Several hotels and hospitality companies have appointed sales and marketing leaders in the past few weeks. Here are a few names to know.
Baha Mar
In the Bahamas, the leadership team for the Baha Mar resort appointed Josh Herman as senior vice president of marketing. Herman, who has more than 20 years of experience, will lead all marketing efforts for the resort brand.
Herman joins Baha Mar from the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, where he was the vice president 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 resorts. He also held marketing roles at LaQuinta Resort & Club, Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa and Lansdowne Resort.
JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa
The JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa in Aventura, Fla., appointed Alice Land as executive director of sales and marketing. Land will oversee all sales, marketing and public relations efforts for the 685-room hotel and brings more than 20 years of experience working with independent, resort and branded hotel properties—including more than 15 years with Marriott hotels.
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. She also held director of sales and marketing positions at Miami’s Mayfair Hotel & Spa in Miami and Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Plantation. Land began her career as a front desk associate, and later as a sales manager, at Marriott’s Grand Hotel, Resort, Golf Club & Spa in Clear Point, Ala.
KSL Resorts
KSL Resorts has added three new sales leaders to its roster: Bryan Waltz as global sales director, Karen Hudson as global sales director and John Carter as director of sales/central coast properties. They will report directly to Chris Riccardi, KSL Resorts’ senior vice president, global sales strategy.
Waltz’s hospitality career spans 25 years across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Most recently, he was area director, group sales for Fairmont Hotels, Hawaii, Big Island and Maui. Before that, he was vice president of global accounts with ConferenceDirect. He is a member of MPI, PCMA, SITE and IRF.
With more than 30 years of hospitality sales experience, Hudson was previously an account executive for the Creative Group event and incentive agency. She held high-level sales positions at Woodside Hotel Group (a collection of independent hotels in California), Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort in Solvang, Calif., and Mirabel Hotel and Restaurant Group—and served as an independent sales representative for Relais & Chateaux.
Carter will oversee sales efforts for KSL Resorts’ new California Central Coast properties: Avila Lighthouse Suites in Avila Beach, Pismo Lighthouse Suites and Shore Cliff Hotel in Pismo Beach, Paso Robles Inn and The Piccolo in Paso Robles as well as Vespera Resort on Pismo Beach. He previously worked as a hospitality sales and marketing consultant. He has held sales and marketing positions at Arizona’s CIVANA Wellness Resort & Spa; Madeline Hotel and Residences in Telluride, Colo.; Northern California’s The Resort at Squaw Creek; Solage Calistoga in the California wine country; and Aspen’s The Sky Hotel. He has earned an advanced certification in hospitality from Cornell University’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration.
Park Hyatt Beaver Creek
The Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, Colo., appointed Sherry Alexander as the resort’s new associate director of sales.
Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Alexander’s career in hospitality covers more than 16 years, beginning in London at the Thistle Marble Arch Hotel. She joined Hyatt in 2012 as a sales manager at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad, where she was promoted to senior sales manager. In her role at Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, Alexander will develop sales strategies and identify new business opportunities, working closely with other departments.
Sage Hospitality Group
Renee Wriedt is now area director of sales & marketing for Sage Hospitality Group, overseeing The Crawford Hotel, Denver Union Station and The Oxford Hotel.
Wriedt spent the last five years as the director of sales & marketing at the Embassy Suites Denver Downtown Convention Center, another property managed by Sage Hospitality. Wriedt previously held sales leadership positions at the Denver Airport Marriott at Gateway Park, the Hilton Garden Inn Denver South and The Curtis – a Doubletree by Hilton, also in Denver.
Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
The 1,310-room Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in Honolulu promoted Lauren Rawlins to director of leisure sales and Kimberly Forte to director of group sales. Both team members will continue to report to Alvin Wong, director of sales and marketing.
Rawlins first joined Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in 2021 as a senior sales executive. An Oahu native, she brings nearly two decades of experience in the hospitality industry. In her previous roles, Rawlins was director of sales and marketing at Hyatt Centric Waikiki and spent 10 years at various properties in Koloa and Honolulu, including The Royal Hawaiian, Turtle Bay Resort and The Kahala Mandarin Hotel. In her new position as director of leisure sales, Rawlins will focus on overseeing and maintaining relationships with key travel agents and partners.
Kimberly Forte has been with the resort since 2019 where she started as a senior sales executive. Before joining the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, Forte was a sales executive at Marriott International, Western Mountain Pacific and worked with the brand for more than a decade. Forte held previous sales positions as the associate director of sales and senior sales manager at The Brown Palace Hotel & Spa, an Autograph Collection in Denver, as well as a sales manager and assistant at Loews Hotels. As director of group sales, Forte will oversee the resort’s portfolio of corporate groups, aiming to maximize sales and boost hotel revenues. She will actively develop and maintain business relationships and represent the hotel at customer events and trade shows.