France Langan

General Info

About

France began his career in Hospitality with the Marriott Corporation learning from the ground up while finishing his degree in Business Administration from St. Louis College. Starting out as a Doorman at the Marriott Pavilion Hotel in downtown St. Louis, France was quickly noticed by upper management and his desire to grow and learn soon had him enrolled in Marriott’s Management Training Program. His career progressed steadily as he was transferred to Chicago’s Marriott Michigan Avenue followed by Marriott Lincolnshire Resort where he received Marriott’s Manager Award for “Better Corn;” something founder Bill Marriott strove for his entire life to improve the quality of everything around him. France immersed himself in learning the business and fellow colleagues naturally called on him when opportunities arose within their organizations. It was only a matter of time before France decided to leave the Marriott structure of nearly ten years and start a new path as an accomplished and award-winning Revenue Manager. France went on to join the Anvan Corporation; a Wisconsin Group of Resorts and Chicago Hotels helping to structure systems and market resources. As Regional Revenue Director, France quickly gained a reputation for being an outside the box marketer, quick to get things done, and had great success raising occupancies and ADR’s. Once again the colleagues gained throughout France’s career sought him for an unusual promotion with a new company; Shell Hospitality. France was named Director of Sales & Marketing, as well as oversaw Front Desk Operations, for the largest Best Western Hotel in the chain. He quickly built teams that wanted to make their mark and successfully put the Best Western Inn of Chicago on the list of go-to properties for the Convention and Tourism Bureau. After three successful years of raising occupancies and average daily rates to record levels, France was promoted to General Manager of the Best Western Inn of Chicago. At age 33, France was now the youngest General Manager of a full-service hotel in downtown Chicago and in 1997 he was named ‘Hotelier of the Year’ for the State of Illinois. France was promoted yet again by Shell Hospitality and spent his time traveling nationally and internationally as the Operations Manager as he assisted Shell Vacations to establish Vacation Ownership operations. He quickly built on his reputation for developing existing teams into sales and service focused with his easy, hands-on demeanor. A driven desire to learn and grow, France moved on to open three new build hotels for Hawthorn Suites, Marriott, and Carlson as General Manager. France is now in is eleventh year as the Director of Sales & Marketing at the Flagship Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza; managed by Hostmark Hospitality. Winner of four ‘Director of Sales’ of the year awards from Hostmark Hospitality and the 2014 recipient of the Hostmark President’s Award for Superior Service and Hospitality. Under France’s direction the Mart Plaza continues year after year to exceed occupancies and RevPAR amongst their competition. He is an avid Networker, past President of HSMAI (Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association of Illinois), recent past Chairman of the River North Business Association and a current Board Member.

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