We were looking for somebody who we could work with on a very personal basis that didn't represent other hotels in New York. I know Nunzio has a great hotel in Boston and here in London, but we wanted that more intimate relationship. And so we began to work together, I think, almost a year ago, and he certainly seems to have the ability to track down where any businesses is coming and going and has a great relationship with many of the travel agents.
If someone has a smaller property and you can't afford to send people to travel to network to go to trade shows and represent your hotel at these events, he is a great person to be your prime example. A phenomenal asset and if he was in this country I would have him work for us on property. He has helped us spread the word about the property. He is incredibly supportive and thoughtful.
As a person, Nunzio is incredibly warm, passionate, fun to have around. He brings great character and personality. He brings a spark. He brings good energy, and that resonates into the work he does. I'd describe them as being unique, definitely results driven,/and they deliver a very personal level of service.
We saw results using Luxury Boutique Collections. In terms of groups and events, it was about 500k worth of business that we converted through them. If I was to describe Nunzio, I would say he is knowledgeable. He is very professional and very flexible and adapting himself with the rest of the team.
Everybody can get to know an account, but you need to get to know the right person that will deliver you the business. And I think Nunzio really nailed that, and he made sure that all of the people that he was dealing with were actually the correct people and that they would deliver the business, too. He was the sales person everybody wanted in their team.
Since day one Nunzio has been at the forefront of obtaining a very high level agency and he is able to get, the key contacts on property. He very much supports the hotel via social media and always re-shares our posts and stories as well as posting his own content to represent the hotel on his end as well. Nunzio really understands the luxury market and he understands the 15 Beacon brand.
Nunzio's greatest skills, if I had to outline them, because there are many, one would be collaboration, communication, and he's very emotionally intelligent. If you provide the strategy, you'll get a structured plan from Nunzio. We literally started with zero amount of bookings in corporate negotiated last year, and we saw a drastic improvement within the first six months. And now, as it stands, we're running around 20% in the corporate segment.
The value that Nunzio has been able to bring is that he knows the UK market and European markets, including the French and Italian markets. So, when looking to penetrate and solicit business from a particular market segment or geographic source market, I would highly recommend working with him.
I knew that this gentleman would do really well in life and progress. I think he's fun, he brings a lot of energy, positiveness. He has a lot of contacts, which suited our brand. He understands from a client point of view as to what they're expecting, and hence he acts on it.