GMBHA September Newsletter

September 2021

Dear GMBHA Members & Partners,

We hope your Labor Day weekend was enjoyable.

Last week we celebrated Rocco Angelo, Associate Dean, Alumni Relations, E.M. Statler Professor, FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Mgmt., 90th Birthday at the beautiful Biltmore Hotel! In honor of Rocco and his passion for alumni and the Chaplin School community, fellow alumnus John McKibbon '75 announced a transformation $5 million gift which will establish an alumni center, new tech-focused programming, and scholarships. If you would still like to leave a gift in support of Rocco M. Angelo Legacy in Leadership Endowment which supports student scholarships, please visit go.fiu.edu/rocco9. Congratulations Rocco!

Wendy Kallergis, President & CEO, GMBHA; William Contreras and Ericka Nelson, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants Director of Hotel Operations, Florida

GMBHA Highlight:

I attended an evening reception at the EPIC Hotel last month. As I entered the hotel, I was greeted by hotel employee William Contreras who held the door open for me. Even though we had on masks, we were able to make pleasant eye contact. Shortly after.. at the event I was approached by a manager who told me that William found my wallet on the ground at valet and to go to front desk to retrieve it. Unbeknownst to me, I went to the lobby and was greeted again by William. He was so happy to see me and told me he was not only an Inn Key nominee but also an Inn Key Winner!

William, you made my day and also a reminder of how incredible our hotel employees are!

We would like to thank our hotel partners for their ongoing contributions to Haiti Earthquake Relief in partnership with Food for the Poor. Please see flyer for more information on how you can help.

For those of you who have not RSVP’d to our fabulous celebration of 30 years on the 30^th of September… our Academy of Hospitality and Tourism’s “Tourism Professional of the Year” we still have a few tables left and please see below evite to attend. This is an event you don’t want to miss!

Wendy Kallergis

President & CEO

Greater Miami and

The Beaches Hotel Association

GMBHA Team:

Faheemah Garzon

Marketing & Events Manager

Faheemah@gmbha.com

Monica Walker

Membership Sales & Relations Manager

Monica@gmbha.com

For more information regarding our events & sponsorship information, please contact Faheemah Garzon, Marketing & Events Manager at faheemah@gmbha.com

Upcoming Events

First event Mayor's Budget Review with the Business Community featuring

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava

Thursday, September 9, 2021

via Zoom

Hotel Building Check-Up: Assessing Your Property's Building Health and Maintenance Needs

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

11:00am via Zoom

Cost: $10

Sponsored by: Ball Janik LLP

GMBHA Hospitality Check-in with

S. Florida Concierge Association

We are delighted to re-launch our Hospitality Check-in series with Guest Hosts’ conversations with some of our “Best of the Best” hoteliers.

South Florida Tourism Professional of the Year Luncheon on September 30th at Hyatt Regency Miami.

The luncheon MC will be WSVN’s Belkys Nerey and featured speakers of the luncheon will include celebrity chef, Michelle Bernstein, and Florida International University Dean, Dr. Michael Cheng.

6th Annual FRLA Miami Golf Invitational

Monday, October 18, 2021 at The Biltmore Hotel

Join hospitality industry leaders for a fun filled day of golf and networking at the iconic Biltmore Hotel golf course. Enjoy samplings from Miami's favorite restaurants on course, our Octoberfest Beer Garden, games on course and fabulous trips and luxury raffle and auction prizes!

Membership

July & August 2021

New Allied Upgrade:

Allied Upgrade Renewals:

Hotel Renewals:

The Betsy South Beach

The Broadmore Miami Beach

Catalina Hotel

Chesterfield Hotel & Suites

Croydon Hotel

Hilton Miami Dadeland

Holiday Inn Miami Beach

Hotel Chelsea

Hotel Shelley

InterContinental Miami

Lincoln Arms of Miami Beach

Metropole Hotel Apartments

Nobu Eden Roc

Residence Inn Miami Airport

Sheraton Miami Airport

Tradewinds Apartment Hotel

W Miami

Whitelaw Hotel

New Allied:

305 Transportation

Infor

KettleSpace

Lodging Kit Company

Miliani Construction

Pelican Harbour Seabird

Sebiya.io

St. Thomas University

Allied Renewals:

Avmedia

Deco Bike

First Rate Hospitality

MyNuvola

Nature's Best

Sparkloft Media

For more information regarding membership, please contact Monica Walker, Membership Sales & Relations Manager at monica@gmbha.com

Hospitality News

National Aviation Day is celebrated annually on August 19 but for Dennys Emilio Gonzalez, a Senior Aviation Property Manager at Miami International Airport, every day is Aviation Day. That’s because, for the last year and a half Dennys has managed MIA’s real estate properties by day, and by night he has built his own mini-airport property – in his spare bedroom at his North Miami Beach townhome.

Read more here

Miami-Dade County opens Tropical Park COVID-19 testing site 24 hours

The Tropical Park COVID-19 testing site has expanded its hours and is now open 24 hours a day for PCR testing. Currently, the County is averaging over 24,000 COVID-19 tests per day and Tropical Park is one of the sites with the highest demand. The new schedule will increase access to more community members during the school year, make it more convenient to those with demanding work schedules, and reduce wait times.

The Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association will be launching a new initiative called "Less is More" with Sebiya, a local Guest Experience software company founded by Samella Watson, one of our newest members.

While we have listened to our members share some of their challenges since the pandemic we knew it was clear that we needed to assist with some of their most pressing issues such as being short staffed and the need to transition to offering digital experiences. Members using Sebiya will be given the technology needed to offer contactless engagement for all their services and amenities while ensuring the guest experience does not suffer due to fewer team members. We understand here in South Florida there are more travelers coming in to visit and our hoteliers are operating with less staff. So collaborating with Sebiya was an easy choice to help our members begin to innovate as we all rebuild the hospitality industry. We are excited to launch the initiative as of this week. We will be sharing more information with you all soon!

AHLA established award to honor Arne Sorenson

The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), The American Hotel & Lodging Foundation and The BHN Group have revealed a new award to recognize and honor the transformational leadership of industry icon, Arne Sorenson, former president/CEO, Marriott International, who passed away earlier this year.