The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) will celebrate three remarkable marketing leaders during HSMAI’s Marketing Strategy Conference in Toronto on June 27.

Jay Hubbs, CHDM, Vice President-Advertising, Marketing, Innovation and Analytics of BWH Hotels, and John White, CRME, CHBA, CHDM, Director of Sales & Marketing at Kaanapali Beach Hotel, will be presented with the Marketing Professional of the Year Awards for corporate and single/multi-unit categories, respectively. Dr. Makarand Mody, Associate Professor of Hospitality Marketing at Boston University, will be honored with the Marketing Educator of the Year Award.

Jay Hubbs, CHDM
Jay Hubbs, Vice President-Advertising, Marketing, Innovation and Analytics for BWH Hotels, is this year’s corporate Marketing Professional of the Year. Jay has over 30 years of experience in hospitality and travel sales and marketing. In his current role he oversees BWH Hotels’ consumer-facing marketing, advertising and the award-winning Best Western Rewards program.  

Prior to BWH Hotels, Jay was with Remington Hotels in Commercial Services and Digital Marketing positions, and before that worked at Expedia, Starwood Hotels, as well as in hotel operations roles early in his career.

Jay holds a BS in Hotel Administration from Cornell University as well as an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2018, Jay was named to HSMAI’s Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds and sits on HSMAI’s Americas Board.

John White, CRME, CHBA, CHDM
John White, Director of Sales & Marketing at Kā‘anapali Beach Hotel and The Plantation Inn on Maui, is this year's single/multi-unit Marketing Professional of the Year. In his current role, John is responsible for global revenue and branding efforts. Throughout his tenure, the hotel and inn have garnered a coveted list of impressive accolades. Kā‘anapali Beach Hotel (known as Hawaii’s Most Hawaiian Hotel) received Conde Nast Traveler’s 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards for the top hotel in Maui.

Prior to joining KBH, White directed global event marketing campaigns for AT&T, Heineken, American Express, Pepsi and Nissan which included the Olympics and X Games. During his tenure at Nike, White was an integral player in launching the Tiger Woods brand. White also serves on the HSMAI Hawaii chapter board and in an advisory role for the Hawaii Tourism Authority. He holds HSMAI certifications in Revenue Management (CRME), Hotel Digital Marketing (CHDM) and Hotel Business Acumen (CHBA).

Dr. Makarand Mody
This year, HSMAI is awarding the Marketing Educator of the Year Award to Makarand Mody, Ph.D. Makarand is an Associate Professor of Hospitality Marketing at the Boston University School of Hospitality Administration (SHA). He currently serves as the Chair of Undergraduate Programs at SHA, and as the school’s first-ever Director of Research. He is an internationally recognized scholar on the sharing economy and conducts research on marketing and branding issues that impact the hospitality industry.  

Makarand has a varied industry background, having worked in the hotel, airline, and market research industries. His diverse industry experience complements his academic expertise to impart a real-world, yet conceptually grounded understanding of marketing and branding to students. He is also leading the development of SHA's emerging curriculum in the domain of experience management, which applies a marketing, branding, analytics and operations perspective to how hospitality and other organizations form and maintain valuable stakeholder relationships.

AWARD INFORMATION
These awards will be presented at HSMAI’s Marketing Strategy Conference, an event for leaders in hospitality marketing to expand marketing knowledge and leadership abilities and leaders in other commercial disciplines to discuss the latest developments in marketing for hotels. This year, HSMAI’s Marketing Strategy Conference will be held in conjunction with ROC as a part of HSMAI’s Commercial Strategy Week. For more information about the events, visit commercial.hsmai.org.

HSMAI chapters and the industry at large can nominate individuals for the Marketing Professional and Educator of the Year Awards. Nominees represent top talent in the discipline and are judged by a panel of marketing leaders on a variety of criteria.

To interview an HSMAI spokesperson about the event and the award honorees, please contact hsmai@njfpr.com.