Associated Luxury Hotels International expands national sales team

February 23, 2011

Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI) has added four meetings industry sales executives to its National Sales team. ALHI is a dues-based membership National Sales organization that represents more than 130 hotels and resorts worldwide to meeting professionals wishing to conduct programs at one or more of the member properties.

Bill Grusich

Bill Grusich, CMP, is now Senior Vice President; Kevin M. Hinton is now Executive Vice President; Kathy Kozminske is now Vice President of Sales; and André Valk, CMP, is now Director of Sales. The four were previously executives with hinton+grusich, which was acquired by ALHI in January 2011. The four are now based in ALHI’s National Sales Office in Chicago.

The announcement was made by David Gabri, president and CEO of ALHI, and Stacy Lucherini, Regional Vice President for ALHI Midwest and Canada .

“We’re very blessed to add these incredibly talented and well-respected sales executives to our ALHI team,” said Gabri. “With the addition of Bill, Kevin, Kathy and André to our Midwest office in Chicago , we are able to provide even more comprehensive National Sales services for our 130+ members, and our expanding client base, as the general business demand continues to grow from planners across the U.S. and Canada.”

Prior to joining ALHI as Senior Vice President, Bill Grusich, CMP, served as president and co-founder of hinton+grusich. Grusich has been a very active member of industry organizations, and has been the recipient of many of the industry’s highest honors, including the “ASAE Fellow” by the American Society of Association Executives; “Associate Member of the Year Award” from the Chicago Society of Association Executives; “Salesman of the Year” from the American Medical Association. A very active member of MPI and ASAE, he served two terms on the MPI International Board of Directors, and was Chairman of ASAE’s Industry Partners Alliance.

Kevin Hinton

Kevin M. Hinton served as CEO of hinton+grusich. Hinton is also a member of Meeting Professionals International’s MPI International Board of Directors, and served as MPI Chicago Area Chapter’s president.

“We’re very proud to join ALHI,” said Hinton. “Rather than compete for business, we are now able to combine efforts and work together to better serve the business community and the hotel and resort members of ALHI.”

Among the honors he has received were the “President’s Award” and the “Rising Star Award” from the Chicago Area Chapter of MPI.

“When my father, Dave Hinton, founded our company with Bill in 1986, they built their firm with many of the same values of attributes of ALHI,” said Hinton. “My Dad would be very happy with how the company he so deeply cared for has become one with ALHI.”

Kathy Kozminske

Kathy Kozminske is now Vice President of Sales for ALHI’s Midwest Region. She joins ALHI from hinton+grusich, where she served as Vice President of Sales. She has been involved in every major industry organization, which includes serving as chair and on committees for ASAE, PCMA, MPI, the Association Forum of Chicagoland, Meeting Industry Ladies Organization (MILO), and Financial & Insurance Conference Planners (FICP). Awards presented to her include the “Supplier of the Year” from the Chicago Area Chapter of MPI; “Associate Member of the Year Award” from the Chicago Society of Association Executives; “Supplier of the Year” from the American Medical Association; the “Richard A. Daignault Award” from the Midwest Chapter of PCMA; and the “Kathy Osterman Industry Award” from MPI.

André Valk served for 14 years as Vice President of Sales at hinton+grusich. A 26-year hospitality industry veteran, Volk’s hospitality industry career began in Germany , where he worked at an 18th century castle. His experience also includes serving as Senior Front Office Executive at the Mayfair Hotel InterContinental in London , and as Associate Director of Sales for the Grand Kempinski Dallas. He is the first German to receive the CMP designation, which he earned in 1995. He is an active member of PCMA and MPI, and currently serves on the MPI Chicago Area Chapter’s leadership, and on PCMA’s Awards Selection Committee. Valk is a recipient of the “Supplier of the Year Award” from the Chicago Area Chapter of MPI.