The?Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa?recently hired two new sales managers who will be representing?The Westin?to meeting planners in two critical regions of the U.S.
Mike Drinkwalter will be handling all group clients in the northeast and Canada, while Tina O?Keefe-Holly will be managing the Midwest.
?Both Mike and Tina are long-established sales professionals and the resort will now be marketed directly to key meeting planners in their own backyards. Fresh off a $30 million renovation, the resort has re-emerged as a luxury east-coast oceanfront destination with unparalleled beachfront event space, and we now have continual face-to-face representation in key regional locations,? according to Gail Wargo, director of sales and marketing.
The expanded air access to?Savannah-Hilton Head Airport?to over 4000 daily seats and the recent addition of?JetBlue?with new direct access to New York and Boston attributed to the resort?s representation needs in the new non-stop locations.
Drinkwalter started his career in the hotel industry in 1995 working his way through Niagara University’s school of International Tourism, Hotel and Restaurant Administration as a night auditor and front desk clerk. Since then, Drinkwalter has sold through two multi-million dollar hotel renovations in Orlando, Fla. He eventually move back home to the Northeast to represent a group of luxury hotels as a national sales manager.
O?Keefe-Holly joined ITT Sheraton/Starwood in 1987 as a front desk manager at the former?Sheraton Plaza Hotel Chicago. Since then, she has held various management positions in room operations, revenue management and sales at the?Sheraton O?Hare, Westin Michigan Avenue and the?Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers/Westin River North?complex. In her most recent role, O?Keefe-Holly served as a sales manager for the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort & Casino responsible for the Midwest/West Coast Markets.