HFTP Announces 2017 CHAE of the Year Recipient Guus Martinus Heijmans, CHAE

Heijmans will be honored at HFTP's upcoming 2017 Annual Convention in October

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. August 28, 2017

AUSTIN, TX. August 28, 2017 — Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) will honor Guus Martinus Heijmans, CHAE as the 2017 Certified Hospitality Accountant Executive (CHAE®) of the Year at its upcoming Annual Convention this October. The CHAE of the Year award honors the individual that scored the highest on the CHAE certification exam within a given year. HFTP's Annual Convention will be held from October 25-27, 2017 at the Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate in Championsgate, Florida USA.

Heijmans' accounting journey began from an F&B internship that he had under a J1 visa program that brought him to the United States in 2008. This was the year he received firsthand experience working within hotel management at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland USA, and realized his passion was in hotel accounting. After returning to The Netherlands, Heijmans decided to continue his education at Stenden University in Leeuwarden where he earned his bachelors in International Hospitality Management and Business Administration in 2012. Alongside his studies, he had the opportunity to do a cluster traineeship in internal auditing for the Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel and the Amsterdam Marriott Hotel.

With a bachelor's degree and certificate in hospitality real estate, Heijmans took his first job out of college as a hotel night auditor at the Grand Hotel 'Huis ter Duin' in The Netherlands. In 2013, he became an assistant hotel controller before moving back to the United States in 2014. After moving to Long Beach, California USA, Heijmans received a job offer from The DoubleTree by Hilton Los Angeles-Commerce. Currently, Heijmans is an accounting/HR manager at Residence Inn by Marriott Los Angeles LAX/Century Boulevard.

“Receiving my CHAE designation and being nominated as 'HFTP's 2017 CHAE of the Year' has been one of my proudest and most rewarding accomplishments,” said Heijmans. “The designation has already helped me so much in my day-to-day tasks and responsibilities as an accounting and HR manager for the Residence Inn LAX/ West Century Boulevard Hotel. I am thankful to those who offered moral support while I prepared to take my CHAE exam, and am thankful to HFTP for the opportunity to take the next step in my career and demonstrate my skills as a finance expert.”

The CHAE professional designation is an industry designation showing competency in the area of accounting, and is acknowledged throughout the hospitality industry as it elevates the professionalism of both the recipient and the industry. More than 1,500 hospitality accountants, from several countries, have earned the CHAE designation through HFTP since the certification program began in 1981. A new CHAE exam is now available, and features a more global finance focus. HFTP also administers the examination and awards the Certified Hospitality Technology Professional (CHTP®).

For more information on HFTP's certification programs (CHTP and CHAE), please contact HFTP Certification Manager Robin Bogdon at [email protected]. For immediate information, visit the FAQ pages for both CHTP and CHAE certifications.

HFTP will produce its inaugural HITEC Dubai counterpart event, in partnership with Naseba, from November 14-15 - serving as the third, and final, HITEC of the year. In 2018, HFTP will bring back HITEC Amsterdam on April 11-14 in addition to the larger HITEC Houston on June 18-21. For more information about HITEC and HFTP's other global activities, contact the HFTP Meetings & Special Events Department at [email protected] or visit www.hftp.org and www.hftp.org/hitec/.

For the latest news, follow HFTP/HITEC on HITEC Bytes, PineappleSearch, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter (@HFTP), Instagram (HFTP_HITEC), Flickr and YouTube. For more information about HITEC Amsterdam, contact the HFTP Meetings & Special Events Department at [email protected], +1 (512) 249-5333.

About HFTP

Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) established in 1952, is an international, nonprofit association, headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA, with offices in Hong Kong, United Kingdom and the Netherlands. HFTP is recognized as the spokes group for the finance and technology segments of the hospitality industry with members and stakeholders spanning across the globe. HFTP uniquely understands the industry's pressing issues and assists its stakeholders in finding solutions to their challenges more efficiently than any organization. It does this via its expert networks, research, certification programs, information resources and conferences/events such as HITEC. HFTP also owns the world's only hospitality-specific search engine, PineappleSearch.com. For more information about HFTP, email [email protected] or download the HFTP/HITEC media kit via the HFTP website. Read industry updates on the suite of HFTP hospitality news sites: HITEC Bytes, Club Bytes, Finance Bytes and HFTP News.