We are excited to announce that Nikki Robinson joined Tourism Kelowna's team on Monday, August 15, as our new Director of Business Development.
Nikki has spent more than 20 years in the hospitality and tourism industry. Most recently, she worked with Sysco Canada B.C., successfully growing independent and local contract sales. Before her time with Sysco, Nikki spent 15 years in hotel sales for the Vancouver market, working at smaller properties like the Loden Hotel and larger properties like the Marriott Vancouver Aiport Hotel and the Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront.
Her expertise and creativity in group and corporate business sales have resulted in her well-earned reputation for exceeding sales and revenue goals. Nikki is a purposeful and forward-thinking professional who uses a collaborative team approach to achieve targets, while authentically understanding client needs and responding with exceptional care and service.
In her new role, Nikki will oversee our Business Development team, who in the first half of this year coordinated 82 leads, including 10 for sports hosting events—these represent a potential $11.7 million in new economic impact, which will contribute to the economic recovery of the meetings, conferences, and events sector in our region. Nikki will guide and support the team to build on Tourism Kelowna's success, attracting and securing business through our collaborative OKGo campaign and Major Events Strategy. She will also closely monitor inquiries for the latter part of 2022 and into 2023 and beyond, to see if the uncertainty around inflation, rising costs, and the impending recession affect the business travel market.
We invite you to connect with Nikki and welcome her to our team—she can be reached via email at nikki@tourismkelowna.com or by phone at (250) 861-1515 ext. 205.