NEW ORLEANS – The president and CEO of New Orleans & Company, Stephen Perry, announced that Stephanie Turner, a New Orleans hospitality industry veteran, will become vice president of convention sales and strategies for New Orleans & Company in early July. Details were shared in a press release.
“Stephanie is the consummate hospitality sales and marketing executive. She has a comprehensive local cultural background and intuitive knowledge of our region, having been in New Orleans all of her life. She has been a sales and marketing leader both in numerous hotels on property and in our own company for a quarter of a century and knows the business development strategies and sales approaches that work most effectively in our destination. She worked with our company for seven years identifying new lead generation approaches, driving marketing strategies, new business development, and regional production from the association city-wide rich centers of Washington, D.C. and Chicago” said Perry. “She’ll be able to walk in on day one to lead our seasoned team in major long-term citywide bookings; the mid-size, mid-term conventions that are our future growth focus; and also the important third-party relationships and short-term bookings in the critical next twenty-four month time horizon. Stephanie will also place a strong priority on need times and significantly enhancing production in those weaker months and weeks with new compression building strategies.”
Turner’s experience in hotels includes sales and sales director leadership positions at the Intercontinental New Orleans, Le Meridien Hotel, Fairmont Hotel and the Sheraton New Orleans, in addition to seven years with New Orleans and Company. Most recently, she has been a sales leader with Artisan Wine Company, so she also brings vast knowledge of restaurants and food and beverage.
In her role as director of business development at New Orleans & Company (then the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau) from 2006 through 2013, she had a key role in rebuilding the hospitality industry post-Katrina. She expanded organization’s regional sales presence in key offices of Washington, D.C. and Chicago and increased sales production in those markets; played an important role in web development including the online lead response system for convention sales leads and building micro sites to support niche markets; conceptualized the annual marketing plan template and led the creative team in completing the first marketing plan document in development of strategic and tactical selling and marketing efforts; and led the new business development strategies that fed several strong years of performance.
“New Orleans hospitality is the passion of my life. I am excited to rejoin the New Orleans & Company team where I was a sales executive for seven years. With my experience working on property in hotels in New Orleans and with New Orleans and Company, and with our hundreds of other member companies, I understand the market – especially what type of business works, the critical nature of driving compression, and enhancing the need times we must address,” said Turner. “I bring total dedication to implementing the right strategies and toolkits for our sales team and achieving the one thing that truly matters….pure production of highly valued business.”
