HFTP Blog
March 23, 2021

The HFTP Global Board Has Exciting News for 2021: Read All About It

President Update
Written by Mark Pate — Contributor

Sr., CHAE, CHTP, MBA

By now, most of you have heard of the winter storm to hit Texas last month, devastating in many ways. Fortunately, our amazing Austin, Texas-based staff all came out of it relatively unscathed, ready to tackle the association’s present projects and plan the details for future ones. I would like to share some of these upcoming initiatives with you.

First of all, they realized that the current HFTP Global Board of Directors has a very unique skillset to meet the current challenges faced by HFTP, as we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis and plan for the future. Therefore, it was decided that this group would be the best equipped to continue leading the association through the world's tenuous recovery process in 2021 into 2022. I want to thank each one of these talented men and women for volunteering another valuable year of their lives to help steer HFTP through these challenging times, and onto an even better and brighter future for the association.

Speaking of the Global Board — in their most recent meeting, it was determined that one of the best ways to map out a strategic way forward was to form a special task force, focusing on four primary areas over the next 12 months. These areas are: member reengagement, USALI, HITEC, and the club industry. The directors' goal is to focus on ways to promote these critical areas for our members, business partners, allied associations and other stakeholders, and position HFTP as the spokes-group for the hospitality industry, now and in the future.

What about upcoming events, you may ask? HFTP is excited to announce that this year's HITEC and HFTP Annual Convention will be live and in-person — happening September 27-30, 2021 in Dallas, Texas. The HITEC Advisory Council and HFTP Annual Convention Education Council are gearing up now to make the education sessions, networking opportunities, and HITEC Exhibit Hall events that you will not want to miss.

To make this week even more valuable for our club members, two specific events focusing on this segment have been added to the agenda. Club Tech Day will focus on club technology education sessions and introduce business partners offering technology solutions tailored to clubs. The Club Forum will be a half-day program, spotlighting a current important topic for our club members.

We are also excited about the formation of a new Club Finance Committee. This group will be tasked with developing financial references and a companion dictionary for the Uniform System of Financial Reporting for Clubs (USFRC). If you have been looking for an opportunity to volunteer and use your club expertise, I am sure this new group could use your help.

HFTP is also currently preparing for several other upcoming educational events in 2021. Back by popular demand, the Club Summit will take place May 24-25 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Another event taking place in Florida this year is the HFTP Florida Regional Conference, which is planned for July. HITEC Dubai is being held in conjunction with The Hotel Show Dubai, May 31 - June 2 at the Dubai World Trade Center. Then there is the new HITEC Europe Sessions, a five-week virtual series featuring language-specific breakout rooms, which will run each Wednesday from May 26 until June 23.

I have two final announcements regarding the continuing educational advancement of hospitality professionals. The first announcement pertains to the 12th edition of the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI), which is slated for release in early Spring 2022. This has been a two-year project of the Global Finance Committee. The USALI is a widely-used reference that includes operating statements formatted to provide hotel owners, managers and other interested parties operational information related to the hospitality industry.

The second announcement regards the HFTP Academy, which began operations on March 1, 2021. A dream for many years, the HFTP Academy brings together the best of HFTP's educational offerings including the brand-new Benchmarking Certificate ( a collaboration with our good friends at HotStats) and two USALI Certificates. Soon, HFTP's CHAE and CHTP certifications will also be brought in under this umbrella.

These are exciting times for HFTP, indeed. Stay tuned for more great news in my next blog post this May.

Mark Pate Sr., CHAE, CHTP, MBA is the 2020-2021 HFTP Global Board President. He is assistant controller & IT director for Highpointe Hotel Corporation.

2021 clubs directors education finance Global Board goals HFTP HFTP Academy HFTP events HITEC hospitality leadership membership President technology updates USALI