Josie Lewis, CMP, describes herself as driven, hospitable and optimistic. Learn more about her.
What I do: I am responsible for planning the strategic initiatives for the sales and servicing department. I oversee, plan, and execute quarterly all hotel partner meetings and advisory committee meetings, as well as all sales and servicing initiatives. This involves overseeing the sales budget, travel schedule, blitz opportunities and FAM events, in addition to working with clients and responding to leads. However, my main responsibility and passion is to sell The Woodlands as a premier destination for conferences and events.
Greatest career accomplishment: When I first started with Visit The Woodlands, I set a personal goal to earn my CMP certification. In 2019, I was able to accomplish this goal. In 2018, I was honored to be recognized with the Catalyst Award by the Texas Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus.
Impressive stats: In the first year as director of sales, Visit The Woodlands saw an 80% increase in leads and RFPs worked and distributed to our partners. In addition, I was recently able to negotiate $40,000 off a contract for an upcoming piece of business that will contribute significant economic impact to The Woodlands.
Specific improvement I’ve made: I have successfully implemented a new advisory committee to oversee sales and servicing initiatives for Visit The Woodlands. In addition, I have helped transition our department to industry standards for sales CRM tracking, which were all being manually tracked before
What I do outside of work: I enjoy spending time with my husband, David, and our son. We are currently teaching him to fish. I also love spending time volunteering at Brookwood Community, which is a community and home for handicapped adults.
Fun Fact: I spent my high school years on a small island off the west coast of Malaysia. During my time there, I saw first-hand what a direct impact the travel and tourism industry has on a community. This was the starting point that led me into the hospitality industry by earning my degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management from the Hilton School of Hospitality Management at the University of Houston.
