Austin Hospitality and Tourism

Based in Chicago, Geraldine Guichardo is a Vice President in JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group. Ms. Guichardo has nearly seven years’ experience in hospitality real estate. She oversees the firm’s hotel research platform in the Americas, where she is responsible for the production of the group’s research report suite, monitoring of key industry indicators to include hotel transaction volume and developing custom analytics to inform clients’ strategies and help position the firm as a thought leader. She is also leading the digitization of key research resources leveraged by the Americas hotels and hospitality group to stay abreast of the latest lodging and transaction trends. Further, Ms. Guichardo works closely with senior executives at JLL to support and advise their client relationship management and development efforts. Prior to joining JLL, Ms. Guichardo was a consultant at EY where she prepared market and financial feasibility reports for more than $1.0 billion worth in projects. She also developed financial models driving the supply and demand analysis of hotel assets up to $35 million in value and completed real estate asset value audit reviews. A major aspect of her responsibilities included extensive primary and secondary, market and economic research from which she generated valuation recommendations and strategic asset development insights for the clients she serviced. Her experience spans hotels and other real estate asset classes located in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. Ms. Guichardo’ s experience is integral in supporting and advising internal and external clients. Ms. Guichardo holds an MBA from Duke’s The Fuqua School of Business and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration. She is also a member of the Cornell Hotel Society and has presented at Cornell’s Hospitality Research Summit. Ms. Guichardo is bilingual in English and Spanish.

Mike Shea is a Partner & Chief Logistics Officer for the SXSW Conference & Festivals — one of the world’s premier events for the creative industries. He joined SXSW in 1990 as its Executive Planner and has helped shape its evolution from a simple Music Conference and Festival to an international multi-disciplinary showcase. A native of Massachusetts he moved to Austin in 1975 where he still lives with his wife Toni Wilcox.

Daniel P. Hansen serves as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Summit Hotel Properties, a publicly-traded lodging real estate investment trust. The Company’s hotels operate under premium franchise brands owned by Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and IHG. Hansen previously served as President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company’s predecessor, after serving as Chief Development Officer. Prior to joining Summit, Hansen spent 11 years with Merrill Lynch in various leadership positions. Hansen holds a B.A. in Economics from South Dakota State University and serves on boards and advisory councils for the lodging industry and several hotel brands.

Michael Bellisario is Baird’s senior analyst covering Real Estate - Hotel REITs & C-Corps. Prior to joining Baird in 2010, he was a research analyst at Crist / Kolder Associates, LLC and a trading assistant at SKTY Trading, LLC. Michael received a BS in Finance with Highest Honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business with concentrations in Finance and Managerial and Organizational Behavior.

Tom Noonan joined the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau on May 16 th , 2016 as President & CEO.  Prior to that date, Tom was the President & CEO of Visit Baltimore for over nine years starting in January of 2007.   Tom was responsible for promoting the Baltimore region as a destination for conventions, meetings, leisure visits, day trips, group tours and family reunions. Under Tom’s leadership, Visit Baltimore produced historic convention booking levels from 2009-2015.  His leadership was instrumental in the formation of Synchronicities, a three city sales, service, and marketing partnerships with the Anaheim and San Antonio DMO’s.  Additionally, Baltimore InSite, the first virtual destination sales tool, was launched in 2012.   In his final year, Visit Baltimore also launched the Visit Baltimore Education and Training Foundation that will provide scholarships/training in hospitality industry to those children with high academic levels without the means to afford college. Tom is an established leader in the tourism industry and has hosted many meetings industry events such as MPI, AIBTM, PCMA, IAEE and several events for ASAE.   Prior to Baltimore, Tom spent 18 years at the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau as a Sales, Services, and Convention Marketing Executive.  Tom is a graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa where he studied business management and speech communications.  Those disciplines have served him well in a destination marketing career that has progressed steadily within the DMO industry for the last 28 years. Tom and his wife Mindy have one son Reed, and are thrilled to be returning to their roots in Texas; and especially to the City of Austin which is one of America’s most admired destinations.

As the president of the newest addition to the MFG consortium, Manchester Texas Financial Group, Douglas W. Manchester represents Manchester Financial Group and all Texas holdings in the capital city of Austin, Texas. Manchester earned his BA in Political Science with a minor in Business from Wake Forest University. Following graduation, he has applied his business knowledge in all aspects of the hotel, insurance and real estate industries. This career path has led him to Austin to engage the firm in commercial real estate ventures and hotel development.

Bryan is the Business Unit Leader for the Central Region Austin office of DPR Construction. He provides vision and direction for the company with 22 years in the industry, and has established his reputation, as well as DPR's, by exceeding customer's expectations. As a DPR partner, Bryan brings the unique ability to lead project teams in team building by utilizing a collaborative process and high-performance problem-solving techniques.

Lisa Hankamer joined Marcus & Millichap in 2016, bringing a background that encompasses over 25 years within the commercial real estate industry specializing in the hotels sector. As a hospitality professional, she brings her expertise as a former Owner, Operator, and Developer to the relationship that she has with owners and investors of hotel properties. A proven professional, Hankamer began her career in the marketing department of Holiday Inns Worldwide Headquarters in Memphis, TN. For 11 years, she was a Principal in a Houston-based hotel owning and operating company where she established its sister brokerage firm, Hankamer & Associates Hotel Brokers. Following, she had a successful 12 years with one of the top 3 nationally recognized hotel brokerage firms, which led her to form her own real estate & consulting firm specializing in boutique, historic and repositioned hotel properties. Prior to joining Marcus & Millichap, Ms. Hankamer had been involved in over $300M in hotel transactions. As part of the dedicated Texas hospitality team at Marcus & Millichap, the group has transacted almost $350M in hotel sales within the past 24 months. Ms. Hankamer offers a depth of focus and commitment to her clients, enabling them to create and preserve wealth through top of class advisory services, research, and superior transactional results.

Zach is the co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Pender Capital. Zach co-founded Pender in 2015 and brings over 16 years of experience in both commercial real estate finance and capital markets expertise. Zach oversees the firm’s Investment and Research program which includes deal sourcing, research, and structuring and is a member of the Investment and Research Committee and the Management Committee. Prior to Pender, Zach served as Managing Director/ Senior Vice President for Liberty SBF, a commercial finance company based in Philadelphia, where he was responsible for establishing Liberty’s Western Regional HQ in Los Angeles and directed West Coast originations and operations. Zach personally originated over $60 million of commercial loans during the first year of operations on the West Coast. In 2008, Zach joined Silver Point Capital, LP in New York, a Goldman Sachs partner fund, where he was responsible for commercial real estate loan originations and insurance-linked securities trading. During his tenure at Silver Point, Zach traded more than $500 million in distressed commercial real estate debt, insurance-linked securities, and assets in the capital markets. From 2004 to 2008, Zach served as Senior Vice President/Division Director of Velocity Commercial Capital where he was the company’s highest grossing originator in e

H.D. Perkins is a homegrown Austenite. He attended Westlake High School and received his degree from the University of Colorado's Leeds School of Business studying Finance and Business Administration. He is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the state of Texas. He serves as Vice President at F10 Hotels Investment Banking and focuses on assisting clients with financing and trading hotels across the country. His primary responsibilities include new business development, market analysis, due diligence, sourcing creative debt and equity, acquisition/disposition negotiations and marketing of hospitality real estate assets. H.D. is a founding partner of Texas Energy Systems, a development services company that serves ground up multifamily, mixed-use, and commercial development for energy conservation building code compliance and above code “green” programs in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and surrounding marketplaces in Texas. Perkins’ multi-level focus on commercial real estate allows him to integrate his skillsets and broaden his ability to service hospitality investors, developers, and clients. He is a supporter of the Austin Sunshine Camps and spends time enjoying Austin’s live music and central Texas’ amazing lakes and golf courses.