THE CHALLENGE
Ace Hotel was opening their first Luxury Lifestyle Boutique hotel in Latin America. They needed a Director of Sales & Marketing that spoke the language, understood the Latin Culture but also could relate to US Business Culture, had proven track record of working in LATAM as well as the Luxury/Lifestyle segments and could understand the Ace brand to successfully launch American Trade Hotel in Panama.
“SSP really understood where our past strategies had or had not worked, garnered a good understanding of what would be required to succeed in this market and implemented against them.”
THE SOLUTION
SSP provided a seasoned consultant whose professional experience encompassed having worked in the US for major brands in the Luxury and Lifestyle segments with excellent performance results, who was completely bi-lingual and bi-cultural and was able to live in Panama for a year to work on all pre-opening sales & marketing, which included hiring & training the Sales & Catering team, help position the brand in the country, contract with major corporate and Leisure accounts and assist in the recruiting process for a permanent Director of Sales & Marketing.
THE RESULTS
A highly productive and well-organized sales & catering structure was put in place, a successful Director of Sales & Marketing was recruited from the local market, booking pace for group rooms and catering was aligned with Owner’s expectations and a great footprint in the local corporate and leisure segments was made by the time SSP wrapped up the project.
THE FUTURE
American Trade Hotel has been positioned as one of the best hotels in Panama and has been iconic in restoring the splendor of Casco Viejo, the Historical District of Panama.