Destination Taps Jack Schmidt to Head Northwest Sales & Marketing

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. October 14, 2008

ENGLEWOOD, CO, November 8, 2006. Andy Anderson, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Destination Hotels & Resorts, today announced that Jack Schmidt has joined the company as regional vice president of sales and marketing. Schmidt will oversee the strategic sales and marketing efforts for Destination's northwest properties that include the new Suncadia in Roslyn, Wash. and Skamania Lodge near Portland, Ore. He also will work in concert with the Destination team at Sunriver Resort near Bend, Ore. to identify synergistic opportunities between the three properties.

Schmidt joins Destination from Benchmark Hospitality International where he was chief marketing officer responsible for the entire company's strategic sales and marketing effort. He oversaw the company's enterprise sales and marketing system, the national database of meeting planners, all revenue management functions, global distribution, advertising and promotion, the company's national awareness campaign, interactive marketing, customer relationship management programs, as well as sales training and compensation programming.

Prior to joining Benchmark, Schmidt was a partner in a travel management and hospitality industry consulting company. He also has held a number of executive level sales and marketing positions at various hotels, resorts, conference centers and casinos including the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, Landsdowne Resort in Virginia, the former Scanticon Hotel & Conference Center in Princeton and The El San Juan Hotel & Casino in San Juan, Puerto, Rico.

With Destination Hotels & Resorts, Schmidt will be responsible for all sales and marketing activities for Suncadia, a new all season resort located just 80 miles east of Seattle. Suncadia currently offers two active championship courses - Prospector Golf Course for public and Tumble Creek Golf Course for members, with a third course called Rope Rider opening in 2008. The 18-room Inn at Suncadia opened in 2005 and is the only hotel in Washington situated directly on a golf course. Ultimately, Suncadia Village will include the 254-room Lodge at Suncadia overlooking the Cle Elum River, scheduled to open in 2008, a spa, swim and fitness club, 17,000 square feet of state-of-the-art conference space, boutique shopping and 40 miles of groomed multiuse trails.

Schmidt also will have regional sales and marketing responsibilities for Skamania Lodge, a 254-room mountain resort located in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The lodge is located just 45 miles east of Portland, Oregon on the Washington side of the Columbia River. The property offers 22,000 square feet of International Association of Conference Center approved meeting space, an 18-hole golf course, full service spa and fitness center and much more.

Destination Hotels & Resorts also operates Sunriver Resort located near Bend, Ore. Schmidt will be responsible for working with Sunriver, Suncadia and Skamania to develop a northwest cooperative of sales and marketing efforts to best reach the customers of these three pivotal resorts in the Destination collection.

Schmidt currently is chairman of the board of directors for the executive committee of the Hospitality Sales and Management Association International; a position he holds through 2008.

Schmidt studied hospitality management at Widener University in Delaware and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He has been an adjunct professor teaching hospitality sales and marketing and co-authored the original sales training materials for the International Association of Conference Centers. He also has served on the IACC board of directors for three terms.

Schmidt and his wife have relocated to Sammamish, Wash. with their two dogs. The couple has four grown children.