Director of Sales and Marketing

A Director of Sales and Marketing is ultimately accountable for how much revenue flows through the front door — and the mix of channels, segments, and prices through which it arrives. This is a different kind of accountability than running operations: rather than delivering what was promised to people already in the hotel, the DOSM is responsible for creating the demand that makes the hotel viable.

The strategy side of the role involves making decisions about where to focus limited sales capacity. No hotel sales team can pursue every market segment equally well. The DOSM decides which corporate accounts are worth the investment of relationship-building, which group segments fit the property's meeting space profile and rate structure, how aggressively to pursue direct bookings versus OTA-mediated volume, and what marketing channels produce the best return on investment. These decisions are made with data — STR competitive reports, booking window analysis, channel cost calculations — and with judgment formed by years of experience.

The leadership side involves building and running a sales team that executes the strategy consistently. Sales managers who are coached well, given clear targets, and supported with good tools and systems out-produce those who are simply assigned accounts and told to close. The DOSM sets the standard through their own behavior and through how they spend time — the amount of coaching, joint sales calls, pipeline review, and performance feedback they provide determines how much of the team's potential is realized.

The marketing function, where it falls under the DOSM, is increasingly important. OTA algorithm position, Google Hotel Ads performance, and social media presence directly influence booking volume at most properties. The DOSM is responsible for ensuring the hotel is well-positioned across these channels — not necessarily by managing them personally but by setting the strategy, managing the agency or internal team that executes it, and measuring the results against investment.

The General Manager is the DOSM's primary partner and the person to whom they are ultimately accountable. The relationship between these two roles often determines the commercial culture of the hotel — whether decisions are data-driven, whether short-term rate discounting is resisted in favor of long-term rate integrity, and whether sales is integrated with operations or siloed from it.

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in hospitality management, business administration, or marketing (required at most full-service and luxury hotels)
• MBA valued for roles with significant ownership reporting and commercial strategy scope
• Certified in Hotel Industry Analytics (CHIA) through STR/AHLEI for data and competitive set analysis credibility
• Certified Hospitality Sales Professional (CHSP) or HSMAI Senior Fellow for sales leadership recognition

Experience benchmarks:

• 8–12 years in hotel sales, with at least 3–5 years in a Director or Senior Sales Manager role with direct team management
• Demonstrated history of personal sales production and leading a team to revenue targets simultaneously
• Experience across multiple market segments: corporate transient, group, catering, leisure
• Ownership and asset manager reporting experience is increasingly expected at the DOSM level

Technical knowledge:

• CRM: Amadeus Delphi FDC or Salesforce with hotel industry configurations
• Revenue management literacy: STR report interpretation, STAR data, pace and pickup analysis, displacement modeling
• Marketing analytics: Google Analytics, OTA performance dashboards, email open and conversion rates
• Rate parity monitoring tools: OTA Insight, RateGain, or equivalent
• Budgeting: building and defending an annual sales and marketing budget with line-item justification

Commercial leadership profile: The strongest DOSMs combine genuine sales talent with analytical rigor. They can read an STR report and derive an action from it; they can also sit across from a major corporate account and close a three-year NRA. The ability to operate in both modes — strategic and interpersonal, analytical and persuasive — is what distinguishes exceptional DOSMs from those who excel at one dimension but not both.

The Director of Sales and Marketing is among the highest-demand leadership positions in full-service hotel operations, and the combination of commercial strategy expertise and proven revenue performance required for the role is in genuinely short supply. Every full-service hotel needs a capable DOSM, hotel development across luxury, lifestyle, and extended-stay segments continues, and the senior generation of sales leaders is moving toward retirement or multi-property consulting roles.

The nature of the role has shifted toward more analytical and technology-fluent requirements. A DOSM in 2026 who cannot interpret STR data, evaluate OTA channel performance, and understand the cost implications of different distribution mix scenarios is less competitive than one who can. Hotel ownership groups and asset managers have become more sophisticated in how they evaluate commercial performance, and DOSMs who can present strategy and results in financial terms are more credible to this audience than those who speak primarily in relationship terms.

The shift toward direct booking strategies has elevated the marketing component of the DOSM role at independent and lifestyle hotels. Properties where the DOSM understands SEO, paid search, social media ROI, and email marketing as business drivers — not just brand-building activities — are outperforming competitors who treat digital as an operational afterthought.

For DOSMs who perform, the career path typically leads to General Manager within 5–10 years, to multi-property Vice President of Sales and Marketing at a management company, or to brand-level commercial strategy roles. Total compensation at VP level at a major management company can reach $180K–$250K including bonus. The alternative path for some — particularly those who prefer commercial leadership over operational scope — is ownership or investment in independent hotel assets, where DOSM expertise combined with capital access creates a credible operator profile.

The best indicator of long-term value in the market is consistent production above target across multiple economic environments. DOSMs who have managed through a recession, a pandemic, and a recovery cycle are demonstrably more valuable than those with only bull-market experience.

Dear Hiring Manager,

I am writing to apply for the Director of Sales and Marketing position at [Property]. I currently serve as DOSM at [Hotel], a 410-room full-service hotel, where I lead a team of five sales managers and oversee digital marketing through a contracted agency relationship.

In 2025, our team achieved 103% of room revenue target and grew our RevPAR index versus competitive set by 4.2 points to 108.6 — our highest index in five years. The primary driver was a corporate negotiated rate program redesign: I restructured our NRA portfolio to reduce the number of volume-discount accounts by 18% while growing their minimum commitment levels, which improved revenue quality without reducing volume.

I've also invested significantly in direct booking performance. When I arrived, OTA commissions represented 14.8% of total distribution cost. Through a combination of Google Hotel Ads investment, a best rate guarantee program, and front desk training on direct booking benefits at check-in, we've reduced that to 11.2% over 24 months — saving approximately $210K annually in commission costs at our ADR.

I'm looking for a property with greater competitive complexity — a larger competitive set, more diverse segment mix, and the opportunity to develop a team with more depth than my current five-person structure. Your property's positioning in the [Market] market and the scale of the commercial opportunity look like exactly that environment.

I'd welcome a conversation about the role, the current commercial strategy, and where you see the most upside.

Thank you for your consideration.

[Your Name]