Ed Donaldson has been appointed as Group Commercial Director at Experiential Hospitality Group
Experiential Hospitality Group has named Ed Donaldson as Group Commercial Director. Based at the group's Memphis headquarters, Donaldson leads EHG's global commercial strategy, overseeing sales, marketing, distribution and revenue management as the group prepares to introduce its first destinations to travelers and the trade.
A 38-year hospitality veteran, Donaldson has opened and repositioned properties for some of the most respected names in luxury travel, including Mandarin Oriental Canouan, The Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas and Rosewood Bermuda. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Sales for The Affluent Traveler Collection, overseeing the Hotels & Resorts value-added program and its relationships across a portfolio of roughly 1,500 hotels and more than 25,000 luxury travel advisors worldwide.
Ed was also part of the opening teams for Alaia Belize, Autograph Collection, Marriott's first property in the country, and Mahogany Bay Resort & Beach Club, Curio Collection, both in San Pedro. At The Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas, he served on a Marriott task force restructuring sales and marketing leadership, and at Rosewood Bermuda he led the hotel and residential association out of receivership ahead of the property's sale.
Donaldson has held on-property roles with Boykin Management Company, Servico, Richfield Hospitality, Park Lane Hotels and Morgans Hotel Group, where Ian Schrager taught him the marketing lesson he still works by: less is always more. On the representation and distribution side, he served as Vice President of Marketing, the Americas, for Small Luxury Hotels of the World; Executive Vice President of JG Black Book of Travel, where he managed a team of twelve sales directors; and held regional positions with Rosewood Hotel Group and REZsolutions, where his responsibilities extended to distribution and development. As Vice President in TravelCLICK's UK office, he led the sales team and the rollout of new products, including the Hoteligence report. Over the years he has also worked with Explora and Singita.
Ed believes independent, boutique hotels give travelers the best way to understand a destination and its people, and to learn something about themselves along the way.
Donaldson holds a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing, both from Wayne State University. He is based in Memphis, Tennessee.
For more information, visit experiential-hospitality.com and follow @experientialhospitalitygroup.