Growth, education, and community building.
These three key areas will be the focus of the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association (HSMA) Philippines for 2023, as the organization continues to help revive and strengthen travel, tourism, and hospitality in the country–all under the guidance of a new and proactive leadership team who are looking forward to providing more avenues for success for its member-hotels and resorts, particularly in the domestic market.
“What’s most important is driving revenues toward our hotels and resorts, all while building on the sense of community and comradeship among our members that we’ve cultivated and fostered since our group’s founding in 1974,” said Loleth So, HSMA president and Belmont and Savoy Hotel Manila area director of sales and marketing.
Leading the charge along with So are HSMA chair Margarita Munsayac (Bluewater Resorts VP of sales and marketing); vice president Cristina Carreon (Manila Marriott’s marketing director of sales and distribution); secretary Amie Villena (Four Points Sheraton Palawan director for sales and marketing); treasurer Desiree Rose de Guzman (Astoria Hotels and Resorts corporate director of sales and marketing); public relations director Cielo Reboredo (Okada Manila vice president of sales and marketing, hospitality and entertainment); director for membership Tet Romualdo (general manager of The Linden Suites); director for education Lynette Ermac (Megaworld Hotels and Resorts group director of sales and marketing); director for ways and means Wenie Maligaya (Newport World Resorts’ director of sales and marketing); and director for programs Jennylyn Santillan (City of Dreams Manila director of sales and marketing).
The group’s first revenue-generating event for the year is the 2023 Philippine Tour Operators Association-Hotel Sales and Marketing Association Travel Exchange (PHILTOA-HSMA TravEx), happening March 28 and 29, 2023. The two-day affair will see HSMA’s over 150 properties engaging in tabletop business with more than 100 of PHILTOA’s members as they discover and form synergies to boost domestic travel through their destinations and services.
Travelers can also still look forward to HSMA’s signature event: the September Online Sale (SOS), which was initially established as a response to the impact of the pandemic on travel and tourism in 2020.
“This year, SOS will be bigger, because we are opening that up to tour operators and airlines,” said So. “We want to give travelers the entire experience.”
Upskilling tourism professionals
To complement their revenue-generating initiatives, HSMA will be providing sales and marketing leaders with new learning opportunities in order to help them “spearhead their teams as they maneuver their plans,” said So.
“Revenue and education go hand-in-hand, because without the proper knowledge, skills, then the revenue will not come in,” she added. “We’re also partnering with several associations that can help us widen our networks, and really reach markets we’ve never reached before [here in the country]. We will reconnect with airlines, so we can communicate on how we can support each other, because at the end of the day, we’re partners.”
And as part of their annual recognition of their members’ top sales and marketing leaders, HSMA will be holding their ninth Virtus Awards, the most prestigious recognition given to outstanding sales and marketers of the group’s member-hotels and -resorts.
“Lastly, we want to give back to the community,” said So.
Throughout the years, HSMA led the way in industry innovation, making the organization a key consultant to the government on how to alleviate the hard economic consequences of the pandemic. The group was consulted when legislatures formed the Bayanihan Bill 2, spearheaded vaccination drives of hotel industry workers, and worked with government agencies on the deployment of arriving overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to member properties for mandated quarantine quarters during the lockdowns.
“A lot of us have been in the industry for a long time, and the pandemic really hit us differently. That’s why we want our sales and marketing leaders to be more innovative amid this new marketing landscape–so they can continue to give back to their communities,” So concluded.
HSMA Board of Trustees. Standing from left: HSMA treasurer Desiree Rose de Guzman (Astoria Hotels and Resorts corporate director of sales and marketing), director of programs Jennylyn Santillan (City of Dreams Manila director of sales and marketing), director of ways and means Wenie Maligaya (Newport World Resorts director of sales and marketing), director of education Lynette Ermac (Megaworld Hotels and Resorts group director of sales and marketing), and secretary Amie Villena (Four Points Sheraton Palawan director for sales and marketing). Seated from left: HSMA vice president Cristina Carreon (Manila Marriott’s marketing director of sales and distribution), HSMA president Loleth So (area director of sales and marketing of Belmont and Savoy Hotel Manila), director for membership Tet Romulado (general manager of The Linden Suites), and public relations director Cielo Reboredo (Okada Manila vice president of sales and marketing, hospitality and management).
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco graced the event.
