SAN FRANCISCO
The San Francisco Travel Association announced the addition of Tom David as executive vice president/chief sales officer, effective Oct. 16.
In his new position, David will oversee all convention division activities including the development and implementation of sales strategies, citywide group business optimization, long-range sales and marketing of the City and County of San Francisco’s major convention facilities including Moscone Center.
“This position is absolutely critical to the success of San Francisco’s tourism industry – and to San Francisco’s economy as a whole,” said San Francisco Travel President and CEO Joe D’Alessandro. “Tom’s background is ideal for this role in growing our meetings and convention bookings.”
In fiscal year 2016/2017, San Francisco Travel booked more than 1,600 meetings that will consume 1,587,552 total room nights and generate more than $1,123,332,998 in direct spending.
The Moscone Center is in the midst of a $551 million expansion which will add a total of 158,000 gross square feet. The second phase opened on Sept. 8 and the expansion will be completed December 2018.
“Joining the San Francisco Travel team is truly an amazing opportunity. I look forward to guiding the Convention division to new heights of success, especially as the Moscone Center expansion nears completion,” David said.
David has worked with the Marriott organization since 1988, most recently as vice president of sales, Marriott Western Mountain Pacific Region, where he served as the business leader for the Area Sales (proactive), Group Sales (reactive) and property based teams including more than 300 sales professionals with responsibility for booking business into 70 Marriott and Starwood hotels across five states.
Other position with Marriott have included general manager, Marriott Western Mountain Pacific Region Sales Office, general manager at the San Ramon Marriott and the Courtyard San Francisco Downtown and regional senior director, CRST Marriott International.
David holds a Bachelor of Science-Business Administration degree from California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo.
The San Francisco Travel Association is a private, not-for-profit organization that markets the city as a leisure, convention and business travel destination. With more than 1,300 partner businesses, San Francisco Travel is one of the largest partnership-based tourism promotion agencies in the country.
Tourism, San Francisco's largest industry, generated record-breaking numbers in 2016. More than 25.1 million people visited the destination, spending in excess of $9.69 billion. More than 80,200 jobs are supported by tourism in San Francisco.
