Steven Erler Joins BeautifulPlaces as National Sales Director

21 November 2005 -- BeautifulPlaces has named Steven R. Erler as its Director of Sales for the United States and Canada. Erler will be responsible for direct sales for the lodging company, which markets and manages the rental of upscale wine country homes to affluent vacationers, and meeting and incentive groups.

The formerly Los Angeles-based Erler, 53, has an extensive travel industry marketing and sales background. For 25 years he has specialized in introducing high-end hotel properties to the U.S. market and developing their market share. After helping Lufthansa Airlines’ introduce its Kempinski Hotels brand in the United States in the late 1980s, Erler grew the chain’s bookings 600% in a five-year period.

Other hotels that Erler has represented include the Mondrian in West Hollywood, CA, and Meridien Hotels and Resorts. He also served for two years as Vice President of Marketing and Sales for the West Hollywood Convention and Visitors Bureau.

For the past three years, Erler had worked as an independent high-end travel agent on behalf of resorts that cater to up-market private and corporate travelers.

“We found Steven after we hired a sales representation company to market us in Southern California,” says Patrick Smith, president and CEO of BeautifulPlaces. “We were so impressed by his market knowledge and skills that we decided to hire him and make him our full-time national sales director.”

BeautifulPlaces was founded in 2003. It markets two brands of vacation home rentals: BeautifulPlaces, upscale wine country homes and estates; and Country Sojourns, more affordable wine country retreats.

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Contact:

Patrick Totty, Communications Director
707-996-0266 or 415-924-8268
pct@beautiful-places.com

BeautifulPlaces – Vacation Homes of Distinction
539 First St. West
Sonoma, CA 95476
707-996-0266
707-996-0366 fax
information@beautiful-places.com
www.beautiful-places.com