by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
It’s a broad enough territory to give Lewis and Clark second thoughts.
Draw a horizontal line across the middle of the United States, ocean to ocean. Everything to the north is the responsibility of Amy Vahlkamp, the new national corporations sales manager for the Adam’s Mark Hotel.
A successful hotel does more than keep its suites filled with visitors. It keeps the conference rooms filled with corporation and association members, attending seminars and meetings.
“Bringing in the sales, landing the accounts; that’s my job,” said Vahlkamp. “Definitely there are certain numbers you have to hit to know you’re performing, bringing business to the hotel, making sure it’s full.”
Vahlkamp had been with Alamo/National Car Rental in Orlando before starting her job with the Adam’s Mark Oct. 6.
“Alamo/National had gone through some changes, and, with Sept. 11, they went through a consolidation,” she said. “Basically, I was looking for a new and different avenue for me.”
The prospect of travel was a big consideration when Vahlkamp went to the University of Central Florida to major in hospitality management.
“It was an avenue I always wanted to go into,” she said.
While interviewing at the Adam’s Mark in Orlando, she heard about a vacancy at this location.
“They asked, ‘What about Jacksonville?’ ” said Vahlkamp. “I had no objections to that, and they offered me the opportunity.
“With the Super Bowl coming here, I felt that was something I just couldn’t pass up.”
Born in Nebraska, in the
general direction of Grand
Island, Vahlkamp moved to Cape Coral with her parents when she was seven years old. She’s only been back once since leaving the state.
“My parents decided they were sick of the cold weather,” she said.
One sister lives in Cape Coral, one brother still lives in Nebraska, and “tons” of family live in Quincy, Ill. Other siblings and relatives have been scattered across the country by husbands and jobs.
When she’s not at work, Vahlkamp enjoys photography and yoga and, especially, fishing, “preferably saltwater fishing, though I’ve done all kinds.”
As she prospects for clients in the northern tier of the United States, Vahlkamp is contacting those businesses that already have a presence in the region or have been to the Adam’s Mark before.
“From Seattle to New York, this is a huge market we’re trying to tap into,” she said. “There was somebody who did this before, someone in this position for about three months who was doing the whole United States. It was just too big.
“We’re promoting the Adam’s Mark, promoting Jacksonville and trying to get them to have their conventions and annual meetings here.”
Initially, at least, a lot of her work will be making contacts at the corporate headquarters of regional firms and talking to as many meeting planners as possible.
“Hopefully, whatever company it is will have affiliations in this area,” she said. “They’ll have some sort of link.”
She will eventually travel to those corporate cities, “But first I have to have clients who want to see me and hear what we have to offer.”
The attacks of Sept. 11 cut drastically into the number of corporate visitors from the northern tier, making it the tougher region for a sales manager in Jacksonville.
“In the southern part, of course, more people can drive here,” she said. “But Sept. 11 definitely hurt air travel. I still run into people today who say they won’t fly. My brother doesn’t like flying.
“But there is an upward streak. It’s slow, but it’s definitely there. It’s just not fast enough for me.”