Hotel Brokers International…History Timeline
- 2009 Celebrated 50th anniversary with election of Jeff Westgor, son of surviving founding member Wayne Westgor; Launched the Hotel Investor’s Marketplace conferences as a series of Webcast events delivering timely hotel investment data and trends
- 2008 Sold 10,000th hotel, a $10.2 million package deal of two Holiday Inn Express hotels
- 2001 Changed organization name to Hotel Brokers International (HBI) to reflect accelerating globalization of hotel real estate brokerage
- 1997 Organization’s market share consistently between 40 and 50 percent of total hotels sold in U.S., markets itself as HMBA: America’s Hotel Broker
- 1994 Introduced hospitality real estate investment conference series, Hotel Investor’s Marketplace with the first held in Atlanta; Launched Certified Hotel Broker (CHB) program, the industry’s only certification broker education program
- 1992 Published first edition of TransActions by HMBA, an annual report on hotel real estate sales
- 1990 Published first issue of Hotel Journal in a joint venture
- 1986 Introduced a broker sales training program, reflecting the organization’s mission to maintain the highest standard of professionalism by focusing on continuing education
- 1985 Launched a centralized computer system connecting the organization’s broker offices; changed name to Hotel & Motel Brokers of America (HMBA)
- 1984 Elected the first international office to membership
- 1983 Launched the Affiliate Membership Program, extending the organization’s reach to the universe of industry service providers
- 1981 Established the headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri
- 1978 Elected Helen Naugle as first female president of the organization
- 1972 Awarded the organization’s first scholarship to School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, in recognition of the importance of management development skills and leadership training in hospitality industry
- 1963 Developed and launched formal PR program to introduce the investment industry to hotel brokerage as a highly specialized discipline
- 1959 First professional organization of hotel brokers established, Motel Brokers Association of America, with eight founding members signing the original charter
