Northstar Travel Group Announces Jeff Higley as President of the BHN Group

Jim Burba, co-founder of BHN, staying as strategic advisor

Higley, currently Senior Vice President of Communications Strategy for STR Global 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 Capital

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.