NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Sep 5, 2013) - Questex Hospitality + Travel, the world's largest multinational media, event and e-commerce company serving the global hospitality and travel industry, and the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) today announced a strategic agreement for Questex to manage HSMAI's MEET series of industry-leading events.
Founded in 1990, HSMAI's MEET (Meetings, Events, Education & Technology) expos are trade shows designed for hospitality sales and marketing professionals to present their properties, destinations and services to the industry's leading planners and decision-makers. The shows also offer top-of-the-line training for meeting and event-planning professionals.
The Questex-HSMAI alliance will leverage both organizations' industry knowledge and marketplace experience. Questex will apply its industry-leading event management, research capabilities and hospitality industry knowledge, and HSMAI will provide professional development sessions and continue to offer members benefits to participate in the shows.
Kerry Gumas, Questex Media Group LLC president and chief executive officer, said the relationship will be "extremely complementary" given HSMAI's close involvement with the lodging and meetings industries and Questex's expertise managing more than 50 hospitality-centered conferences, trade shows and one-to-one appointment-based events.
"Our depth of experience goes well beyond event management," Gumas said. "Deep knowledge and relationships at all levels within the hospitality and meetings industries are key to positioning HSMAI's MEET series for the next generation of growth. We look forward to collaborating with HSMAI to build upon the proven popularity of this series of conferences."
Gumas noted that HSMAI's MEET events will complement Questex's Global Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchanges (GMITE) -- invitation-only, appointment-based events catering exclusively to the MICE market. The GMITE series, led by the flagship Incentive Travel Exchange (ITE), features intimate, prearranged one-to-one meetings that connect incentive buyers and suppliers.
"Affiliating with Questex is a great step forward that underscores our commitment to grow business for hotels and their partners by expanding our reach to meeting planners," said HSMAI President & Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHBA.
HSMAI's MEET National event, which ends today at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, is host to 1,500 planning professionals from organizations of every size plus 200 exhibitors, representing hotels, resorts, inns, convention and visitors bureaus, technology suppliers, food and equipment providers, among others. The 2014 show dates and locations will be confirmed in the next 60 days.
About Questex Hospitality + Travel
Questex Hospitality + Travel, the largest multimedia organization in the world dedicated to travel and lodging, drives revenue, productivity and value-creation for these related industries through strategic investment and deal-making forums, powerful lead-generation tools, interactive online business solutions, world-class events and industry-leading publications.
The Questex Travel Group, a division of Questex Hospitality + Travel, serves travel marketers globally through its TravelAgentCentral.com, LuxuryTravelAdvisor.com and TravelAgentUniversity online portals. It operates the leading luxury travel booking site, FiveStarAlliance.com, publishes Travel Agent and Luxury Travel Advisor magazines and produces leisure events: Luxury Travel Exchange International, ULTRA Luxury Exchange, Young Leaders Conference and Hawaii Travel Exchange and MICE events: Global Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchanges and CONFEC conferences.
Questex Hospitality + Travel also provides business development, marketing and training services to national tourism organizations, destination marketing associations, hotel, gaming, resort and cruise companies, online travel agencies and travel advisors worldwide. Questex Hospitality + Travel is a division of Questex Media Group LLC, headquartered in Newton, Mass., with offices throughout the world.
About HSMAI
The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) is committed to growing business for hotels and their partners and is the industry's leading advocate for intelligent, sustainable hotel revenue growth. The association provides hotel professionals and their partners with tools, insights and expertise to fuel sales, inspire marketing, and optimize revenue through programs including HSMAI's MEET, Adrian Awards, and Revenue Management Strategy Conference. HSMAI is an individual membership organization comprising more than 7,000 members worldwide, with 40 chapters in the Americas Region. Connect with HSMAI at www.hsmai.org, www.facebook.com/hsmai, www.twitter.com/hsmai and www.youtube.com/hsmai1.