Director of Business Travel - InterContinental Houston

Role Purpose

As Director of Business Travel you’ll develop and set revenue sales and marketing strategies for the hotel to ensure plans are implemented, results are monitored and sales goals are achieved. Regularly sell hotel rooms, meeting rooms, and food and beverage through direct client contacts. 

Key Accountabilities

People 

• Manage everyday activities, plan and assign work ensuring you always have the right staffing numbers.    
• Develop your team and improve their performance through coaching and feedback, and create performance and development goals for colleagues - recognize good performance.  
• Train colleagues to make sure they deliver with compliance and to the standards we expect and have the tools they need to work efficiently.  
• Recommend or initiate any HR elated actions where needed.   
• Drive a great working environment for teams to thrive – connect departments to create sense of one team.   

Financial 

• Hit all personal/team sales goals and maximize profitability.  
• Achieve budgeted revenues and personal/team sales goals and maximize profitability. Participate in the preparation of the annual departmental operating budget, the hotel marketing plan and business plan, and financial plans. 
• Help prepare the departmental budget and financial plans including the hotel marketing plan.   
• Create and implement sales plans that drive measurable incremental occupancy, increase average rates, increase volume, food and beverage and banquet sales.  
• Produce monthly reports and sales forecasts to analyze current/potential market and sales trends, coordinate activities to increase revenue and market share and monitor performance to ensure actual sales meet or exceed established revenue plan.  

Guest Experience

• Help guests - you’ll be happy to help if someone needs assistance with a request or complaint.   
• Provide guests with information (example: loyalty programs, area attractions, restaurants, facility information) to enhance guest experience.   
• Develop and maintain relationships with key clients and outside contacts in order to produce group and/or convention business, to include room sales, food & beverage sales, and catering/banquet services.   
• Schedule conventions and/or business group activities at the hotel and coordinate with other hotel-level departments to facilitate services agreed upon by the sales office and prospective clients.  

Responsible Business 

• Raise the awareness and reputation of your hotel and the brand locally.  
• Identify improvements to marketing activities and overall hotel sales performance and work with other departments.  
• Ad-hoc duties – unexpected moments when we have to pull together to get a task done.

Accountability

This is the top sales and marketing job in a full or limited service hotel and may include meeting space and/or catering facilities. May manage professional level and administrative sales team members.

Key Skills & Experiences

• Bachelor’s degree / higher education qualification / equivalent in marketing or related field.
• Four to five years of experience in a hospitality or hotel sales and marketing setting with direct supervisory experience over a sales team, or an equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• Must speak local language.  
• Other languages preferred.