A number of hotels and hotel companies have named new sales and marketing leaders in recent weeks. Here are a few names to know.
Baha Mar
In the Bahamas, Baha Mar appointed Josh Herman SVP of marketing. Herman will lead all marketing efforts for the resort. Herman joins Baha Mar following a tenure at Fontainebleau Miami Beach, where he was the VP of marketing and public relations. During his time with Fontainebleau, Herman led the marketing operations for the resort, including driving revenue growth, and amplifying e-commerce, brand positioning, ROI measurement, partner activations and reservations sales.
Before joining Fontainebleau in 2014, he was regional marketing director for KSL Resorts in La Quinta, Calif., where he oversaw marketing programs for several of the company's properties. He also held marketing roles at LaQuinta Resort & Club, Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa and Lansdowne Resort.
The Eliza Jane
The Eliza Jane, a Hyatt Unbound Collection hotel in New Orleans, appointed Malissa Fagan as director of sales.
In this role, Fagan will spearhead the sales team and assist with generating new business while also leading the property’s marketing efforts. Before joining The Eliza Jane, Fagan led sales and marketing efforts in several directorial positions at properties including Hotel Tonelle and Holiday Inn Express, St. Charles. Now a New Orleans resident, Fagan brings almost a decade of industry experience to The Eliza Jane.
The Islamorada Resort Collection
The Islamorada Resort Collection, a collection of boutique resorts in the Florida Keys, appointed Rhonda Whitfield area director of sales and marketing.
With 26 years of experience in luxury resort and corporate hotel sales and marketing, Whitfield most recently was the director of sales and marketing at Baker’s Cay Resort in Key Largo. Before that, she held the same position at Cheeca Lodge & Spa in Islamorada.
JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa
The JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa appointed Alice Land as executive director of sales and marketing. In her new role, Land will oversee all sales, marketing, and public relations efforts for the 685-room property, bringing more than 20 years of experience working with independent, resort and branded hotel properties—including more than 15 years with Marriott hotels —to her new role.
Land joins JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa from Fort Lauderdale Beach’s Marriott Harbor Beach Resort, where she was director of group sales since 2019. She previously was area sales leader for Modern Select, Core, Luxury and Resort Portfolio hotels for Marriott International, partnering with stakeholders to meet hotel goals for all segments—business/leisure transient, wholesale, contract and groups. Land also held director of sales and marketing positions at Miami’s Mayfair Hotel & Spa in Miami and Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Plantation.
Marriott International
Marriott International in the Caribbean and Latin America announced strategic changes to its leadership team. Louise Bang, who until now was regional VP of sales and distribution for the region, will become chief sales and marketing officer, taking over from Diana Plazas-Trowbridge, who advanced to the role of senior vice president and global brand leader, and will now oversee Marriott International's Select Service brands globally.
In her new position, Bang will be responsible for driving growth and revenue for the region and will lead consumer-facing strategies, including the disciplines of sales, marketing, public relations, brand management, and the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program. In addition, she will help ensure that the region's strategies are aligned with the company's global objectives, driving hotel performance and extending the competitive advantage of Marriott's portfolio of brands across the region. Bang will continue Marriott's projects in the region, including positioning City Express by Marriott, expanding the All-Inclusive by Marriott Bonvoy offering and generating new growth opportunities, such as the recent partnership with Rappi to be launched later this year.
Born in Denmark and raised in Spain, Bang began her career with Marriott International in 1996, expanding her experience and skills in the European, U.S. and Canadian regions, holding leadership positions in Marriott's Global Sales Organization, as well as the company's luxury segments, focused on The Ritz-Carlton brand. In 2020, Bang was appointed regional VP of sales and distribution for CALA.
Palladium Hotel Group
Palladium Hotel Group announced a new role and change in the management structure for the area of sales and marketing in the Americas. Zoe Lara, who joined Palladium Hotel Group in 2022 and served as country sales director for Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, has been promoted to SVP of sales & marketing for the Americas, taking on responsibility for the management and leading the regional teams of sales and marketing, both in the outbound markets and those responsible for the commercial performance of the hotels in the continent.
Lara sees “huge growth and development potential” for the company in the Americas, given the interest of the outbound markets in all the destinations where the hotel group operates.
Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa
The Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa near Jacksonville, Fla., promoted Meredith Livingston to director of sales and marketing. She will lead a team in strategizing and executing all group and leisure sales efforts and marketing initiatives.
Livingston has been with the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa since March 2019, formerly as director of revenue management. She helped lead the resort through the pandemic, with the turnaround culminating in the most financially successful year in the resort’s history in 2022. Livingston brings more than 26 years of hotel experience to the role. She began working with Marriott in 2007 at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort in The Bahamas.
The Statler Dallas
Stacey Jackson is the new director of sales at The Statler Dallas, a Curio Collection by Hilton hotel managed by Aimbridge Hospitality. Jackson has more than 20 years of hospitality sales and leadership experience, most recently with Hilton Richardson Dallas, another Aimbridge property. Before Hilton, Jackson reopened a hotel that had been closed due to COVID. She led sales through three brand changes until the hotel was officially named Renaissance Dallas North, exceeding personal sales goals by 150 percent.
During the worst of the pandemic, Jackson was director of sales and marketing at DoubleTree Dallas Near the Galleria, which remained open and led the market in weekly sales. There, Jackson implemented Hilton CleanStay and EventReady procedures during a $14 million renovation that encompassed the entire hotel. Repositioning the hotel in the market, Jackson re-established group business into the property by bringing the correct business mix and achieved group and catering budgets annually. The hotel exceeded budget for 2018/2019, leading the comp set. During her five-year tenure at DoubleTree, she exceeded her personal sales goal by 145 percent. Other hotel brands Jackson has worked with include Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Carlson Hotels & Resorts, Sheraton and the Adolphus.