Westin Hilton Head Welcomes New Director of Sales & Marketing, Steve French

Staff Report From Savannah CEO

Monday, February 5th, 2018

The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa is pleased to announce that Steve French will lead its sales team to new heights as Director of Sales & Marketing.

While Steve is new to The Westin, he is quite familiar with Hilton Head having enjoyed time leading operational teams at the Hyatt Hilton Head and Marriott Hilton Head years ago. In total, Steve has over 30 years of hotel experience across several disciplines including banquet operations, events and sales. During the past 10 years in sales leadership Steve has held roles overseeing regional sales teams, account management teams and most recently property sales teams. Steve just celebrated his 20 year anniversary with Marriott International and was most recently the Director of Group Sales of Washington Marriott Wardman Park.

Steve began his hospitality career in 1988 in Blacksburg, VA while obtaining his B.S. in Hotel Management from Virginia Tech. He has held positions at twelve different hotels in various markets including resorts and convention hotels across four different brands. Steve holds a CASE designation with the Professional Convention Management Association and was an active member of Marriott’s Washington, DC Business Council benefiting the Network of Children’s Hospitals. Steve is an avid runner who’s conquered numerous marathon challenges and enjoys the travelling to adventurous location with his family – perfectly aligned with Westin’s pillars of wellness.

As Director of Sales & Marketing, Mr. French is now responsible for total revenue and yield strategies, implementation and results of room revenue, group food & beverage, and social catering events.  General Manager, Tim Freisen, commented, “Because he carries a keen knowledge of Hilton Head Island and a wealth of experience driving sales, Steve is in a unique position to maximize profitability for the resort and providing outstanding operational leadership and market knowledge for our customers.”

We are delighted to welcome Steve home in his new role as Director of Sales and Marketing, and encourage all to connect with him to learn more about our new Grand Ocean Terrace which opened in June of 2017.