the hotelier

Tom Santora
A real sense of place

Winter 2009

TOM SANTORA is the chief marketing officer and senior vice president of sales for Irving, Texas-based Omni Hotels.

MPG:  What attracted you to the hospitality industry?

It really stemmed from our family vacations.  It felt like every time we were on vacation everyone was in great spirits, and people were so hospitable.  I like to be positive and upbeat.  In this industry if you’re not in a good mood, get out.

What was your first industry job?

When I was 16, I was a bus boy at Romanelo’s Prime Rib Steak House in Buffalo, NY.  When I joined Marriott, my first four years were in food and beverage.  One of my early mentors was my F&B director in Vail, Colorado - Henk Evers.  Henk had a strong work ethic and an amazing intensity.  It was a great job - my restaurant was only open for dinner, I skied to work and had the opportunity to meet interesting people from around the world. 

How did you get from food and beverage into sales and marketing?

I opened the JW Marriott in Century City, California. The director of marketing, Steve Goodling, thought I should be in sales.  I wasn’t sure what those “sales guys” did (other than have lunch in the restaurant!), but a few weeks later I took the plunge and migrated into the sales organization bringing along my F&B background and the work approach from Henk.  Going from managing 40 to 60 waiters and bartenders to just managing yourself seemed like a dream come true.

After progressing into a regional sales position, Marriott asked me to open the Renaissance in Hollywood, the flagship property that helped launch the Renaissance brand.  It was a tremendous opportunity to expand my entrepreneurial approach.

What makes the Omni brand unique?

Omni is a big, small company.  We are a privately-held company, the majority owned by one gentleman, Robert Rowling, which allows us to move quickly, implement new programs and standards across the brand in short order, and readily adapt to the market conditions.  The company is also doing an outstanding job of making food and beverage a big part of the Omni brand experience, so I have a real connection with that side of our business. 

Omni Hotels have a real sense of place.  Each Omni is designed individually.  When you are at an Omni Hotel, you know you are in Boston and can feel the roots of American history, or truly feel the unique shopping and dining atmosphere of Chicago or San Francisco.  With some of the bigger brands, as they are developing their portfolio, the question is, “Would you like design A or design B?”

When the new Omni Fort Worth opens in January, we will have a gorgeous hotel, and you will definitely know you are part of the authentic Fort Worth landscape.  We are working with Fort Worth’s world-renowned Kimbell Art Museum and will feature a Kimbell Museum shop within the hotel.  The property is being positioned as “the living room of Fort Worth.”  Ed Netzhammer, our GM, Larry Auth, our DOSM, and the entire team have done an amazing job involving the Fort Worth community in this project.

It was recently announced that Omni Hotels has been selected to operate the new Dallas convention center hotel.

This will be such an incredible project to be a part of with the city as they redevelop downtown Dallas.  The hotel is still in the development stages but the plans call for a 1,000-room property with 75,000 square feet of meeting space, several restaurants and a spa -- all connected to the convention center.  When a hotel is purpose-built from the ground up, with all the bells and whistles in the meeting space - flow, divisibility, lighting - there’s an opportunity to put in the very best of breed.  It’s something that Dallas needs, and we are very excited to be part of such a vital project in our own hometown.

How is the economy affecting this industry?

We are hearing a lot of “let’s wait and see” how the economy goes.

We haven’t heard a lot of “we’re not having the meeting” which is the good news.  The call volume for inquiries is the same as in the past but people aren’t contracting quite as quickly.  There doesn’t seem to be the same sense of urgency on their part, maybe because there

is more availability. 

We are finding that, in some cases, customers are trading brands - some trading up and some trading down.  It is going to be a year where we need to continue to be extremely focused on the customer with timely proposals that effectively respond to their specific needs.

We have to get back to the basics.  During the past few years, because the call volumes have been up with high demand, sales people have been gatherers.  Now we need to be hunters.

How has the third-party phenomenon affected the relationship between buyers and hotels?

When the HelmsBriscoes and ConferenceDirects first started, the hotel industry looked at them as the enemy because it was another layer of commissions.  Over time, that has evolved and the hotel companies are embracing not only the third parties but the relationships that they have with their customers.  At Omni, we value that relationship and work together by being responsive to the third parties and their needs.  In 2009 as companies are scaling back their meeting planning departments, they are looking for these third parties to help them streamline their efforts.  We expect lead volume from third parties to actually grow in 2009. 

What changes do you see on the horizon for the hotel industry and the meeting industry?

I think the biggest change will be with the advances in technology.  More people are looking to the web to get their initial information, such as doing searches through Starcite.  I know a couple of the hotel brands are working on small group booking engines.  I think that is going to continue to advance, and it will only benefit the meeting planner and these third parties.

Do you feel like the future of face-to-face meetings is good?  Do you see that continuing or do you think technology is going to impact it in a negative way?

I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of some virtual meetings, and although they are effective in that you get things accomplished, I believe that face-to-face meetings and all of the side conversations that occur during the breaks are invaluable.  Companies understand that you just can’t get everything done over the phone.

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