Geraldine Hayes
Regional Manager of Sales, California
Geraldine has been in the industry for two decades. She began with the airlines and for many years worked for an incentive and meetings company in sales and content development. Geraldine has lived in and worked in Southern California for over a decade and loves the weather, environment and people.
Geraldine’s current role is Regional Manager of Sales over California to include programs commonly in the following: San Francisco, San Diego, Palm Springs, Orange County and Los Angeles.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FEATURE ABOUT YOUR DESTINATION?
Los Angeles is multiple destinations in one. Not only do we have the glamour of Hollywood and the original Disney Theme park, and neighborhoods; we have museums and venues that are world reknown.
WHAT’S NEW AND HOT IN YOUR DESTINATION?
Hot Dogs. Don’t ask me why but Los Angeles for some reason ranks among the highest in Hot Dog spots. We just had a few spots open featuring this traditional American food fettish.
Really. We always have great new and fun restaurants coming into play. The Supperclub in Hollywood comes to mind. Not only do they change their menu weekly, but the kitchen is the stage to the setting and aerial acrobats perform at certain times.
DESCRIBE THE BIGEST MISPERCEPTION OF YOUR DESTINATION?
The biggest challenge and misperception of Los Angeles and actually true of the whole region is distance versus time. Moving simple mileage distances can easily make a simple program timing complex depending on the time of day.
WITH WHAT OTHER DESTINATION DOES YOUR DESTINATION COMMONLY COMPETE?
Los Angeles commonly comes up against New York in many cases. Anaheim competes with Las Vegas and Orlando because of large function space. We find Orange County is a perfect alternative to parts of South Florida or San Diego or even Arizona as a destination. I find it is critical you engage your DMC partner early in the destination planning process to truly examine what is right for your event.
DESCRIBE SOMETHING FUN OR A TWIST ON EVENT CONCEPTS THAT YOU RECENTLY DID?
My recent favorite was a dessert reception that we planned following a dine around. Not only did it bring the attendees back into one location but we were able to feature our coastline by planning the event on a beach with tiki torches and picnic baskets. It was a surprise for all and a wonderful way to close the evening.