James E. Burba, founder of the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) and a longtime hotel industry consultant, will receive the ALIS Lifetime Achievement Award during the 25th annual ALIS conference in Los Angeles.
The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the hospitality industry through sustained leadership and impact. Burba said the recognition came as a surprise and has taken time to fully process.
“It’s settling in,” he said. “It actually shocked me. It was humbling and fun at the same time. I’ve always loved that part of the program where we say thank you to somebody for something. To be on the other side of that is kind of freaking me out a little bit.”
ALIS marks its 25th anniversary in 2026. He noted that while there was hope the conference would meet a clear industry need, its early timing added uncertainty. The first ALIS conference was held in 2002, just four months after the September 11 attacks.
“We were launching something at a very tough time for the travel industry,” Burba said. “On top of everything else, it was a stress test just to see if people would come. It turned out okay, but it was certainly a leap.”
His involvement in industry conferences began well before ALIS. He first became involved in conference leadership in 1986, chairing what was then known as the UCLA conference. At the time, he said the hotel industry was undergoing rapid change driven by franchising and an influx of new investors who lacked experience and reliable information.
“There was no transparency of data,” he said. “There was no real infrastructure. Hotels were a quirky piece of real estate that the commercial real estate community looked at differently. The need to gather and share information was obvious.”
That environment helped shape Burba’s belief in conferences to professionalize the sector and support investors, lenders and advisors. He described ALIS as part of a next generation of industry gatherings that built on earlier models while expanding their reach.
Over time, he and his colleagues took the conference model beyond the U.S., producing events across Europe, Latin America, Asia and other regions. He said adapting the format to different markets was one of the most rewarding aspects of his career.
“It’s been fun adapting and morphing the model to deal with different geographies around the world,” Burba said. “Markets transact differently in Eastern Europe vs. Western Europe, or in China versus the U.S., and understanding that was incredibly satisfying.”
Throughout his career, he said mentorship and integrity played a central role. He cited early professional mentors, as well as lessons from his father about taking pride in one’s work and maintaining credibility in a close-knit industry.
“If you do a good job and you have credibility, you’ll be fine,” Burba said. “Your reputation is critical. Your integrity is critical.”
After decades in consulting and conference production, he entered a third phase of his career focused on entertainment. Along with his husband, Bob Hayes, he cofounded Burba Hayes LLC, which has produced feature films and Broadway shows since 2014.
Reflecting on his career and the award, Burba emphasized the collective nature of his work and the satisfaction of helping an industry evolve.
“The most enjoyable part has been exporting that process to other parts of the world and helping the tourism industry grow there,” he said.
