Steven Schumacher, 33, works in Dunwoody, Georgia, as Director of Sales at Discover Dunwoody. As a 2019 40 Under 40 honoree, Schumacher discusses his passion for the events industry.
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What I do: I work with my sales manager to educate, promote and sell Dunwoody as a destination for travelers when they are considering Metro Atlanta. I budget for our sales plan annually and work with different groups to sponsor, meet and connect with our fellow suppliers and planners. Our goal is to bring new business to Dunwoody for our hotel partners, restaurants and businesses.
How I got here: I got to Atlanta from New England when my wife’s job moved us from Connecticut to Buckhead in 2013. I got into the tourism industry via extended stay hotels as a front desk agent in 2009. After working as a hotel manager for a few years, I jumped into the sales world at a Crowne Plaza (the newly renovated Crowne Plaza Ravinia in Dunwoody) that I now sell on the DMO side.
Impressive stats: Since joining Discover Dunwoody, our sales goals have exceeded our numbers, while continuing to increase our benchmarks year over year. Last year showed a record 121 percent of room nights booked with our hotel partners and over 340 appointments with planners that had business for Dunwoody.
Specific improvement I’ve made: I am most proud of implementing our Incentive Plan for 2019, the first of its kind for Discover Dunwoody.
What I do outside of work: I am the vice chair of networking events for MPI Georgia, having just rolled off serving two years on the board of directors. Most of my time in the past 15 months have been spent with my daughter, Quinn, who joined our family in January 2018. A more recent passion of mine (since moving down South) has been whiskey.
