The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) announced the recipients of the 2020 HSMAI Lifetime Achievement Awards in marketing and public relations. Dorothy Dowling, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Best Western Hotels & Resorts, will be recognized with the Albert E. Koehl Award for Hospitality Marketing. Mary Gostelow, publisher of the Gostelow Report, will be honored with the Winthrop W. Grice Award for Public Relations. HSMAI will celebrate Dowling and Gostelow at the virtual Adrian Awards Celebration on March 23, 2021.
The HSMAI Lifetime Achievement Awards recognize individuals who have spent most of their careers in hospitality and travel and have contributed to the betterment of the industry in a significant and lasting way over an extended period of time.
“Mary and Dorothy are staples in the hospitality and tourism industry, and HSMAI is thrilled to celebrate their accomplished careers and contributions,” said Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHBA, president and CEO of HSMAI. “It is a great honor to recognize Dorothy with the Albert E. Koehl Award for Hospitality Marketing in recognition of her outstanding commitment and achievements in hospitality marketing. We also proudly present Mary with the Winthrop W. Grice Award for Public Relations for more than 30 years of innovation in hospitality public relations.”
Dorothy Dowling is senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Best Western Hotels & Resorts. With more than 30 years in the industry, Dowling directs all marketing and sales strategies, overseeing Best Western’s loyalty program, consumer and field marketing activities, advertising, and public relations. Since joining Best Western in 2004, Dowling has implemented a number of measures to increase market share and contemporize the company’s iconic brand.
Dowling has received many honors, including being listed on the Global Business Travel Association’s (GBTA) Top 40 Women in Travel, receiving GBTA’s 2018 Allied Member of the Year, and being recognized as the 18th most influential chief marketing officer (CMO) in the world in Forbes/ScribbleLive/LinkedIn’s 4th Annual CMO Influence Study in 2015. Additionally, she has been honored with the prestigious American Hotel Foundation Award for Best Practices in Guest Loyalty Programs and a Bronze Stevie award in the Woman of the Year – Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations category, twice named as one of HSMAI’s Top 25 Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality Sales, Marketing, and Revenue Optimization, and inducted into the Direct Marketing News Marketing Hall of Femme. Dowling was also the recipient of the 2016 Applied Health Sciences Alumni Achievement Award, from the University of Waterloo, her alma mater.
In 2019, Dowling was named president of the GBTA Allied Leadership Council after previously serving as vice president. She is also chair of WINiT by GBTA’s Strategic Advisory Board serves on HSMAI’s Foundation Board of Directors, and US Travel’s Board of Directors. In addition to her industry leadership roles, Dowling serves as an Independent Trustee on CubeSmart’s (NYSE: CUBE) Board of Directors, the third-largest owner and operator of self-storage properties in the United States.
Mary Gostelow is publisher of the Gostelow Report, a monthly market intelligence report for the luxury travel sector. She could also be called an English export to the world – she stopped, many years ago, counting the number of countries she has visited, though still on her must-do list are Surinam, Central African Republic, and Turkmenistan. Mary is a coach, rather than mainstream media, when it comes to suppliers and customers of luxury travel, especially in the hotels and resorts sector: for many years she was, indeed, a mystery shopper.
Today, in addition to Gostelow Report, she hosts the industry-leading Mary Gostelow Girlahead Podcast, where she chats with friends of hers who are leaders of their sector. Mary also produces a daily Girlahead traveloque. In addition, she writes every week for HOTELS online and for LATTE. Mary is the global ambassador for the International Luxury Travel Market ILTM. The annual Gostelow lifetime achievement award is named in her honor.
For additional information on the HSMAI Adrian Awards and the HSMAI Lifetime Achievement Awards, visit www.adrianawards.hsmai.org.