News for the Hospitality Executive |
InnLink Announces Growth Plan and New CEO
June 8, 2010 -
InnLink, LLC, a leading provider of online hotel
reservation technology, continues to expand. InnLink is positioned and
ready
for growth while dedicated and driven to improve their promise to
customer
excellence. To maximize the opportunities ahead, InnLink has hired and
promoted
numerous key managers. Kristin Intress has been named CEO and President
of
InnLink, LLC. She brings with her 20 years of Sales, Marketing, Change
Management and Strategy experience. She is ideally suited for the
opportunities
and challenges InnLink will be navigating as it grows and addresses the
requirements
necessary in our current economic environment. Kristin most recently
served as President
of InnLink where she developed and built the sales and marketing teams,
established
the strategy, and grew the organization from 780 lodging facilities in
2007 to over
3000 hotels, resorts, inns, and extended stay properties today. InnLink came out of
2009 operationally sound with
tremendous success; enhancing the CRS platform, establishing process
discipline
throughout the business and expanding the customer base to service over
3000
customers. During this high growth
period we were able to maintain financial stability through capital
reinvestment to assure future profitability and stability for both our
employees
and our customers. InnLink is stronger
in our ability to support our next phase of growth than ever before. To ensure our growth and continued
customer
centric strategy we are excited to announce new InnLink sales team
members and promotions
to our management team. David Leitner has recently joined the InnLink
Sales
team as our Regional Sales Manager, InnVite CRS. David brings 20 plus
years of
hospitality experience. David Leitner served as regional director of
business
development in the U.S. for PassKey International, as director of
franchise
development for Hilton Hotels Corporation and numerous positions with
Promus
Hotels. David has demonstrated the ability to deliver significant
incremental
revenue, enhanced customer loyalty and critical business expansion. Matt Hughes joined
the sales team as Regional Sales
Manager, BridgeLink Specialist, bringing 8 years of Franchise Sales
experience
to the BridgeLink Program. InnLink has created this new program to
focus on
providing a comprehensive solution to hotels transitioning brand’s or
as an opportunity
to succeed as an independent. Matt’s unique experience with LaQuinta,
Choice
and Cendant will be valuable to both InnLink and transitioning hotels
as we
build this new service offering. Gigi Filippi joined
the sales team as Regional Sales
Manager. With over 20 years of hospitality management experience, Gigi
has
excelled in many operational and sales roles most recently as GM of a
100 room
property. InnLink believes understanding our customers’ needs is key to
success
and Gigi will provide a consultative role to new customers as they
strive to
succeed in today’s economy. She will service the California, Nevada and
Hawaii
customer base. Marie Ainsworth, a
20 year hospitality veteran, has
accepted the new position of Product Manager.
Marie served as Product Manager with TravelClick and
Director of
Electronic Distribution at Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. In her new role
Marie
will be responsible for driving key customer initiatives focused on
programs to
grow customer reservation revenue and effective distribution. Kelly Gale, who has
served for three years as an
InnLink Sales Manager, has been promoted to Director of Sales. Kelly
brings a
broad range of Sales Management experience to this role with 10 plus
years of managing
sales teams through high growth and development stages. Sissy Armstrong, a
10 year veteran of InnLink, has
been promoted to Director of Account Management responsible for
improving and
maintaining our reputation of providing exceptional revenue management
training
and recommendations. Sissy’s team is dedicated to driving new revenue
opportunities and ensuring our customers are able to maximize their CRS
distribution. Concurrently, Sissy will continue to serve as the key
Account Manager
for AmericInn and NickHotel. Laurie Bechler, a
15 year veteran of InnLink has expanded
her role as VP of Operations. Laurie will oversee all daily operational
activities with all operational teams reporting directly to her. Laurie
will
continue to manage key vendor relationships. Laurie has continuously
proven her
ability to exceed expectations and deliver exceptional results during
her
tenure. The management team
will consist of Kristin Intress,
CEO and President, and department heads: Laurie Bechler, VP Operations;
Jennifer
Hauge, Director, IT; Sissy Armstrong, Director, Revenue Management;
Kelly Gale,
Director, Sales; Pam Walrond, Director, Marketing; Melinda Bailey,
Manager,
Call Center Operations; Jennifer Hight, Manager, Customer Service and
Implementation; Annette Cobb, Manager, Accounting; and Marie Ainsworth,
Product
Manager. InnLink is
positioned and ready for growth and is
dedicated and driven to deliver customer excellence. InnLink provides reservation services for hotels and hotel companies utilizing two brands, InnLink CRS, for mid-tier limited service properties, and InnVite CRS, for 3+ star properties. Services include vLINK: comprehensive private-label voice reservations; eLINK: Internet, GDS and Channel Distribution; iLINK: private label Booking Engine, gLINK: Group Reservations, ONtarget Account Management: Account Management Support and RESmatrix: Customer Data Management Tool. InnLink currently maximizes channel-managed, reservation revenue streams for over 3100 hospitality customers. To learn more about InnLink’s products and services visit www.innlink.com or contact Pam Walrond, Director, Marketing at 615-264-8087 or [email protected]. |
Pam Walrond |
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