Marshall Thompson Email & Phone Number

5500 Hilton Avenue

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Area

The Louisiana Office of Tourism (LOT) is the destination marketing organization for the state of Louisiana. It is charged with the sales, marketing and promotion of the state as a travel destination for potential visitors, both domestic and international. LOT’s objective is to increase the number of visitors annually, enhance visitor experiences, generate and increase annual visitor spending resulting in greater tax revenues for local and state government, and increase tourism employment for all areas of the state. The Louisiana Office of Tourism works to promote a positive image of the state as a great place to visit, play, live, and retire.The Louisiana Office of Tourism promotes the economic growth of Louisiana through a variety of proven and effective methods. Partnerships with city/parish Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) provides a critical link in the successful marketing plan including the cooperative marketing program grants, opportunities with trade show participation, opportunities for campaign advertising, opportunities for participation in international sales/media missions, opportunities for media or tour operator familiarization tours, and sponsorships of major events in the local community. City/parish DMOs are the key stakeholders in LOT short term and long term objectives.Inspiring visitation to Louisiana requires LOT to invest in a 24/7 strategy that includes broadcast advertising, digital media placement, print advertising, content creation, social media interaction across multiple channels, and public relations outreach to media around the world. Investing in tourism promotion is essential to develop an image and brand that resonates with potential visitors.In today’s highly competitive global marketplace, Louisiana must be authentic, memorable, and live up to the expectations of the traveler in order to maintain relevancy and inspire future potential travelers to the state

New Orleans, Louisiana

Recruited to oversee all sales platforms and public relations developments, resulting in $30+ M in group room, food, and beverage revenues. Created and directed innovative promotional and social media marketing campaigns aimed at capturing and generating new leads and increased business.  Established a hotel base of (30,000 annual group room nights) leading to $11.5M in annual revenue. Provided sales leadership and supervision of seven (7) associates.  Maintained up-to-the-minute response times of client communications and inquiries - ensuring high capture rate. Honorable management style - recognized for the innate ability to maintain productivity and employee retention.

Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Florida Area

Increased hotel revenue through a combination of prospecting, outside sales calls, management of key business accounts, site tours, and telemarketing for the Alabama Corporate, Midwest markets in all group segments. 2014 - Increased corporate group bookings by 10%. Increase corporate group ADR for my market by 7%. Creator of powerful brand strategies. Implemented promotional campaigns to reinforce consumer engagement and increase high volume bookings.  Ensured the effective hiring, orientation, training, development and retention of sales and internal staff.

Orlando, Florida Area

Combined empowering sales and business service talents to drive gains in revenue, market share, and profit performance. Increased total sales/revenue objectives - strategically focusing on inspiring sales managers, yield management, revenue strategy, marketing/PR, leisure, group and catering sales.  Improved six-person sales team’s direct contribution to ADR more than 12%.  Managed sales and marketing teams for a 600 room full-service convention hotel, 20,000 square feet of meeting space. Trained and directed sales team to prospect, qualify, negotiate and close on top accounts and new business.

Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Florida Area

Directed sales and marketing efforts for a 600 room resort destination and convention hotel. Developed and executed successful sales and marketing programs to strengthen national and regional Hilton brand image. Expanded target audiences through client contact, relationship building and achieving guest expectations. Increased hotel room revenue by 10%. Increased hotel room ADR by $10.00. Created promotional materials, marketing plan sales techniques, and yield strategies. Hotel market leader status in overall Market Share, ADR, and RevPAR. Analyzed P&L statements, budget process, revenue maximization, forecasting and capital expenditure planning. 2010 - Awarded “Best Social Media Engagement” Brand Award

Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Florida Area

Designed and executed sales campaigns resulting in over $25M in group room revenues, banquet food, and beverage revenues annually. Established the property as the largest Hilton in the Southeast for convention meetings (80,000 annual group room nights). Managed the day-to-day operational integrity of seven (7) sales team members. Increased ADR and RevPAR by 5%. Booked $4M in group, corporate and association business. Identified and pursued new business opportunities in a competitive, rapidly changing industry through new account development with Hilton National Sales, Hilton Direct, Helms Briscoe, and Conference Direct. Controlled, developed and implemented aggressive strategic financial and marketing plans for team success. 2005 - Achieved promotional advancement to Vice President - Sales and Marketing

Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Florida Area

Increased sales, marketing, and operational initiatives while executing territory-specific strategies to expand business and revenue throughout MS, LA, AR, TX, CA, and FL. Established strategies to expand customer base while enhancing long-term relationships with customers for multi-year repeat bookings. Five-year average sales production of group room revenues equivalent to $4M. 2002 - Achieved promotional advancement to Director of Sales