Elegant Resorts to hire dedicated national sales manager

Elegant Resorts is hiring a dedicated national sales manager after combining its sales team with sister operator If Only last year.

The restructure last August saw a joint on-the-road sales team created across both brands, instead of two separate teams serving the trade.

The new national sales manager will report into Tracy Docherty, sales director for both Elegant Resorts and If Only, and will focus solely on Elegant Resorts.

The role will be supported by trade sales executive Denise Laidlaw, who works across both brands on events and contracts.

Lisa Fitzell, managing director of Elegant Resorts and If Only (pictured), told Travel Weekly the new addition would “strengthen” Elegant Resorts’ commitment to the travel trade.

She said: “The role will build on the successes and achievements of the combined If Only and Elegant Resorts trade team and ensure there is dedicated brand focus and more overall support for our agent partners.

“The investment and size of our team shows our commitment to providing the best support we can to our agency partners.”

The rest of the sales team – including head of sales north Gemma Pinder-Davidson; head of sales south Charlotte Brailsford; and sales managers Victoria Edwards and Jennifer Stace, who look after the north and south respectively – will focus solely on trade-only brand If Only moving forward.

Fitzell said both teams would “work together” on key accounts and meet weekly to “share intel”.

The new national sales manager role will bring the team total to seven.

“The reason the team is larger for If Only is that it’s very much catering towards all agents in the UK so has a broader reach,” Fitzell said.

“We have a luxury offering that covers very good quality four-star hotels and touring right up to the best hotels in the world, so we cater to a wider customer audience.

“Elegant Resorts celebrate 35 years this year – it’s a strong consumer brand and we have worked hard over the last eight years to build and support our trade partners. We are very much in the trade sector for the long term. The brand operates at the highest level of luxury and the concierge service has been further expanded this year and adds excellent value.

“Agents that work with Elegant Resorts are luxury specialists; it’s often an agent with their own little black book of high-net-worth individuals. Some work with both brands but there isn’t actually a huge crossover, so it makes sense to have a dedicated person to work with a smaller group of agents to offer a personalised service.”