STR’s Randy Smith to be Inducted into U.S. Travel Hall of Leaders

Randy Smith, chairman and co-founder of STR, is to be inducted into the U.S. Travel Hall of Leaders, as selected by the U.S. Travel Association (USTA).

Smith will be inducted during a dinner with more than 100 industry leaders at the U.S. Travel fall board meeting on 15 November at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C.

“Randy created a data research company that has been the industry standard for measuring the health of the hotel economy over the past three-plus decades, and advanced the industry through active participation in various associations,” said U.S. Travel President and CEO Roger Dow via press release.

Smith, and his late wife Carolyn, founded STR in 1985 as a two-person, U.S. hotel census and data benchmarking company. Today, STR employs more than 300 people in 16 countries, providing data and analytics services to the global hotel industry as well as additional sectors such as self storage and health clubs. STR’s data sample in the hotel industry today comprises nearly 58,000 hotels and 7.8 million rooms across 180 countries.

“I’m not sure I can truly articulate the pride I feel for the STR family,” Smith said. “I continue to marvel at the growth of our company and its role in the travel industry. This recognition is a testament to the work of many employees, partners and clients, and I am grateful to Roger and the leadership at the USTA for selecting me for this great honor. It will be incredibly humbling to be recognized alongside Arne with so many of the travel industry’s leaders in attendance.”

Smith’s contributions to the hotel industry have been recognized with a number of accolades, including: 2016 Albert E. Koehl Award; Hilton Hospitality Hall of Honor and the 25 Most Influential Executives of the Business Travel Industry of 2011; Stephen W. Brener Silver Plate Award; ALIS Lifetime Achievement Award; IREFAC C. Everett Johnson Award; and 1996 Industry Pioneer Award of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC).

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