2010's Top Supplier Sales Reps

All-Inclusives

Ann McAllister

SuperClubs, District Sales Manager, Mid-Atlantic

McAllister is a repeat Top Supplier Sales Rep, having been recognized in 2008 as well. “This has been a great experience and a great company to work for,” she says. “The experience of working with these great resorts has been wonderful, with such a variety of locations. One of the best parts of my job is working closely with the travel agents and the support they give me.” In 1998, she accepted a position with Wyndham Hotels and Resorts as regional sales manager to promote and sell their Leisure Resorts. After 10 years with Wyndham, she joined Air Jamaica before moving over to Sandals All-
Inclusive Resorts as regional sales manager.

Nicole Barrett

Unique Vacations/Sandals Resorts, Business Development Manager, New England

“I enjoy working with the Sandals Brand and travel agents and suppliers in northern New England,” says Barrett. “I have, over the past four years, developed close relationships with travel agents in my territory. I take their successes [to be] a personal matter and work with them in every way possible to attain our mutual goals.” Barrett came to Sandals in September 2005 after having worked for Starwood Hotels and Resorts, starting in the sales department at the Sheraton Boston Hotel and then as a convention services manager at the Sheraton Braintree Hotel. She began her sales career at the historical Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston, which solidified her interest in hotel sales. Barrett had previously studied hotel and restaurant management and business at Drexel University in Philadelphia, and tourism at Moneague College in Jamaica.

Steve Velez

Unique Vacations/Sandals Resorts, Business Development Manager for Northern California

A California native, Velez enjoys promoting Sandals resorts to the agents of his home state, driving regularly from Fresno to northern California and back. “It’s a wonderful product to represent,” he says, “and you have fun every day.” He has been with Sandals for three years, and before that spent several years as a representative for Riu Hotels and Resorts in Mexico and as a wholesaler with Apple Vacations. He visits the Sandals resorts frequently, “so that they can update me, and I can update my agents.” His favorite part of the job, he says, is interacting with travel agents. “They create the energy, and I know that if they do well, I do well. It’s a win-win situation.”

Graeme Laudenslager

Club Med, District Sales Manager, Los Angeles & Ventura Counties

In his 17 years in the travel industry, Laudenslager has tried just about every sector and location. He has owned a travel agency, worked as a district sales manager for three very large tour wholesalers, created two air consolidation companies, worked as a tour guide in the Pacific Rim and, currently, covers Los Angeles and Ventura Counties for Club Med as a district sales manager. He has great respect for the business. “The travel industry is responsible for this great life I live,” he says “and my respect is shown on every sales call, phone call and e-mail. It also helps to have an amazing product and company on your side.”

Omar Zambrano Ramirez

El Dorado Spa Resorts & Azul Hotels, by Karisma, Regional Sales and Marketing Manager, Midwest

Zambrano believes that selling a resort is more than just negotiations and relationships. “Travel agents need confidence in the quality of product they sell and support from the hotels for questions and issues,” he says. He has been with Karisma Hotels, the gourmet inclusive luxury resorts in Riviera Maya , Mexico, for two years as a regional sales & marketing manager for the Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa). Previously, he worked as sales manager and front-desk manager for other hotel companies in the destination. Before heading to Riviera Maya, Zambrano spent time in Paris collaborating with the Mexico Tourism Board’s French and English offices to study promotional tourism. In 2004, he graduated from the Hospitality & Tourism Administration in Mexico, where he worked for the international association, AIESEC, and created the first publication of tourism for universities and public offices.

Mary Dring

Club Med, District Sales Manager

To be recognized for her work by travel agents, Dring says, “is truly one of the most humbling experiences, and I feel that if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be doing this job today…They trust what I have to say because if I didn’t believe in my product, I wouldn’t sell it.” She began her travel career in 1980 in the reservations department of Pleasant Holidays before going to work with three airlines (Pacific Express, Delta and PSA) in different capacities. She has spent the last 15 years at Pleasant Holidays as the business development manager in San Diego and Arizona. “I’ve been traveling to Club Med for the last 22 years,” she says, “and now have been given the opportunity to sell the product as I open the next chapter of my travel career.”

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12