The American Hotel & Lodging Association named its 2025 officers, executive committee and board of directors, appointing Vision Hospitality Group founder and CEO Mitch Patel as board chair, according to an announcement Wednesday.
Patel succeeds Hilton CFO Kevin Jacobs, who served as the chair in 2024 and will continue on the board.
Other newly appointed board leaders include Marriott International Group President, U.S. & Canada Liam Brown, who will serve as vice chair; Davidson Hospitality Group CEO and President Thom Geshay, who will serve as secretary-treasurer; and Hilton Supply Management President and Global Head Anu Saxena, who will serve as chair of the AHLA Foundation’s board of trustees.
New members to AHLA’s executive committee in 2025 include Amanda Hite, president of STR, and Craig Smith, CEO of Aimbridge Hospitality. New members to AHLA’s board of directors include Omer Acar, Accor’s CEO of Raffles and Fairmont, and Dawn Gallagher, president of hospitality at Crescent Hotels & Resorts.
In a statement, AHLA President and CEO Rosanna Maietta said the “impressive and diverse group” will “help advance our issues as a new administration is coming into office.”
Maietta congratulated President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on their inauguration Monday, saying in a statement that Trump’s background as a hotelier “brings to the White House a unique understanding of our industry’s business model and the challenges our members face every day.”
“As a bipartisan organization, with hotels in every state and congressional district in the country, we are committed to working across the aisle for the benefit of our industry, workforce, and the communities we serve,” Maietta added.
The organization is currently advocating for tax relief for hoteliers via the small business deduction, which it hopes to become permanent, according to the announcement.
