Lance Fite

As Vice President of Sports, immediate duties are to solicit, promote and book sporting events resulting in increased hotel occupancy, visitor tax receipts, media exposure and promotion of the city as a first-class professional, youth and amateur sports destination. With a budget (comprised of private and public sector funds) ranging between $60,000 and $100,000 each fiscal year, I was tasked to strategically bid, negotiate, purchase and facilitate sporting events and provide trackable metrics back to city officials and key stakeholders. Those metrics included: Booked Room Nights, Actualized Room Nights, Economic Impact/Direct Visitor Spend, Estimated Attendees, Leads Sent and Tradeshows attended. Upon securing events, I would then spearhead all marketing efforts, logistics, partnerships and activations pertaining to each event. In addition to leading sales efforts with tangible metrics, it is a focus to represent Visit Mesa on numerous governing boards, associations, foundations and community initiatives.

Achieved metrics year by year since joining Visit Mesa:

(Prior to joining Visit Mesa, the Sports Market produced 28,000-35,000 room nights respectively)

2021/22- 89,004 booked room nights, 82,768 visitors and $122.5M in direct visitor spend

2022/23- 68,791 booked room nights, 57,500 visitors and $56.1M in direct visitor spend

23/24- 70,476 booked room nights, 66,135 visitors and $58.7M in direct visitor spend

Head of Sales Department on property for 9 months in charge of all major tourism markets: Sports, Leisure, Religious, Corporate, Association, Military, Education, etc.

After leading the property 20% above previous years sales numbers, COVID hit and transitioned me into running the hotel as Director of Sales and General Manager simultaneously. Once the hotel was closed for a month, it was my duty to sell enough business to hire back 1/4 of the staff and reopen under CDC guidelines. Once we reopened and remained the General Manager I was tasked with selling the hotel, running night audit, maintaining staffing levels, CDC compliance, cleaning rooms, ordering materials/food/soft goods, etc.

Furthered the understanding of business both in sales leadership and operations to retain staff and keep the property operational and in financial stability.

As Area Sports and Entertainment Sales Manager, I was tasked with representing/selling a cluster of hotels in the Phoenix Metro area. From full service hotels to select service hotels, the Sports and Entertainment Market was the main priority and most financially dependable for a successful budget. Learning the local competition and viable clients proved fruitful after landing: NCAA sports teams annually, WWE, MLB, NFL and CONCAF Gold Cup soccer events into our area.

This step into the tourism industry within the hotel sector laid the groundwork understanding of ADR, STR reports, market trends, profit margins, bids/negotiations, competitive deadlines, budgeting, etc.

Gap in employment due to professional career in Basketball overseas. Played the game at its highest level in Pro B leagues in Luxembourg and France. A brief professional stint in Mexico as well as multiple years in the ABA (American Basketball Association).