About GPHA
The Greater Pittsburgh Hotel Association brings together the hotels, hospitality professionals, and industry partners who help our region welcome the world.
Across Greater Pittsburgh, thousands of people contribute to the experience of staying in a hotel. Their work spans guest services, housekeeping, food and beverage, maintenance, sales, operations, and management. Each department has its own responsibilities, but all contribute to the reputation of their property and the impression our region leaves on its guests.
GPHA provides a place for that hotel community to come together. Through events, recognition, scholarships, and opportunities to build relationships, we celebrate the people behind our industry and encourage connections across properties, departments, and professional roles.
Our members bring different experiences and perspectives to the association. What connects them is an understanding of the work, care, and commitment that hospitality requires.
Hospitality Stars
Recognizing the people who make hospitality work
Excellent hospitality depends on people whose contributions are often felt long before they are formally recognized. A thoughtful response to a guest, a well-prepared room, a smoothly managed event, or a team supported through a demanding day can make a lasting difference.
GPHA’s Hospitality Stars awards give our hotel community an opportunity to acknowledge that work.
By recognizing employees and managers, we celebrate individual achievement and the commitment that strengthens an entire team. The awards bring colleagues together to share in one another’s accomplishments and give deserving professionals a moment in the spotlight.
These celebrations also offer a broader view of our industry. Behind every award is a person, a property, and a story about the effort it takes to serve others well. Sharing those stories helps us appreciate the talent throughout Greater Pittsburgh’s hotel community.
Scholarships
Supporting the future of hospitality
The future of our industry depends on people who are willing to learn, develop their abilities, and build a career in hospitality.
GPHA’s scholarship awards reflect our commitment to supporting that next generation. They provide an opportunity to recognize ambition and encourage continued education among people connected to our hotel community.
For our members, scholarship presentations are also a chance to meet the individuals preparing for their next steps and to celebrate their progress. Their interests, experiences, and aspirations remind us of the many paths a hospitality career can take.
Supporting those journeys is one way our association can contribute to the continued strength of the industry we share.
Events
Making time to connect
Hotels are busy places. The daily demands of caring for guests, supporting employees, and managing a property can leave little time to connect with colleagues elsewhere in the region.
GPHA’s gatherings make room for those relationships.
From the golf outing and Pirates tailgate to awards celebrations and other networking events, our calendar offers opportunities to catch up with familiar faces, welcome new colleagues, and get to know people beyond an email signature or a hotel name.
Some conversations begin with a shared operational challenge. Others begin over a round of golf or before the first pitch. Each creates an opportunity to learn more about the people working throughout our industry.
Those relationships give the association its character. Participation helps turn a collection of member properties into a community of colleagues who know one another.
A community across departments and properties
GPHA’s identity begins with hotels, but its community is made up of people.
General managers and department leaders play an important role in the association, alongside the employees whose work shapes the guest experience every day. Recognition, participation, and a sense of belonging should extend across departments and levels of responsibility.
Our member properties have their own identities, teams, and ways of serving guests. Bringing those perspectives together gives us more opportunities to appreciate the work happening throughout the region and celebrate the people doing it.
Whether someone is beginning a hospitality career, taking on a new position, or bringing years of experience to their role, they have a place in that conversation.
Allied members and sponsors
The partners behind our industry
Our hotel community also includes the businesses that support its daily operations.
Suppliers and service providers contribute to the work of keeping properties prepared, teams equipped, and guests well served. Their participation in GPHA creates opportunities to meet hotel professionals, understand the needs of member properties, and build relationships within the industry.
Through membership and sponsorship, these partners also help support the gatherings and activities that bring our community together. We value their involvement and the experience they contribute.
Taking part in GPHA
The association takes shape through the people who participate: those who attend an event, recognize a colleague, support a scholarship, welcome a new member, or contribute their time and experience.
We invite you to explore our member community, see what is coming up, and take part in the activities that connect Greater Pittsburgh’s hotel industry. There is always someone worth meeting, and someone whose work deserves to be celebrated.