Randy Smith, chairman and co-founder of STR Inc., a global supplier of data and information services for the health-club, hotel and self-storage industries, will be inducted into the U.S. Travel Hall of Leaders by the U.S. Travel Association (USTA) on Nov. 15. Smith and Marriott International Inc. CEO Arne Sorenson will be honored during a dinner ceremony as part of the USTA’s fall board meeting at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C.

August 1, 2017

2 Min Read
Founder of Self-Storage Data-Research Company STR Inducted Into US Travel Hall of Leaders

Randy Smith, chairman and co-founder of STR Inc., a global supplier of data and information services for the health-club, hotel and self-storage industries, will be inducted into the U.S. Travel Hall of Leaders by the U.S. Travel Association (USTA) on Nov. 15. Smith and Marriott International Inc. CEO Arne Sorenson will be honored during a dinner ceremony as part of the USTA’s fall board meeting at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C.

Smith founded STR in 1985 with his late wife, Carolyn, to provide hotel census and benchmarking data to the U.S. hotel industry. Its reporting has been credited with “establishing market-trend transparency and attracting investment capital to the [hotel] sector,” according to the source. The STR database includes nearly 58,000 hotels and 7.8 million rooms in 180 countries.

"Randy created a data-research company that has been the industry standard for measuring the health of the hotel economy over the past three-plus decades, and advanced the industry through active participation in various associations," Roger Dow, president and CEO of USTA, said in a press release.

STR launched a self-storage database in 2015 designed to offer development and performance reporting. A reporting page on its website allows industry professionals to share information about new self-storage developments in the United States including expected completion dates. It currently includes data from 25 of the largest self-storage markets in the nation, according to the website.

"I'm not sure I can truly articulate the pride I feel for the STR family," Smith said in a released statement. "I continue to marvel at the growth of our company and its role in the travel industry. This recognition is a testament to the work of many employees, partners and clients, and I am grateful to Roger and the leadership at the USTA for selecting me for this great honor. It will be incredibly humbling to be recognized alongside Arne with so many of the travel industry's leaders in attendance."

STR’s information is used to provide aggregated market segment data, competitive benchmarking, construction pipeline reports and industry forecasts in the sectors served by the company.

Sources:

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