ALHI's Kevin Hinton Named EVP of New Global Solution, “Associated Destinations Worldwide”

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. July 26, 2011

July 25, 2011 - Kevin M. Hinton , Executive Vice President of Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI) and Chairman-Elect of Meeting Professionals International (MPI), has also been named Executive Vice President of ALHI's new global solution Associated Destinations Worldwide (ADW), which will launch later this year. ADW will be the new Global Sales arm, built upon ALHI's 25 years of National Sales experience, to specifically promote the first-class member destinations, hotels, and convention facilities from around the world to U.S. and Canadian corporate and association executives and meeting professionals.

The new ADW Global Sales Organization (GSO) will be a dedicated business unit designed to serve North American companies and associations by developing outbound international group programs specifically for its members. Kevin Hinton remains Executive Vice President of ALHI, in addition to his new duties with ADW, where he will be responsible for overseeing ADW day-to-day sales operations and services. The announcement was made by David Gabri, president and CEO of ALHI ( www.alhi.com ), and also now of ADW ( www.adw-gso.com ).

As a widely respected member of the meetings industry, Hinton will manage a sales team that will augment the prestigious National Sales Organization (NSO) sales system of ALHI -- which exclusively provides dedicated NSO services and sales support for its distinctive portfolio of more than 130 Four- and Five-Diamond quality hotels and resorts to the meetings and incentive marketplace. ALHI has been serving meeting professionals, association executives, convention specialists, incentive/recognition specialists, and business executives for 25 years for its distinctive portfolio, and this is a natural global sales growth strategy for the organization to delineate primary responsibilities.

“ADW's purpose and strategy is two-fold: balancing the quality sales force we have assembled with the escalating account demand for our services, both domestically and internationally, with our desire to maintain and grow sales success for all of our members,” said Hinton. “ADW is designed to serve existing and new accounts with a dedicated team of highly experienced, internationally trained, and culturally astute ADW Global Sales specialists who will focus on international business development. This new team will support the existing ALHI NSO, relieving them from our previously lofty expectations and responsibility of fully developing their U.S. and Canadian regional market for overseas members, in addition to those within North America. The result will be a fully adept team of sales specialists for a truly global collection, to match what we do so effectively in America.”

Hinton also serves as Chairman-Elect of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. He currently is a member of the International Board of Directors and Executive Committee of MPI, the meeting and event industry's largest global community, comprised of more than 23,000 members belonging to 71 chapters and clubs worldwide. Hinton will become MPI Chairman of the Board effective July 1, 2012. He is based in ALHI's and ADW's Sales Office in Chicago.

Prior to joining ALHI, Hinton served as CEO of hinton+grusich, a U.S.-based sales organization established in 1986 that served destinations and hotels, which was acquired by ALHI in January 2011. In that position he was responsible for overseeing the company's day-to-day operations and strategic growth. A highly regarded leader and strategist, Hinton served as MPI Chicago Area Chapter's president, and on its board of directors. Among the many honors he has received was the “President's Award” from the Chicago Area Chapter of MPI.

“Kevin is the perfect choice to oversee day-to-day operations of Associated Destinations Worldwide,” said Gabri. “He is a motivated and visionary leader, and a passionate advocate for clients and members. He will do an outstanding job leading the Global Sales professionals of ADW, which will provide a recognizable, dedicated, and cost-effective way for member destinations, convention centers, tourism boards, convention and visitor bureaus, and upper-tier hotels and resorts, outside of North America, to effectively reach the meetings and incentive marketplace in North America. Kevin also will be a tremendous communicator and advocate for the ADW members we serve.”

“Kevin will collaborate closely with ALHI's senior leadership team, including Don Macumber and Mike Coutu, and their regional sales teams, to capitalize on the synergies of responsibilities in best serving the U.S.- and Canada-based clients for their M.I.C.E. needs, and vice versa,” said Gabri.

ADW will be the first and only company in the United States to offer authorized Global Sales services and expertise for international destinations on a national level across America. Further, ADW will be supported by ALHI's respected and dedicated national sales operation which features 16 National Sales Offices (NSO) located across North America, with its professional sales team of 50. ADW will initially provide its highly experienced, specifically trained, and culturally astute professional sales staff in three GSO sales offices, strategically located in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, entirely dedicated to serving ADW members, with future plans for additional ADW staff in Los Angeles and beyond.

“We are launching ADW for two very important reasons,” said Hinton. “First and foremost, it serves the interests of valued clientele, which ALHI has built over the past 25 years, by providing more global solutions and options to best address their growing needs and the escalating demand within this global economy. Plus, it enables us to feature unique and desirable international member destinations, convention centers and bureaus, and resorts and hotels, which are well-equipped to effectively and professionally cater to meeting and incentive programs for North American clientele.”

Hinton added, “We are excited with the plans to offer an exceptional new, yet established, means for world-class destinations, upper-tier hotels, and first-class convention facilities located abroad that wish to attract meetings, conventions/congresses, and incentive/recognition travel programs emanating from North America to their destination.”

ADW will be under the direction of Gabri and Hinton. Gabri is Past Chairman of the Meeting Professionals International MPI Foundation Board of Trustees, and was a member of the International Board of Directors for MPI. Gabri also was the sole recipient of the American Society of Association Executives' (ASAE) prestigious “Academy of Leaders Award” in 2010, which is ASAE's highest individual honor.

ADW Will Advance International Destinations That Welcome North American Groups

“The meetings industry in North America demanded this new Global Sales Organization approach, as no other company in the U.S. offers this extensive sales and marketing service on a national level, directed specifically on the M.I.C.E. sectors,” said Hinton. “Our ALHI clients in particular have requested that we provide ALHI-level service for international destinations that are of appeal to their groups from the U.S. and Canada. They trust their ALHI relationship and know that ALHI will only represent the best. ADW will advance that service level with international destinations that welcome North American groups.”

Gabri added, “Associated Destinations Worldwide will be a win-win situation, as executives, meeting planners and incentive specialists in North America will be able to quickly and easily discuss a variety of appealing international options for their programs with reliable one-call professional sales assistance. They will be able to actually speak and meet with experienced ADW global sales professionals in America who will be equipped with first-hand knowledge and capabilities of the member destination. At the same time, exceptional destinations will be regularly discussed and presented as a viable option or meeting solution to thousands of potential meeting clients which already have a strong working relationship built on trust with the ALHI team. It will be a great way for both parties to connect. Further, it is important to note that ADW will be a dues-funded organization, provided by the destinations that we will be authorized to serve, and will be provided as a local GSO service at no cost to the planners or organizations they serve in North America.”

In addition to ALHI's impressive 25 years of experience with the meetings marketplace, ADW also will be able to capitalize upon Hinton's experience as past CEO of hinton+grusich. During hinton+grusich's 24 years of sales operations it also specialized in serving select cities and convention bureaus as members. This experience will prove very beneficial as ADW will be marketing, promoting and selling the international destination members to meetings professionals.

Hinton added, “Rather than a destination having just one representative in New York City, who can struggle to cover all of the vast bases of opportunity and capture the attention of executives, meeting professionals and incentive specialists across America, ADW GSO and the ALHI NSO professionals will leverage existing relationships and already be meeting face-to-face with accounts and clients with a strong foundation built on trust and results. The destinations we serve will be brought into the 'conversation' for new business opportunities. Add in ADW's access to ALHI's proprietary database of accounts and contacts built over the past 25 years - which include records for a significant number of accounts which have growing and ongoing demand for international destinations - and ADW's sales support to international destinations will be unmatched.”

“Meeting planners are so busy these days that they often prefer a fewer number of highly reliable contact relationships who can provide multiple destination options at one time,” said Hinton. “ALHI and ADW combine as a unique and experienced solution serving North American meeting professionals and executives the way they want to be served.”

“Plus, when you address the significant cost-effectiveness of ADW for the destinations - which are essentially joining an exclusive sales association of quality destinations focused on the North American group sectors -- ADW really will be the ideal solution for them to reach their objectives in North America, while we continue to serve accounts as they wish to be served,” said Gabri.

For more information about Associated Destinations Worldwide, contact Kevin Hinton at (312) 346-5768, and visit www.adw-gso.com.

For more information about ALHI, to inquire about a future meeting at any of the ALHI member properties, and/or to acquire a free copy of ALHI's “2010-2011 ALHI National Sales Guide To Meeting Facilities,” contact your nearest ALHI National Sales Office, call the “ALHI Group Desk” toll-free at 866-303-ALHI (2544), and visit www.alhi.com.