Randy Smith, Nicole Young, and Sarah Kalin Churchill will be celebrated at ROC 2019
(McLean, VA, May 9, 2019) The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) will celebrate three outstanding revenue optimization executives during HSMAI’s ROC Americas in Minneapolis, June 18–19, 2019. HSMAI will be honoring Randy Smith with its prestigious Vanguard Award for Lifetime Achievement in Revenue Optimization. Additionally, Nicole Young and Sarah Kalin Churchill will be recognized with 2019 Revenue Optimization Professionals of the Year awards, which are co-presented by Rainmaker.
Randy Smith, chairman, and co-founder of STR will be presented with HSMAI’s Vanguard Award for Lifetime Achievement in Revenue Optimization for dedicating his career to providing the hotel industry with actionable data to improve business.
In 1985, along with his late wife Carolyn, Randy set out to create a true assessment of the number of hotels in the United States and accurately measure industry-wide occupancy. For more than 30 years Randy has partnered with industry leaders to develop, report, and create guidelines for the hotel industry, many of which have changed the global hotel industry, impacting the way every hotelier runs their business. While STR started as a two-person, U.S. hotel census company, it now employs 350 people in 15 countries, providing data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for global hospitality sectors.
The HSMAI Vanguard Lifetime Achievement selection committee cited the commitment to confidentiality, accuracy, timeliness, and impartiality, that drove Randy’s work to deliver tools that allow hoteliers to benchmark their properties against a competitive set and measure average daily rate and revenue per available room.
Randy’s contributions to the hotel industry have been recognized with a number of prestigious accolades, including the U.S. Travel Hall of Leaders, the ALIS Lifetime Achievement Award, HSMAI’s Albert E. Koehl Award, and more.
HSMAI, along with co-presenter Rainmaker, is proud to also recognize Nicole Young, CRME, senior corporate director of global revenue management of Rosewood Hotel Group as HSMAI’s 2019 Corporate Revenue Optimization Professional of the Year.
Prior to her appointment with Rosewood in 2017, Nicole started her career with Loews Hotels and has led various commercial disciplines. Nicole is an expert at hotel, gaming, as well as food and beverage brand revenue strategy for luxury and lifestyle genres. She is currently the vice chair of HSMAI’s Revenue Optimization Advisory Board and in 2018 was recognized by Hotels Magazine as a “Next-Gen Leader Under 40” in the hospitality industry.
The selection committee noted that “Nicole’s drive and focus on developing others, challenging the 'norms' in the industry, and her ever-lasting thirst for information is inspiring for those who work with Nicole.”
In addition to her expansive career, Nicole holds credentials from the University of Southern California and Northern Arizona University, specializing in data science and analytics, hospitality administration and adult learning theory. Nicole’s pursuit of ongoing education and knowledge of the hospitality industry has set her apart as a successful role model and hotel leader.
Also co-presented by Rainmaker, the 2019 Single/Multi-unit Revenue Optimization Professional of the Year award goes to Sarah Kalin Churchill, CRME, CHDM, CHBA, director of revenue strategy at Pasea Hotel & Spa and Ko’a Kea Hotel & Resort.
With over 13 years of hotel and revenue management experience, Sarah has a passion for driving revenue growth for numerous award-winning resorts. Her career began at Santa Barbara’s Canary Hotel. Prior to her current position, she led revenue strategy at Hotel Oceana Santa Barbara and Bacara Resort & Spa.
In 2018, Sarah was able to drive-double digit RevPAR growth reaching record results for both hotels. She was awarded the Revenue Team of the Year and Hotel of the Year in 2018 with Pacific Hospitality Group. Sarah is the 2nd person ever to achieve all three CRME, CHDM, and CHBA HSMAI certifications.
According to the selection committee, Sarah’s structured, pragmatic, and opportunistic approach to revenue optimization has helped re-energize Pasea Hotel & Spa and Ko’a Kea Hotel & Resort’s property teams, instill a sense of ownership and created a positive environment to drive revenue opportunities.
HSMAI chapters and the industry at large can nominate individuals for the Vanguard Award for Lifetime Achievement in Revenue Optimization and the Revenue Optimization Professional of the Year Awards. Year-after-year the nominees represent top talent in the discipline. Nominees are judged by a panel of revenue leaders on a variety of criteria.
These awards will be presented at HSMAI’s ROC Americas, the world’s largest gathering of revenue optimization professionals in the travel industry. ROC 2019 will prepare attendees to take the lead in revenue strategy by elevating leadership, adapting to the ever-changing landscape of hospitality technology, and driving profit throughout the customer journey. This is the 16th year that hotel revenue leaders will convene for education, collaboration, and innovation at HSMAI’s ROC Americas.
For more information about ROC Americas, visit http://www.hsmairoc.org. To interview an HSMAI spokesperson about the event and the award honorees, please contact Nicole Quain at nquain@hsmai.org.
