Isenberg Honors Lou Carrier ’88 and Mark Carrier with 2026 HTM Distinguished Industry Award

The Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) Department at UMass Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management honored brothers Lou Carrier ’88 and Mark Carrier with the 2026 HTM Distinguished Industry Award at the department’s annual awards dinner April 13 at the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport.

The Distinguished Industry Award recognizes leaders who have achieved international distinction and demonstrated sustained commitment to advancing the hospitality and tourism industry. The Carriers have each built careers spanning ownership, operations, brand development, and industry leadership, while also investing in the next generation of hospitality talent.

“Lou and Mark Carrier represent the very best of hospitality leadership: values-driven, performance-focused, and deeply committed to strengthening the industry for the long term,” said HTM Department Chair Melissa Baker, PhD, the Jaime ’76 and Cindy Pereira Faculty Fellow. “Their impact extends well beyond the hotels and portfolios they’ve built and led. They’ve helped shape industry standards, contributed to major professional associations, and consistently modeled the kind of principled leadership and mentorship Isenberg students carry forward into their own careers.”

Leaders Who Have Shaped Operations, Brands, Ownership

Lou Carrier is president and co-founder of Distinctive Hospitality Group (DHG), leading an ownership and management portfolio across Massachusetts and Connecticut. His career began in property-level roles in food and beverage, operations, sales and marketing, and general management, and later expanded into regional leadership.

He has held roles with Stouffer Hotels and Loews Hotels, where, as general manager, he spearheaded the opening of the first Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando, Fla. He later served as executive vice president overseeing brand development and management for the Hard Rock Hotel brand in San Diego and Las Vegas, and he launched the award-winning theWit hotel in Chicago as chief operating officer. A decorated leader, Carrier has earned multiple management, executive, and “Hotel of the Year” honors.

Today, he serves on Hilton’s Owner Advisory Council, the Mystic Aquarium President’s Council, and as vice president of the New England Inns and Resorts Association. Throughout his career, he has served on boards of state lodging and restaurant associations in multiple regions.

Mark Carrier is president of the B.F. Saul Company Hospitality Group, a Washington, D.C.-based privately held real estate and finance company. The Hospitality Group owns and operates a portfolio of business-class hotels affiliated with Hilton, Marriot, InterContinental Hotels Group, and Leading Hotels of the World. He is also a partner with his brother in DHG.

A recognized industry leader, Mark Carrier is a past chair of the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), the nation’s advocacy organization of the hotel industry. He remains on the AHLA board and has served as vice chair and secretary-treasurer, with long-term engagement across committees and task groups. He is also past chair of the IHG Owners Association and serves on advisory councils for Marriot and Hilton.

Leadership Lessons Grounded in Accountability and Values

In reflecting on his career, Lou Carrier shared what makes a team a high-performing one.

“Successful teams are made up of successful individuals focused on understanding and fulfilling common goals,” he said. “Communication, setting clear expectations, and—above all else—the element of accountability is essential to building results-oriented teams. This is true at the property and ownership level.”

Mark Carrier offered: “I learned early in my career that a values-based approach was critical in leading management teams and line team members. It’s critical that leaders understand the company’s vision and mission and that clear values animate all our actions. My personal philosophy is grounded in the statement: ‘Do the right thing, for the long term.’”

Changes and Challenges in the Hospitality Industry

Both point to rapid change as the industry’s new constant—driven by shifting guest expectations, evolving labor dynamics, rising development and financing costs, and the growing influence of technology.

“Our business is changing, and, depending on what stair on the staircase you’ve landed, the influences are more pronounced,” said Lou Carrier. “If anything is truly constant, it’s the element of change.”

Amid that complexity, though, the industry’s purpose remains unchanged, he emphasized.

“Perhaps at the core of managing all these many things is the fulfillment and exceeding of guest expectations. Without that fundamental purpose in mind, the heart of our industry is lost.”

He cited guest service excellence as a differentiator in the hotel market, pointing to The Madison Beach Hotel in Connecticut (part of Hilton’s Curio Collection), which was recently announced as a recipient of Hilton’s Connie Award for an unprecedented third time.

“When it comes right down to it, no guest cares one iota about the issues circling our business decisions,” said Lou Carrier. “They are concerned with our ability to serve them with distinction, and it doesn’t matter if you’re in a focused service or luxury property. Service is service.”

Mark Carrier noted that the industry is broad but not cohesive—and that creates opportunities that require collective action and engagement.

“The industry has a distributed structure, brands, owners, management companies, public companies, private organizations, and small businesses,” he said. “Together, we can accomplish a great deal, but when we are not aligned, our structure can result in systemic impact and intermediation. This has been a significant challenge; we must be vigilant, gain alignment, and pursue it relentlessly. And that takes personal involvement, effort, collaboration, and risk taking.”

Investing in the Next Generation of Hospitality Leaders

A longstanding supporter of UMass Amherst and Isenberg, Lou Carrier has recruited, mentored, and hired many graduates of Isenberg’s HTM program over the years—an investment he views as essential to the industry’s future.

“It’s no secret I’m partial to UMass Amherst ‘kids’ … being one myself,” said Carrier, noting that many HTM students build significant work experience while earning their degrees—experience that can become a meaningful differentiator in early career interviews.

His advice to students: Keep building real-world experiences and seek mentors.

“Work experience is virtuous and extremely valuable,” said Lou Carrier. “Secondly, seek a mentor. Most importantly, the heavy lifting in any such relationship lays with the mentee, not the mentor.”

Looking back on the milestones in his career, he shared what most defined his approach to hospitality.

“Every single inflection point in my career has come as the result of tangible/measurable contribution to business goals,” said Lou Carrier. “Success begets opportunities. Work ethic, experience, leadership, creativity, and accountability are the cornerstones to advancement and success in my mind. Solid measures of each are essential. I’ve never met a successful person who was by nature lazy. Leaders don’t ‘fall into’ success—they earn it. Our industry is tough, and it always will be. There are no shortcuts, there will never be a 9-5 schedule or a ‘remote work’ scenario, but if you’re smart, strategic, collaborative, and willing to put in the time, you can develop an extremely successful career. Push yourself and don’t be afraid to push (inspire) others. The good ones will thank you for it.”

• Read more about the other individuals who were honored on April 13.
• ​​​View the 2026 HTM Annual Awards Dinner photo gallery.