, shared a midterm update during the HSMAI Adrian Awards and Digital Marketing Conference in New York.
"It has been one year since we first announced the new vision and dynamic roadmap for the future of the HSMAI Foundation," said Fernandes. "Our board of directors set a plan to build an employment brand for the industry and to help drive initiatives that will attract, develop and engage talent in the global hospitality industry. The Foundation understands that smart, innovative and creative professionals must choose hospitality careers if we as an industry are going to successfully create, capture, manage and optimize revenues."
The Foundation's singular focus is to elevate the caliber and performance of sales, marketing, and revenue management professionals and provide them with the tools to take their careers to the next level within the global hospitality industry. The Foundation's newest initiative – Open Your World – offers unique and highly relevant resources to enhance the visibility of sales, marketing and revenue optimization as desirable career paths in the hotel industry. The plan's initiatives to attract, develop and engage talent include the launch for a new website featuring stories about incredible careers in hospitality, the Open Your World podcast, uncovering potential hospitality talent through connection with underserved Military Spouses, an Executive Roundtable bringing together Hospitality Human Resource Executives to discuss opportunities and best practices for structuring, managing, and maintaining the workforce of the future, and a new award to recognize excellence in attracting, developing and engaging industry talent.
"Our mission is to establish collaborative partnerships across hospitality and tourism organizations to create an employment brand for the industry that continually attracts and retains rising stars," said Fran Brasseux, President of HSMAI Foundation. "One of our trailblazing initiatives is to attract new talent to the industry through a partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Hiring Our Heroes Initiative to connect thousands of military spouses with hotel partners across the country and around the globe."
According to Deloitte and The US Bureau of Statistics, hospitality has the largest number of job openings of all business sectors. Over 1.1 million open positions - an increase of well over 100 percent since 2008. The Foundation's new mission has been intentionally set to help address this issue for top line revenue positions in sales, marketing and revenue strategy.
Hospitality companies are encouraged to connect with the Foundation to learn how their company may help combat the talent shortage. The HSMAI Foundation was established in 1983 to serve as the research and educational arm of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International. Its mission is to elevate the overall caliber and performance of sales, marketing and revenue management professionals in the global hospitality industry by driving initiatives that will attract new talent, develop emerging talent, and engage existing talent. To bring this vision to life, in 2019 the Foundation launched its first-ever capital campaign which continues in 2020. This is an industry-wide collaborative effort to raise funds in support of talent development.
Fernandes joined the HSMAI Foundation as Chair in 2019 to help lead their new focus and mission to address the top issue facing the industry today: talent and leadership development for sales, marketing and revenue management for help with the top-line revenue needs of the hospitality industry. He also serves on the HSMAI Board of Directors for the Americas and is a member of the Marketing Advisory Council. As Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President for Terranea Resort, Fernandes oversees the business strategy, branding development initiatives, and revenue optimization for the 102-acre oceanfront destination. He also serves as Brand and Content Committee Chair for Visit California. Fernandes brings more than 25 years of strategic global leadership experience, specializing in hospitality and lifestyle brand leadership. He has led the development, launch and repositioning of resorts and hotels in North America, Caribbean, Asia and Central America. He has held senior executive positions within the hospitality industry with recognized brands such as Canyon Ranch, Sonesta Hotels International, and Rex Resorts. In addition, Fernandes was selected by Lodging Magazine as one of the best and brightest hotel innovators and visionaries within the hospitality sector; he was also the recipient of the HSMAI Resort Marketer of the Year Award and named one of the Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales, Marketing and Revenue. Additionally, he was named the Leader of the Year and awarded Destination Marketing Professional of the Year by Destination Hotels, and was nominated for the prestigious Spirit of Lowe award.
SOURCE Terranea Resort
