Martha Austin, Recognized By Influential Women, Drives Hospitality Sales Growth Across The Americas

EASLEY, NC, UNITED STATES, October 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Director of Group Sales at Hyatt Inclusive Collection Americas Brings More Than 38 Years of Expertise in Hospitality Sales Leadership, Multi-Property Strategy, and Revenue Growth

Easley, South Carolina – Martha Austin is the Director of Group Sales for Hyatt Inclusive Collection Americas, where she leads sales strategies and operations for 18 properties across the region. A highly accomplished hospitality executive with more than 38 years of experience in the hotel industry, Martha specializes in sales leadership, commercial strategy, and team development. Her areas of expertise include hospitality sales leadership, group sales strategy and management, multi-property and regional sales management, revenue growth, and strategic sales planning and execution. In her current role, she oversees diverse MICE and social group sales teams spanning multiple countries, providing strategic direction, mentorship, and operational leadership to maximize revenue growth and strengthen commercial performance.

Martha built the foundation of her career through a series of roles that combined sales, consulting, and education. She served as Director of Sales for Crestline Hotels and Resorts, founded ML Hospitality Consulting to provide hospitality sales training and operational consulting, and shared her industry expertise as an adjunct professor at Kendall College. She then spent more than 14 years with Playa Hotels and Resorts, where she held senior leadership roles including Corporate Director of Sales (Above Property) and Director of Meeting and Incentive Sales. She directed sales initiatives across an international portfolio of resorts, partnering with revenue management, marketing, and operational teams to develop annual sales strategies, budgets, forecasts, and promotional campaigns. She also strengthened relationships with franchisor partners and property owners.

Throughout her career, Martha has become known for developing high-performing sales organizations, driving top-line revenue, and fostering collaborative cultures that empower individuals and teams to excel. Her expertise covers hospitality sales, strategic planning, revenue optimization, multi-property sales leadership, contract negotiations, business development, forecasting, marketing strategy, organizational leadership, and talent development. Among her proudest accomplishments is transforming a struggling sales team focused on social groups and tour operators into a high-performing organization through strong leadership and cultural change.

Martha earned a Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management with a minor in Business from Southwest Minnesota State University. She later completed a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Organizational Leadership at North Central College. An active industry leader, she is a member of SITE and Women Leading Travel.

Group sales is one of the most important revenue drivers in the hotel and resort industry. Meetings, incentives, conferences, and events, often grouped under the term MICE, bring large volumes of business to properties and require careful coordination between sales, revenue management, marketing, and operations. Social group business, such as weddings, family reunions, and celebrations, adds another layer of personal service and planning. Leaders who manage these segments across many properties and countries must balance local market knowledge with a unified commercial strategy, making Martha’s experience especially valuable to the organizations she serves.

Martha attributes much of her success to resilience, determination, and a decision early in life to never allow someone else to define her potential. During a difficult personal relationship in college, she was repeatedly told that she would never succeed on her own. Rather than accepting those limitations, she used them as motivation to prove that she could build a successful career and an independent life. That experience instilled in her a strong work ethic, perseverance, and the confidence to embrace challenges, and it continues to inspire her to lead with strength, authenticity, and purpose.

The best career advice Martha has received is that effective leaders do not need to have all the answers. As people advance into leadership, it becomes impossible to be an expert in every discipline. Instead, she learned to surround herself with talented specialists, trust their expertise, and empower them to succeed. In her experience, building a strong team and drawing on the strengths of others leads to better decisions, stronger organizations, and greater success.

For young women entering the hospitality industry, Martha encourages saying yes to opportunities, especially the ones that feel challenging or intimidating. She believes growth often comes from stepping outside one’s comfort zone and embracing experiences that stretch one’s abilities. She advises young professionals not to let fear of the unknown hold them back, but to take the leap, trust in their potential, and be willing to learn along the way. Every new opportunity, she notes, can build confidence, expand skills, and open doors that once seemed out of reach.

Martha sees the continued underrepresentation of women in senior executive leadership as one of the biggest challenges facing the hospitality industry. While women hold many middle management positions, advancing into vice president, senior regional director, and other executive roles remains significantly more difficult in what is still a predominantly male-led industry. She views this as both a challenge and an opportunity. As organizations place greater emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and leadership development, she sees a growing chance to create clearer pathways for talented women to advance into executive positions and help shape the future of the industry.

The values most important to Martha, both professionally and personally, are authenticity and transparency. She believes in being honest, direct, and upfront in every interaction so that clients, colleagues, and team members know they can trust what she says. Rather than softening difficult situations, she prefers to communicate openly while working collaboratively to find the best solutions. Building relationships on honesty, integrity, and mutual respect, she believes, creates stronger partnerships and lays the foundation for long-term success.

Outside of her professional responsibilities, Martha serves as president of the local Blue Star Mothers of the Upstate organization, supporting military families in her community.

From her early work in hotel sales, consulting, and teaching to leading group sales strategy for 18 properties across multiple countries, she has built a career grounded in resilience, collaboration, and a commitment to developing others. By combining commercial expertise with a passion for mentorship, Martha Austin continues to shape high-performing teams and open doors for the next generation of women in hospitality.

Learn More about Martha Austin:

Through her Influential Women profile: https://influentialwomen.com/connect/martha-austin

Influential Women

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Influential Women