Two months ago,
Marriott International launched a new, one-stop group-marketing
sales organization to support its 14 branded New Orleans-area
hotels. Heading up that new 12-member sales team is New
Orleans-based Kristen McMillon-Rauch, market director of sales, who
talked with M&C about the group’s initiative and
efforts.
What benefits does the new
organization give to planners?
Instead of calling every hotel to see
if their meeting is a fit, planners now have one point of contact
for everything, from arranging a site inspection to checking rates
and availability.
Are you working with the
New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau?
Marriott represents 10 percent of the
New Orleans room supply, so the CVB was very excited when we told
them how we were restructuring our efforts, because it obviously
makes their job easier and makes the city more attractive to do
business with, especially when it comes to citywide
conventions.
What has been the response
from planners?
Since we launched on Jan. 1, we have
booked two major programs, one for 6,000 rooms on peak nights, the
other for 3,000 rooms. In both those instances, the planners told
us that the ease with which they were able to get the information
they needed helped them make their choice. And we have some
tentatives, which we hope to close on soon.
What is your five-year
plan?
I’d like us to get to the point where
we travel with the CVB team to help them sell New Orleans as a
destination.