HSMAI Sales Acceleration Meeting 2025: Where Data, Emotion and Strategy Meet

On June 26, the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) held the HSMAI Sales Acceleration Meeting at the Renaissance São Paulo Hotel.

“Today, a good salesperson is no longer just the king of relationships. They are strategists who understand the entire digital journey of the customer, from the first click to the post-sale.”
With these words, Gabriela Otto — president of HSMAI Brazil and LATAM, CEO of GO Consultoria and content ambassador for WTM Latin America — spoke in an exclusive interview with Travel2Latam.

With the presence of the biggest names in the national hotel industry, the event represented a true turning point for the sector: the time for improvisation is over. Now, it is necessary to think with data, act with sensitivity and sell with purpose.
 

The new hotel industry is strategic and human

Gabriela shared her professional journey, marked by stints at major international networks and a transition that she herself represents: from tactical execution to strategic thinking.

“When HSMAI arrived in Brazil ten years ago, almost no one talked about commercial strategy as we do today. Today, we sell to a hyperconnected customer who researches, compares and demands consistency in every detail,” he said.

According to her, the modern salesperson needs to master Revenue, Marketing, Distribution and Sales as a single discipline. “Relationships are still important, but they cannot be sustained alone. Now it’s about analysis, behavior and experience.”

A continent with different rhythms, but in constant evolution

The president of HSMAI LATAM highlighted that Latin American countries are at different stages of technological maturity — but Brazil stands out. “We have a very strong digital approach. The gap we saw with the American market is decreasing. Mexico is also advancing very quickly in this regard.”

This progress, according to Gabriela Otto, is driven by three factors: the maturity of the consumer, the strengthening of educational content in the sector and the emergence of regional technologies focused on local reality.

Accurate distribution of intelligence 

Otto was also direct when addressing the silent battle between OTAs and direct channels: “You need to understand the difference between organic search and paid media. Intermediaries are valid, but only with management. The best channel is still the hotel website — if it’s good.”

She pointed out that today’s customers are not satisfied with the lowest price, but rather with the best perceived value. “Hoteliers need to take care of the attractiveness of their website, the price structure, and the benefits. The winners are not those who show up the most, but those who deliver the most value.”

Hyper-personalization is inevitable

Regarding the future of the hotel industry, Gabriela was emphatic: artificial intelligence is the new game changer. “The big expectation is that AI will connect the entire experience of the journey — from choosing the destination to the post-stay. This is what will dictate investments in the coming years.”

It relies on AI as a tool for automating operational processes and hyper-personalizing the experience, which will allow people to have more time to think strategically and to deliver what no system can replace: human contact.

The professional of the future is already here

Gabriela Otto ended her speech with an invitation to reflect: “Customers are more mature. They are more demanding. Salespeople cannot be less so.” The HSMAI Sales Acceleration Meeting showed that, more than selling rooms, the hotel sector needs to sell connections, solutions and trust.

As Gabriela herself sums it up:

“The future of hospitality is no longer just about selling well. It’s about thinking better.”

Photo and interview: Mary de Aquino.