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) 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 president and CEO, 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 Incentive Travel Exchange (ITE), 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 & CEO 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.