Waterstone, a sales, marketing and communications company, has announced the signing of four new clients to its portfolio and the appointment of John Raiche as director of sales, Eastern Region.
Specializing in the promotion of luxury hotels, resorts, villas, yachts and destination management companies in partnership with luxury travel advisors, Waterstone welcomed One Sloane in London, Splendide Royal Lugano, Splendide Royal Paris and Platinum by Trans India as new members to the company’s roster.
The company also announced the addition of Raiche to the Waterstone team. In his new role as director of sales, Eastern Region, Raiche will be responsible for overseeing all luxury leisure sales initiatives for the travel advisor segment, along with championing new opportunities for Waterstone’s members. This appointment is a key component of the company's ongoing drive to attract successful talent and fortify its position as an undisputed leader in the luxury hotel representation space.
Raiche began his travel career in early 2011 with one of the industry’s largest Caribbean hotel chains, Sandals and Beaches Resorts, and grew his presence by quickly expanding his territory after continuously exceeding sales targets. Wanting to see more of the world, Raiche moved to the tour operator side, most recently with Classic Vacations as business development manager. He has conducted over 30 FAM trips all over the world and graduated from Johnson and Wales University with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management.
With the addition of new members and a new team associate, Kristen Moore, COO of Waterstone, continues to strengthen her role at the company, which will mark its one-year anniversary in 2024 via a partnership with Destinations of Distinction, LLC. The collaboration between the two U.S. sales and marketing representation companies has allowed them to offer enhanced sales, marketing, PR and consulting services to clients and partners.
As Moore continues to guide the multi-year strategic succession plan, Waterstone will offer innovative solutions for strengthening member engagement in 2024, including the restyling of initiatives such as educational trips and tradeshow participation. The company will also roll out new B2C partnerships for members, as well as monthly ad-hoc sales initiatives and innovative key strategies for MICE and wholesale travel. On the trade side, there will be renewed opportunities to work with travel advisors, especially those of the next generation, with new “Future of Travel” initiatives that specifically target Millennial and Gen Z IC’s.
Across the pond, Waterstone’s U.K. office continues to grow its reach in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand markets, while forging relationships in new markets including Europe and the Middle East. Waterstone will also introduce a series of new marketing opportunities for members in 2024, including digital directories, expanded distribution leads, innovative web-based promotions, social media channel management and more.
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