The President and CEO of New Orleans & Company, Stephen Perry, announced today that Stephanie Turner, a 26-year New Orleans hospitality industry veteran, will become vice president of convention sales and strategies for New Orleans & Company in early July.

“Stephanie is the consummate hospitality sales and marketing executive. She has a comprehensive local cultural background and intuitive knowledge of our region, having been in New Orleans all of her life. She has been a sales and marketing leader both in numerous hotels on property and in our own company for a quarter of a century and knows the business development strategies and sales approaches that work most effectively in our destination. She worked with our company for seven years identifying new lead generation approaches, driving marketing strategies, new business development, and regional production from the association city-wide rich centers of Washington, D.C. and Chicago” said Stephen Perry, president and CEO of New Orleans & Company.  “She’ll be able to walk in on day one to lead our seasoned team in major long-term citywide bookings; the mid-size, mid-term conventions that are our future growth focus; and also the important third-party relationships and short-term bookings in the critical next twenty-four month time horizon. Stephanie will also place a strong priority on need times and significantly enhancing production in those weaker months and weeks with new compression building strategies.”

Turner’s experience in hotels includes sales and sales director leadership positions at the Intercontinental New Orleans, Le Meridien Hotel, Fairmont Hotel and the Sheraton New Orleans, in addition to seven years with New Orleans and Company. Most recently, she has been a sales leader with Artisan Wine Company, so she also brings vast knowledge of restaurants and food and beverage.

“Stephanie has deep on property and regional hotel experience and knowledge, a critical plus for this position. Her background and knowledge of New Orleans specifically is a major asset. Her proven destination wide DMO experience in our own company and her proven track record of superior tangible results with us is a great indicator of potentially great success. She is truly one of us and knows how to evaluate and how to drive business for hotels and in turn restaurants, attractions and retailers,” said Stephen Caputo, 2019 Chairman of the Board of New Orleans & Company and hotel manager of Hotel Monteleone.

In her role as director of business development at New Orleans & Company (then the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau) from 2006-2013, she had a key role in rebuilding the hospitality industry post-Katrina. She expanded our regional sales presence in key offices of Washington, D.C. and Chicago and increased sales production in those markets; played an important role in web development including the online lead response system for convention sales leads and building micro sites to support niche markets; conceptualized the annual marketing plan template and led the creative team in completing the first marketing plan document in development of strategic and tactical selling and marketing efforts; and led the new business development strategies that fed several strong years of performance.

“New Orleans hospitality is the passion of my life. I am excited to rejoin the New Orleans & Company team where I was a sales executive for seven years. With my experience working on property in hotels in New Orleans and with New Orleans and Company, and with our hundreds of other member companies, I understand the market - especially what type of business works, the critical nature of driving compression, and enhancing the need times we must address. I bring total dedication to implementing the right strategies and toolkits for our sales team and achieving the one thing that truly matters….pure production of highly valued business” said Stephanie Turner, new vice president of convention sales and strategies for New Orleans & Company.

“Stephanie has the ability to work and partner with area hotels in a way that is really exciting. She has done their job and worn their shoes. She knows our culture and our business. She is the right person to lead our team in developing a strong partnership not only with the hotel and restaurant community, but with the Convention Center on branding, marketing and sales efforts tied to the $557 million capital plan,” Perry stated. 

Click HERE for Stephanie Turner’s headshot, available for download.

New Orleans & Company is a nationally accredited, 1,100-member destination marketing organization and the largest and most successful private economic development corporation in Louisiana. New Orleans & Company and its members and partners influence thousands of decision-makers and millions of visitors to choose New Orleans through direct sales, marketing, public relations, branding, visitor services and local advocacy initiatives at our New Orleans headquarters and offices in Chicago, Columbia, SC, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Brazil and China. Consistently recognized as one of the top five destination marketing organizations in the country, New Orleans & Company celebrates its 59th anniversary in 2019. For more information, please visit NewOrleans.com/about.

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