HSMAI Boston Chapter

10/14/2026

The Best Investment You Make This Year Could Be in Yourself

The hospitality industry continues to evolve, and so do the skills required to succeed.
Whether your focus is sales, marketing, distribution, revenue optimization, or commercial strategy, an HSMAI certification helps demonstrate your expertise, strengthen your credibility, and prepare you for the next step in your career.

Choose the certification that's right for you and join thousands of hospitality professionals who have invested in their professional growth through Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI).

Here➡️ https://americas.hsmai.org/certification/

Nearly 30 years ago, HSMAI introduced certification for hotel sales professionals. Today, we offer training and credentialing in several disciplines, includ ...

10/13/2026

📈 High demand doesn’t always mean higher profits.

As peak season approaches, hotel revenue strategy needs to go beyond filling rooms. Channel costs, rate parity, direct booking conversion, and upselling all play a role in protecting profitability when demand is strongest.

The goal isn’t just to sell more rooms — it’s to maximize the value of every booking.

For today's Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) insight, the question to ponder is: What are you doing now to prepare for your next demand peak?

🔗 Read the full article: https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4134688/high-season-hotel-strategy-how-to-protect-profitability-as-demand-peaks

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

10/07/2026

From LODGING Magazine!

When margins tighten in hospitality, the playbook is familiar: cut labor, defer capital, trim sales and marketing, and ask the remaining team to do more with less. Some of those cuts remove genuine waste, and the hotel is better for them.

Read the article!
https://lodgingmagazine.com/you-cant-save-your-way-to-the-bottom-line-cost-cutting-alone-wont-protect-hotel-asset-value/

For hotels, cost-cutting should distinguish waste from investments in labor, guest experience, and capital that protect value.

10/06/2026

HSMAI Americas

What defines a healthy hotel distribution strategy? Members of HSMAI's Rising Revenue Optimization Leader Council explored the role of OTAs, the true cost of acquisition, and how AI is reshaping the way travelers discover and book hotels.

Read here: https://americas.hsmai.org/insight/the-future-of-hotel-distribution-may-start-before-the-booking/

Megan Fratangeli, Revenue Manager, Omni William Penn Hotel, Rising Leader Council Member William Lee, Senior Market Manager, Priceline Agoda Global Partner ...

10/05/2026

HSMAI AMERICAS

As commercial strategy continues to unite sales, marketing, revenue management, and technology, today's sales professionals need more than traditional selling skills. Industry leaders discuss the growing importance of business acumen, continuous coaching, AI readiness, and career development in preparing the next generation of hospitality sales leaders.

Read more here ➡️ https://americas.hsmai.org/insight/do-we-have-a-sales-training-problem-or-a-commercial-capability-gap/

Benjamin Premack, Regional Director, Sales & Marketing- US & Mexico, Omni Hotels & Resorts, HSMAI Sales Advisory Board Member At a discussion o ...

09/14/2026

🤩 THANK YOU to our generous raffle prize donors! Your donation will make the September 15 Commercial Strategy Reboot, Meeting People Where They Are event even more engaging and fun!

👏 NEW ENGLAND INNS AND RESORTS ASSOCIATION - One - $250 Gift Certificates 🤸♂️
👏 Sun & Ski Inn and Suites - One Night Stay Gift Certificate 🤸♀️
👏 Hilton Boston Park Plaza- $450 Gift Certificate 🤸

**If you are interested in donating a raffle, it's not too late! Donations of $75+ receive one free registration.**

📅 Join us at The Seaport Hotel, September 15 @ 5:30PM for Commercial Strategy Reboot: Meeting People Where They Are.
👉 Register: https://cvent.me/Malb8a
Event: Commercial Strategy Reboot: Meeting People Where They Are.
Where: The Seaport Hotel

09/14/2026

🎤 Meet the Moderator! Join us for an engaging discussion TOMORROW, SEPTEMBER 15, moderated by Rachel Vandenberg, PCC, Accelerate Women Leaders in Travel

📅 Join us at The Seaport Hotel, September 15 @ 5:30PM for Commercial Strategy Reboot: Meeting People Where They Are.

👉 Register: https://cvent.me/Malb8a
Event: Commercial Strategy Reboot: Meeting People Where They Are.
Where: The Seaport Hotel

Meet The Moderator: Rachel Vandenberg, PCC is a business leader whose career spans hospitality, aviation, and leadership development. She is co-owner of the Sun & Ski Inn and Suites, Stowe Bowl, and Stowe Golf Park in Stowe, Vermont, and a Dutch-speaking flight attendant for United Airlines. She is also the founder of Accelerate Women Leaders in Travel, a leadership platform that creates transformational experiences designed to strengthen alignment, agency, and impact for women across travel, hospitality, and tourism.

09/10/2026

Meet the Panelist Lakota Forosisky, Complex Director of Revenue Management Highgate! Join us for an engaging discussion moderated by Rachel Vandenberg, PCC, Accelerate Women Leaders in Travel.

📅 Join us at The Seaport Hotel, September 15 @ 5:30PM for Commercial Strategy Reboot: Meeting People Where They Are

👉 Register: https://cvent.me/Malb8a
Event: Commercial Strategy Reboot: Meeting People Where They Are.
Where: The Seaport Hotel

Meet The Panelist: Lakota Forosisky is a hospitality professional with more than 25 years of experience in the Boston hotel market. As Complex Director of Revenue Management for Highgate Hotels, she oversees commercial strategy for The Newbury Boston and The Verb Hotel. Over the course of her career with Highgate, Hyatt, and Hilton, Lakota has worked across luxury, lifestyle, and full-service hotels, specializing in revenue optimization, forecasting, and commercial strategy. Her deep knowledge of the local market and passion for developing future hospitality leaders make her a trusted voice in Boston's lodging community.

09/10/2026

🚀 Meet the Panelist! Award winning author Leora Halpern Lanz, ISHC, Professor of the Practice Hospitality Marketing, Boston University School of Hospitality Administration 👏

📅 Join us at The Seaport Hotel, September 15 @ 5:30PM for Commercial Strategy Reboot: Meeting People Where They Are, moderated by Rachel Vandenberg, PCC Accelerate Women Leaders in Travel!

👉 Register: https://cvent.me/Malb8a
Event: Commercial Strategy Reboot: Meeting People Where They Are
Where: The Seaport Hotel
When: September 15 @5:30PM

👏 Meet The Panelist: Leora Halpern Lanz, ISHC is a globally recognized hospitality marketing strategist, educator, and author. She wrote Developing Your Marketing Mindset: Real-World Lessons from Hospitality (2025), an Amazon International Best Status title, New England Book Festival Business Book of the Year, and Marketing Mindset in Motion: Inspired by Hospitality (2026). Both books were honored with International Impact Book Awards! 🏆

Leora is Professor of the Practice at Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration, where she teaches Experiential Marketing and Hospitality Digital Marketing Strategies. Since joining BU in 2015, she has held senior academic leadership roles and developed and launched new courses, concentrations, and graduate programs.

Previously, Leora founded LHL Communications and spent 15 years as Global Director of Marketing & Communications for global hospitality consulting giant HVS. Her career also includes senior PR roles with ITT Sheraton Hotels of New York and the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau (today, Meet Boston). A board member of the Center for Responsible Hospitality, she has received numerous industry honors for leadership and education.