Upcoming Hospitality Gurus

If you know of Highly Skilled speakers, trainers, consultants and thought leaders in the Hospitality field, please nominate them

Michael Dominguez

Michael Dominguez is Senior Vice President and Chief Sales Officer for MGM Resorts International. In this role, he provides executive oversight for the global sales strategies of the company’s 42,000 hotel rooms and its three million square feet of meeting space (more meeting space found than in all of New York City). Mr. Dominguez also leads the company’s industry relations and MGM Resorts Event Productions’ efforts.

Prior to joining MGM Resorts in 2012, Mr. Dominguez was Vice President of Global Sales for Loews Hotels & Resorts, where he oversaw sales efforts for 18 luxury hotels in the U.S. and Canada starting in 2008. He began his hospitality career working with Hyatt in 1984.

Mr. Dominguez also actively serves in various leadership roles in the Meetings and Events Industry and currently serves as the Immediate Past Chairman on the International Board of Directors for Meeting Professionals International. His most recent appointment is to the Board of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Foundation Board.

Among his other achievements, Mr. Dominguez was named one of Meetings Focus’ 2014 Meetings Trendsetters, among the “50 Influentials” in the 2013 HispanicBusiness.com’s annual list, one of the 25 Most Influential Hispanics in Business in North America by Hispanic Business Magazine, and one of the “25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry” by Successful Meetings Magazine.

DOUG KENNEDY

Douglas Kennedy, founder and President of the Kennedy Training Network, Inc, based in Hollywood, FL, has been a fixture on the hotel and lodging industry’s conference circuit for over two decades, having spoken on the subject of hotel sales and hospitality related training topics for hundreds of association, brand, and management company conference events. It is estimated that over 10,000 others have participated in training workshops and seminars he has presented personally throughout North America and in places like Sao Paulo, Brazil, Singapore, Kaula Lumpur , Malaysia, Sophia, Bulgaria, Frankfurt, Germany, Florence, Italy, Mexico City, Mexico, Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Moscow Russia. Thousands of others worldwide read his monthly articles in publications such as Hsyndicate, eHotelier, Hotel Online, Hotel News Resource, HTrends, HotelMarketing.com, and 4Hoteliers.

RON MORRITT

I have over a decade of experience as the CEO of a New York City real estate development firm where I supervised the purchase and conversion of high rise properties with a market value of over $300M. I also served as CFO and then Chairman of the Board of a condo-hotel in Jamaica.For the least ten years, I have consulted in the real estate and hospitality industries and also served as MBA and doctoral faculty at University of Phoenix and Walden University (a division of Laureate Education). I have over a dozen publication s in the area of marketing and hospitality marketing strategy including my new book: Segmentation Strategies for Hospitality Managers (2007) New York: Haworth Press. My specialties are in the area of hospitality marketing and strategy. I have two recent publications in this area by Haworth Press. These include my book: Segmentation Strategies for Hospitality Managers (2006) and also my article: Niche Marketing for Hotel Managers with appears in the (2005) book: Handbook of Niche Marketing edited by T. Dalgic.

DR. JOE HUTCHINSON

Dr. Joe Hutchinson is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Foodservice and Lodging Management. Prior to his post with the Rosen College, Dr. Hutchinson was a member of the Rosen College faculty at the UCF Daytona Campus. He also was an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Tourism Management at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Hutchinson was a faculty member in the Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management at Iowa State University. He received his Ph.D. in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Virginia Tech University. Dr. Hutchinson has a number of years of management consulting experience with large international accounting/consulting firms. He also was involved in the management of both chain and independently operated casual theme restaurants. Dr. Hutchinson has taught courses in restaurant management, food and beverage cost controls, club management, tourism management, casino management, hospitality accounting, hospitality finance, intro to hospitality, guest services, hospitality law and timeshare operations. His research interests include customer satisfaction, service quality, golf travelers and destination marketing.

ADY MILMAN

Ady Milman is a Professor in the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida. Following his career as a travel agent, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the University of Tel-Aviv, a Master’s degree in Tourism Planning and Development from the University of Surrey in England, and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His background includes extensive research, consulting, publications, public speaking, and presentations in the fields of marketing, strategic management, hospitality and tourism. During his tenure at UCF, he has also served as the Director of the Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies, a research arm of the College. Dr. Milman has offered undergraduate and graduate classes in strategic management, international marketing, theme park and attraction management, aviation management, event management, tourism and travel administration, tourism planning and development, and international tourism. Following his practice as the Disney Sabbatic Professor, Dr. Milman developed a curriculum in Theme Park and Attraction Management at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management and is supported by an active industry advisory board. Dr. Milman is often invited to offer classes and seminars overseas and has been affiliated with universities and other institutions in Austria, Canada, France, Israel, Puerto Rico, and Portugal.