Benchmark Hospitality Appoints Richard Cimilluca Director of Sales & Marketing at The Heldrich
$110 Million Property Rising in the Heart of New Brunswick, NJ
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ, October 4, 2005. Benchmark Hospitality International has announced the appointment of Richard Cimilluca as director of sales & marketing for The Heldrich. The new $110 million mixed use property, which Benchmark will manage and that includes a 250-guestroom hotel and state-of-the-art conference center, is under construction in downtown New Brunswick. Cimilluca will lead the pre-opening and post-opening sales & marketing programming for the important new project scheduled to open in February of 2007.
Jack Schmidt, chief marketing officer for Benchmark Hospitality, made the announcement. Schmidt also stated that Mr. Cimilluca has been appointed to an additional role as regional director of sales & marketing, overseeing Benchmark's North Maple Inn sales & marketing programs in addition to his new responsibilities at The Heldrich.
A hospitality veteran, Rich Cimilluca has been active in conference center marketing for well over a decade and is a 20-year veteran of the hotel industry. He was previously director of sales & marketing for Benchmark's AAA Four Diamond North Maple Inn of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, a position he assumed in 1999. While at North Maple Inn, he was actively involved in repositioning the hotel to a fully commercial facility and grew revenues substantially, together with his highly successful sales & marketing team.
Prior to this, Cimilluca was director of sales & marketing at the prestigious Doral Forrestal Hotel, located in Princeton, New Jersey, and was instrumental in Benchmark's successful repositioning of this property. He was director of sales & marketing for the hotel when it was known as The Scanticon Princeton, and served as national sales manager for Scanticon International, Inc., based at the company's national sales office in New York City. Early in his distinguished career, Rich Cimilluca held sales management positions of increasing responsibility for Sheraton and Hilton Hotels.
Mr. Cimilluca is a member of Meeting Professionals International, New Jersey chapter, and the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International. He serves on the marketing committee for the prestigious International Association of Conference Centers, which is located in St. Louis, Missouri, and is the premier professional conference center association globally.
Cimilluca earned his Bachelor's degree from Southern New Hampshire University of Manchester, New Hampshire, and has participated in numerous educational programs in sales & marketing leadership. He and his family reside in Hillsborough, New Jersey.
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