Battle has devoted 30 years to the hospitality industry. Along the way, he has held various positions at properties within the Embassy Suites, Holiday Inn and Sheraton chains. He also earned an MBA degree from Averett College in Danville, Virginia. He is a Certified Destination Management Executive and a Certified Association Sales Executive.
His almost-accidental entry into the hospitality field led Battle to spend the early part of his career in various hotel management training programs learning the operations side of the business. One job was as a hotel assistant general manager in California, but he felt compelled to leave because “the woman I wanted to marry was way back in upstate New York,” he said with a smile.
Battle went to Syracuse to pursue her, and the switch in cities also proved to be a good career move. He landed a hotel job as director of sales. Before that he had only been in hotel operations. Since he now had operations experience and was gaining knowledge in the sales arena, Battle drew the interest of the Richmond (Virginia) Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau. He worked his way up at the CVB, spending 12 years in the front lines while rising to vice president of sales and services. Then Louisville called in 2013.
At the Louisville CVB, Battle concentrates on expanding industry relationships around the country while developing overall strategy for his organization’s departments. “Our job at the CVB is to bring visitors to Louisville. Those visitors all have different titles. Some are leisure visitors, some are corporate visitors, convention visitors or tour group visitors,” he said.
Battle was born in Omaha, Nebraska, but raised in the Denver area. Even though he has worked in the hospitality industry all over the country, Colorado still holds a special place in his heart. He enjoys sports in general but said all of his favorite professional teams operate in Colorado, meaning the Denver Broncos (NFL), the Denver Nuggets (NBA), the Colorado Rockies (MLB) and the Colorado Avalanche (NHL). Being a Louisville resident, Battle also follows the University of Louisville Cardinals.
Another hobby is working out: “I am really a gym rat, a runner at heart, but very soon to become a cyclist because my knees won’t take much more of the running,” he said.
Meeting Tips from Cleo Battle
1. Learn the best practices and proven methods in advance from whatever CVB destination consultant you work with.
2. Let a destination consultant suggest logistics, venues, hotel packages or transportation options.
3. Smartly promote the meeting for potential attendees, and then provide “one-of-a-kind” authentic meeting experiences to satisfy them.
