Marketing Talent of the Year

The HSMAI Europe Marketing Talent of the Year Award recognizes and promotes excellence in the field of sales in the hospitality industry. Honorees exemplify strong sales performance producing measurable results.

The aim of the awards is to promote result oriented and innovative leadership among young executives, and to focus on the importance of being a business leader in the industry.

Competition Rules

The nominee must:

• work in a European country
• be 30 years old or younger on 31 December, 2023
• work as an executive at a hotel or travel industry company

To qualify for the award, a nominee must:

Currently work for a hotel or hotel group on-property or in a regional office / head office, or work for an airline, travel agency or any travel or tourism related company (including technology). They have excelled in their jobs in the last year, because they have delivered exceptionally good results, or because they have been specially inventive in their business and executive position.

Demonstrate excellence in all of the following areas:

• Creativity & Initiative
• Sales Acumen
• Innovative Leadership
• Advancement of the Marketing Discipline

Revenue Management Talent of the year

This award will be handed out on a yearly basis to young people in the hotel industry. Candidates will be appraised on the basis of their careers, as well as their accomplishments during the last year.

The aim of the awards is to promote result oriented and innovative leadership among young executives, and to focus on the importance of being a business leader in the industry.

Competition rules

The nominee must:

• work in a European country
• be 30 years old or younger on 31 December, 2023
• work as an executive at a hotel or travel industry company

To qualify for the award, a nominee must:

Currently work for a hotel or hotel group on-property or in a regional office / head office, or work for an airline, travel agency or any travel or tourism related company (including technology). They have excelled in their jobs in the last year, because they have delivered exceptionally good results, or because they have been specially inventive in their business and executive position.

Demonstrate excellence in all of the following areas:

• Creativity & Initiative
• Sales Acumen
• Innovative Leadership
• Advancement of the Revenue Discipline

Sales Professional of the Year

The HSMAI Europe Sales Professionals of the Year Award recognizes and promotes excellence in the field of sales in the hospitality industry. Honorees exemplify strong sales performance producing measurable results.

Competition rules

To qualify for the award, a nominee must:

• Work in a European Country
• Currently work for a hotel or hotel group on-property or in a regional office, or work for an airline, travel agency or any travel or tourism related company (including technology) in a sales role.
• Have more than 75% of their responsibilities focused specifically on the day-to-day Sales management for the property(s).
• Play a significant and key role in the optimization of the Sales potential of the organization, in its competitive environment.

Demonstrate excellence in all of the following areas:

• Creativity & Initiative
• Sales Acumen
• Innovative Leadership
• Lifelong Learning
• Cross-Discipline Collaboration
• Talent Development
• Advancement of the Discipline.

Outstanding sales personalities have to be nominated by a supervisor and / or General Manager or Managing Director or the head office.

Marketing Professional of the Year

The HSMAI Europe Marketing Professional of the Year Award recognizes and promotes excellence in the field of marketing in the hospitality industry. Nominees will be selected based on outstanding achievements in terms of marketing as well as the overall development of this field within our sector.

Competition rules

To qualify for the award, a nominee must:

• Work in a European Country.
• Currently work in a marketing role in the hospitably industry or significantly contribute from a marketing standpoint to the hospitality industry (working for a hotel or hotel group on-property or in a regional office, or for a Food and Beverage company, work for an airline, travel agency or any travel or tourism related company (including technology).
• Drive the marketing strategy to raise brand awareness and differentiate the organization from competitors, helping to support its success and growth.
• Have a forward-thinking approach and the ability to think outside the box in terms of marketing in order to adapt to change within our industry.
• Be able to display tangible results for a successful cross-channel marketing operation.

Demonstrate excellence in all of the following areas:

• Creativity in branding and communications
• Innovation in marketing and campaigns
• Results driven focus
• Inspirational leadership
• Advancement of the discipline within our industry

Revenue Optimization Professional of the Year

The award will be given to one hospitality professional every year in recognition of their individual contributions to revenue optimisation in the industry.

Nominations for the Revenue Optimization Professional of the Year Award come from HSMAI and the industry at large. Nominees represent the very best in the hospitality industry in revenue optimization. Nominations are judged by a panel of revenue management leaders on a variety of criteria.

Competition rules

To qualify for the award, a nominee must:

• Work in a European country
• Currently serve in an on-property, multi-property, cluster or regional revenue optimization role for a brand, management company, ownership group, or independent property.
• Have more than 75% of their responsibilities focused specifically on the day-to-day management of revenue optimization for the property(s).
• Play a significant and key role in the optimization of the revenue potential of the organization, in its competitive environment.
• Demonstrate excellence in all of the following areas: Lifelong Learning; Innovative Leadership; Cross-Discipline Collaboration; Talent Development; and Advancement of the Discipline.

They demonstrate excellence in all of the following areas:

• Creativity & Initiative
• Revenue Optimization
• Innovative Leadership
• Lifelong Learning
• Cross-Discipline Collaboration
• Talent Development 
• Advancement of the Discipline

Outstanding Revenue personalities have to be nominated by a supervisor and / or General Manager or Managing Director or the head office.

Revenue Management Team of the Year

HSMAI Europe aims to be the go-to industry resource for professional development and no function has developed more over the last decade than Revenue Management. Sponsored by MRK Associates, the leading specialist revenue management recruitment business across Europe, the Revenue Management Team of the Year Award seeks to highlight the organisation and team that has taken this to new levels.

This aware will assess how a Revenue team has impacted their organisation’s strategy, innovative use of technology, integration cross-functionally in the business, development of internal skills and delivery of strong results outperforming the general market trend. 

Selection criteria:

 The juries will pick winners according to the following criteria:

1. Evidence of delivering financial/ revenue growth above and beyond both general market and compset growth
2. Illustration of growth and development across all areas of revenue management including pricing, inventory, channel management, technology, forecasting and working cross-functionally
3. Clear synergy of revenue management output inline with organisational strategy and examples where guidance from the team has influenced strategic decisions and direction 
4. Evidence of team learning, development and training with particular interest in developing new talent in the industry.

The winning revenue management team of the year should also illustrate how they are striving towards future goals which should include the following areas:

• A clear DE&I strategy for future team growth
• A structured Learning & Development Program
• Future aims and goals for the team to achieve
• New processes or innovations
• Progress towards Total Revenue Management

Best use of Brand

This award includes the development of new brands as well as pivoting or repositioning of existing brands.

It can be branding efforts for a product or service, a customer loyalty program, talent initiative, community engagement or any other initiatives for companies or destinations. In short, using a brand to influence customer, industry, employee or other stakeholder behavior, choices or values.

Including strategic thinking and brand positioning, identity, branding activities, communication and implementation in organization. What was the reason for establishing or repositioning/pivoting the brand? How was the development process done, what insights does it build on, how has it created or changed its category or taken a role in the market. What are the results?

Explanations and/or case studies of, for example, brand platforms, communication concepts, names or visual identities, engagement of internal and external stakeholders. The organisation must demonstrate fresh thinking about branding and bold choices and/or moves that gives the brand significant influence in its market.

The company demonstrates excellence in all of the following areas:

• Brand strategy
• Brand launch/relaunch/pivot activities
• Development and implementation
• Internal and external engagement
• Significant results

With the nomination we will need the following information:

• Challenge – Describe the challenge that your company attempted to meet
• Solution – Give a brief description of the rationale behind the submitted entry
• Goal – What was the goal of the activity?
• Effect – Describe the effect of the activity

Best use of Employer Brand

HSMAI Europe aims to be the go-to industry resource for professional development. A major challenge is to attract and retain talent. Therefore, a key to success for HSMAI Europe’s members is to be perceived as a competitive employer, able to create experiences to retain and attract professionals from within and outside the sector.

This award includes implementation of employer brand strategy, internal and external brand communication, creativity of solutions, quality of campaigns, innovation and achieved results.

The Company must excel in one or more of the following areas:

• Recruitment campaign. Activities and campaigns which are focused on a specific recruitment segment (revenue, sales and/or marketing) which has been delivered with an innovative twist, successfully positioned you in the talent segment, and achieved strong results.
• Digital communication – best use of digital tools for brand communication through career pages, social networks, intranets, Newsletters etc and achieved results as result of such activities.
• Employee Experience – includes activities such as onboarding programs, branded workspaces, improvements in candidates or employee’s journeys, lifelong learning initiatives, and other ideas designed to create a more holistic employee experience.

Explanations and/or case studies of, for example, employer brand platform (EVP) , communication concepts, names or visual identities, engagement of internal and external stakeholders. The organisation must demonstrate fresh thinking about employer branding and bold choices and/or moves that makes the company as an attractive employer for employees and in the segmented marketplace.

The company demonstrates excellence in all of the following areas:

• Employer brand strategy and Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
• Campaigns, activities, digital platforms
• Development and implementation
• Internal and external engagement
• Significant results (such as increased job offer acceptance rates, decreased time to hire, increase in employee referrals, higher retention rates, etc.)

With the nomination we will need the following information:

• Challenge – Describe the challenge that your company attempted to meet
• Solution – Give a brief description of the rationale behind the submitted entry
• Goal – What was the goal of the activity?
• Effect – Describe the effect of the activity

An employer brand is the sum total of every touch point a company has with candidates and employees, designed to create a lasting emotional connection with those stakeholders. The discipline of employer branding encompasses everything a company does to earn and maintain a reputation as an employer of choice. It includes a company’s messaging — from the language it uses in its job posts to its mission statement — and it extends across the full candidate and employee experience.

Employer Branding is about showcasing your unique cultural differentiators and then working to amplify them so you can position yourself as a great place to work.

HSMAI Europe Sustainability Award

The HSMAI Europe Sustainability Award will recognize social and environmental sustainability initiatives in hospitality businesses and share best practices with the industry. Candidates must provide documentation on implemented initiatives, their positive impact, and how they will continue their work for a more sustainable operation.

The sustainability initiatives must have real impact on one or more of the following:

•   Poverty reduction
•   Health & well-being
•   Diversity & inclusion
•   Energy efficiency
•   Biodiversity
•   Natural resource efficiency
•   Waste & pollution
•   Water efficiency
•   Climate change

Evaluation criteria:

1. What is the impact of the initiatives?
2. When did the business implement changes?
3. Is the business sharing their learning and best practices?
4. What are the plans for new and continued initiatives?