Krista North

Experience

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  Holland Casino

  Jan 1995 - Jan 1998

  Duty Manager General Affairs

  Holland Casino Rotterdam is part of chain of official casinos in The Netherlands.My main responsibility within the General Affairs department was to ensure that the Front Office team, the doormen and the third parties for the cleaning/cloak rooms and company catering, were all running smoothly. I was responsible for a team of 40 employees, and this involved leading team meetings, training the receptionists, recruitment and annual reviews. When on duty, I was the point of contact for all colleagues in General Affairs department, which also included the restaurants, bars and group visits. Voir moins

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  Conrad Istanbul Bosphorus

  Jan 1999 - Jan 2000

  Sales Manager

  Conrad Istanbul is a five-star deluxe hotel in Istanbul. It consists of 620 rooms and suites and is part of the Conrad Hotels group. I was responsible for the sales of Conrad Istanbul into the UK market, the second largest market for Istanbul. My focus was on Conference and Incentive companies in the UK plus PR/sales for the destination as a whole. Just as I started, we experienced an earthquake close to Istanbul and as a result saw an immediate slump in bookings and sales. I successfully rebuilt relationships and hosted many famtrips in order to entice a volatile UK market to book again. Creating relationships with Destination Management Companies and airlines was an important part of the role. Voir moins

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  Conrad Hotels

  Jan 2000 - Jan 2003

  Sales Manager

  Conrad Hotels is a luxury hotel brand for Hilton International and Hilton Hotels Corporation, now Hilton Hotels Worldwide. At the time they had 15 hotels in different destinations worldwide. My role was to increase the exposure for the Conrad Hotels in the UK leisure market as well as new conference and incentive markets. I worked closely with Hilton account managers on their accounts and created a client database with ‘Conrad Hotels clients in the UK’, across all market segments. With my experience as a client manager for Conrad Istanbul, I knew the C&I market in the UK well.I was part of a worldwide alliance team between Hilton Hotels Corporation and Hilton Sales Worldwide with main focus on hotel portfolios that needed more cross selling. I reported to the Director of Leisure Sales Hilton International in the UK and to the Director of Sales in Brussels. Voir moins

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  The Dorchester

  Mar 2003 - Jan 2004

  Senior Sales Manager

  The Dorchester is a five-star deluxe hotel with 250 rooms and suites. A landmark hotel in London, it’s part of The Leading hotels of the World and The Dorchester Collection.During my time as the Senior Sales Manager I increased sales with focus on the following regions: Middle East, Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and Benelux. I was responsible for the acquisition of new accounts to maximise the revenue of existing accounts in these markets for corporate companies, leisure travel agents, business travel agents, tour operators and C&I companies. I travelled regularly to these regions on sales trips, on average nine to ten trips per year. I also focused on key account management for major producers for The Dorchester within the UK market as well as a focus on companies linked to the regions and countries mentioned above, such as German and Swiss finance companies. I was responsible for the diplomatic market, pharmaceutical and aviation industry in the UK, and co-responsible for the sales office (a team of ten) as the sales director didn’t return from maternity leave. In this role, I was involved in the day-to-day management as well as training and development of the team. Voir moins

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  Kievits Kroon

  Jan 2005 - Jan 2011

  Sales and Marketing Manager

  Kievits Kroon is a well-known four-star country estate outside Pretoria. It has 142 rooms and suites, 17 conference rooms, a spa, two restaurants and bars.I started as Sales Manager and was promoted to the Sales & Marketing Manager, as such I was responsible for the sales and marketing team (three sales executives, six consultants in the reservations team, a graphic designer and the media manager). I developed the sales strategy and set the annual budgets/targets for the hotel, designed and implemented the marketing strategy for the estate, focusing mostly on the conference and leisure market in Johannesburg, Pretoria and surrounds. I oversaw all marketing and hotel material for internal and external use, ensuring it was designed in accordance to the corporate identity of the Kievits Kroon brand. Developed promotions and special packages for different market segments, increasing conference and leisure business as a result. I managed continuous market and competitor research to ensure the hotel remained one of the top conference destinations in our competitive set. I developed and implemented all promotions to increase the occupancy, managed the Kievits Kroon website with the graphic designer and worked on other websites used for marketing the hotel. And I successfully worked with the media manager to increase the hotel’s social media and editorial presence, which resulted in growth of online bookings via the website. Voir moins

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  Azura Retreats

  Jan 2011 - Jan 2019

  Sales & Marketing Manager

  The Azura Retreats portfolio consists of two hotels in Mozambique: Azura Benguerra Island and Azura Quilalea Private Island. Azura Retreats Tanzania opened in 2014 and closed in 2019. As the Sales & Marketing Manager I managed existing and new relationships with all of Azura’s supply and distribution channels, including tour operators, ground handlers, DMC’s, agents, direct clients, web-based suppliers, travel collections and affiliations (e.g. Virtuoso), either by direct contact or overseeing the sales manager and sales consultant. As a result Azura Retreats exceeded sales and occupancy targets most years during my time with the company. Part of the role was to set up and monitored annual budgets, rates, special offers and targets for the department, constantly innovated in the sales arena to grow Azura’s overall sales and market share by introducing and managing targeted special offers for the international and local market. I was responsible for Azura’s marketing strategy and managed all distribution channels and channel management e.g. OTA’s, Siteminder, direct web bookings. With my team I designed monthly newsletters and flash sales emails with topics based on market trends and booking trends. I analysed weekly and monthly sales and reservations reports to establish trends and opportunities, and used these to proactively maximise occupancy at suitable revenue levels. I managed the sales & marketing teams in South Africa and abroad as well as performances of the representation companies (Latin America, USA and a strategic partnership) and the PR company. Voir moins

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  Saxon Hotel, Villas and Spa

  Sept 2019 - now

  Director of Sales and Marketing