The 2007 ISHC Pioneer Award was presented to James E. Burba, founder and president of Burba Hotel Network (BHN) at the ALIS conference in recognition of his work in promoting hospitality and tourism investment worldwide.  

Jim formed the Burba Hotel Network in 2000 to manage the growing number of conferences he was being asked to run. Today BHN  hosts five annual hotel investment conferences around the world.  Jim Burba and BHN have organized over 54 hotel investment conferences attended by more than 43,000 delegates.  

Conferences organized by BHN are viewed as leading conference worldwide in the hospitality industry. However, the contributions go much deeper than providing education, idea exchange and networking opportunities.

• ALIS has provided nearly 300 scholarships to college students, over $600,000 for research projects and over $1 million for the release of materials from the E.I. that address critical issues for our industry. It supports the Lodging Management Program helping to educate young people about career opportunities in the hotel industry. ALIS also raises money for Habitat for Humanity, the E.I. and the CalPoly Pomona Hotel School.
• Proceeds from the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin endow a chair in real estate finance studies at the hotel school in Lausanne, Switzerland. 
• The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Conference has helped to launch hotel developments that provide jobs, infrastructure and hard assets in countries with otherwise limited economic resources.
• BHN developed an investment conference for the government of Montenegro to help the war-torn country make itself attractive for hotel investment. 

Prior ISHC Pioneer Award winners include Randall Smith; George Johns; Jack Vaughn; Michael Leven; Jonathan Tisch; William Kimpton; Steve Wynn; Christel DeHaan; Barry Sternlicht and HP Rama.

The International Society of Hospitality Consultants is a professional organization with 200 members in 21 countries. Membership in ISHC is by invitation only and members are viewed as leaders in their respective areas of expertise. And with over 50 different areas of specialty expertise represented within the organization, ISHC represents a one of kind collection of experience and expertise worldwide in the 
hospitality industry.

Additional information about the organization along with a complete listing of ISHC members is available on the ISHC web site at www.ishc.com.