Northstar Travel Group Announces Jeff Higley as President of the BHN
Group
Jim Burba, co-founder of BHN,
staying as strategic advisor
Costa Mesa, CA (April 22, 2019) -- Northstar
Travel Group today announced that Jeff Higley has been named president of the
BHN Group.
Higley, currently Senior Vice President of Communications Strategy for STR and
Content Strategist for Hotel News Now, will assume the role on May 6,
reporting to Alicia Evanko, Senior Vice President, Events, Northstar Travel
Group. BHN Co-Founder, Jim Burba, will transition
to the role of strategic advisor.
The BHN Group is the leader in developing
and organizing conferences for the hotel and tourism investment community,
producing ten hotel investment conferences worldwide including the Americas Lodging Investment Summit, or
the “ALIS Conference”, the largest hotel investment event in the world.
“For the past nearly 35 years, I
have had the privilege of bringing the global hotel
investment community together to network, learn and conduct business,”
Burba said. “Working
with our great partners and the incredible team at BHN, we built an amazing portfolio of events around the world. The first step in transitioning this
portfolio to even greater heights was the sale to Northstar two years ago. I am delighted that we have now found
the perfect successor for my role in Jeff
Higley. I have known Jeff for nearly two decades and have
tremendous respect for his knowledge of the industry, his leadership skills and vision. I look forward to my new role, assisting Jeff with the transition and serving as a resource and advisor.”
Higley, who directed the Hotel Data Conference for STR, has
covered the hotel industry for nearly 25 years, most recently for Hotel News
Now, and prior to that, Hotel & Motel Management (now known as Hotel
Management). During that time, he interviewed and wrote about people at all
executive levels of hospitality, from CEOs to general managers, and covered
topics ranging from major industry transactions to property-level issues.
“It’s exciting to be joining the exceptional BHN Group
and to build upon the rich legacy Jim and the team has developed,” said
Higley. “I’m eager to help add value, depth and breadth to these premier
hotel investment events.”
Evanko said, “We’re thrilled to welcome Jeff to
the team and are looking forward to continuing our relationship with Jim Burba
in his advisory role. Jeff is a highly
experienced leader and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge that
will help The BHN Group grow and bring tremendous benefits to all who attend
the conferences.”
The first conferences that will have Higley at
the helm will be the Hotel Opportunities Latin America (HOLA) and Caribbean
Hotel & Resort Investment Summit (CHRIS), taking place May 20 – 23, 2019 in
Miami.
About the BHN Group
The BHN Group is the
worldwide leader in developing and organizing conferences for the hotel and
tourism investment community. With over three decades of experience, more
than 150 events completed to-date, and in excess of 100,000 international
delegates, these conferences have become “must attend” events for industry
leaders who come together to network, conduct business, and to learn about the
latest trends.
The current slate of events include: the
Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) in Los Angeles; ALIS Law in Los
Angeles; ALIS Summer Update; Alternative Ownership Conference Asia Pacific
(AOCAP) in Singapore; Caribbean Hotel & Resort Investment Summit (CHRIS) in
Miami; Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) in Hong Kong; HICAP
UPDATE in Singapore; Hotel Investment Forum India (HIFI) in Mumbai; Hotel
Opportunities Latin America (HOLA) conference in Miami; Hotel Investment
Conference Europe (Hot.E) in London; and HICAP Australia New Zealand (HICAP
ANZ) in Sydney.
The BHN Group’s website at www.Burba.com is the gateway for information
about the annual conferences BHN produced, as well as a direct link to
important players in the hospitality investment world.
About Northstar Travel Group
Northstar Travel Group is the leading
B-to-B information and marketing solutions company serving all segments of the
travel industry including leisure/retail, corporate/business travel, corporate
and sports meetings, incentives, hospitality, and travel technology.
Northstar is the owner of well-known brands including Travel Weekly, TravelAge West, Travel Weekly
China, Business Travel News, Successful Meetings, Meetings & Conventions,
Incentive, M&C China, Travel42,
Axus Travel App, and Web in Travel.
The company produces more than 80 face-to-face events in 13 countries in retail
travel, hospitality, corporate travel, travel technology, sports travel, and
the meetings & incentive industry. In addition, Northstar owns
Phocuswright, the leading research, business intelligence, and event producer
serving the travel technology industry.
Northstar Travel Group is the leading producer of hotel
investment events globally, including ALIS, the largest hotel investment
conference in the world and HICAP, Asia Pacific’s most important annual
investment conference.
Northstar is also the majority shareholder in Inntopia, the
leading SaaS e-commerce software, CRM database marketing and predictive
analytics business serving the mountain destination, golf, activities, hospitality,
and specialty destination travel markets.
Based
in Secaucus, NJ, the company has offices in New York, NY; Stowe, VT; Denver,
CO; Edwards, CO; Burlington, VT; Los Angeles, CA; Costa Mesa, CA; Lombard, IL;
and global offices in Singapore, Beijing, and Shanghai. And soon to be London.
Northstar
Travel Group is owned by funds managed by EagleTree Capital.
About EagleTree
EagleTree Capital, formerly Wasserstein Partners, is a New
York based private equity and investment firm. It manages capital on behalf of
global institutional and individual investors. EagleTree’s private equity funds
invest primarily in the media and business services, consumer products, and
water and industrial sectors. For more information, visit www.eagletree.com.