Expert: Steve Young - 4/2/2009

Question
Hello Steve,

I have about 10 years experience onboard cruise ships managing a concession dept.

I want to relocate on land and I'd like to enter  in the "hotel world"

I am intrigued by the sales and marketing departments in hotels.

What's the job like? Could you breafly describe me the duties and a typical day on the job?

Also....crisis permitting....this is a safe career choice to take.....if one hotel goes under...I can always find the same type of job in
basically every hotel of the world...right?

Thanks for your time

Peter

Answer
Hotel Sales Managers sell guest rooms, meeting space, banquet facilities, and services and amenities to maximize revenue for a hotel.  It's known as a receptive sales where people like to hear what you are selling, as compared to a copier sales person that is considered a hard sell.

There are from 1-7 or more sales people at each hotel, and they are led by the director of sales.

Typical days is a morning meeting, return urgent calls, make 5-7 prospecting calls, tour a few clients, schedule a few new appointments, have breakfast or lunch with a prospective client. Wrap up the day with paperwork, and prepare for the following day.

It's hard to give a typical day,  the nice thing about the hotel sales business is that something new always comes up.

The easiet way to learn about hotel sales is to go to www.aprinda.com and click on the audio portion.  This is a quick link that will explain what a hotel sales manager does.

Yes,....are right, the nice thing about hotels is they are eveywhere, and you can always move on to another hotel.  Once you get in with some experience, you will probably get a number of opportunities to work for more money at competing hotels.

Good Luck,