About

About John Munro Hilton Head

John Munro is a seasoned hospitality expert and has been the Vice President of Hospitality in Resort Sales and Marketing at Sea Pines Resort, located in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The Sea Pines Resort is a private family-owned property with three famous golf courses, including the iconic Harbour Town Golf Links. The resort offers eight restaurants, a marina with over 15 shops and boat charters, more than 400 vacation rentals, a 60-room Inn & Club Hotel, and meeting and conference facilities.

Munro is a devoted industry professional with over four decades of experience in the hospitality and tourism sectors. He is a result-driven professional adept at leadership, communications, strategies, sales, operations, and marketing-specific roles and responsibilities. Munro has been associated with several corporations, committees, bureaus, and associations.

Educational Qualifications

True to his passion, Munro graduated from the hospitality space. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Professional History 

Sea Pines Resort, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Throughout his 40+ years of career in the hospitality space, John Munro spent most of his professional life working for Sea Pines Resort. Munro has been involved in every authoritative role, including management, operations, supervision, direction, budget, sales, and marketing. 

Munro joined Sea Pines Resort in 1998 as Director of Lodging. In 2010, he was promoted to Vice President of Hospitality, Sales, and Marketing. With his growth mindset and leadership, he directed 10+ departments with over 100+ staff. For the first 10 years, he managed the food and beverage for this world-renowned resort.

Munro excelled in operations. He helped manage resort lodging, supervised a portfolio of 400+ vacation rentals, and executed many comprehensive marketing strategies for resort growth and innovation with a $2 million budget. With his leadership and strategy implementations, Munro led several teams in marketing and sales and helped consistent revenue growth. He played a vital role in $100M+ in resort facility enhancements.

Under the business of Sea Pines Resort, he was entitled to handle various areas.

The Inn & Club at Harbour Town

He invigilated all the operation reports submitted by the general manager regarding the front desk, concierge services, housekeeping, maintenance, food, and beverage. Munro helped Inn achieve a high occupancy rate and significant ADR (average daily rate). He maintained a perfect 5-out-of-5 score with over 700 Tripadvisor reviews. He maintained the resort’s rating as the number one rated hotel on Hilton Head Island. Forbes rated the Inn as a 4-Star AAA Four-Diamond 60-room hotel. In 2023, U.S. News and World Report rated the Inn as the No. 5 hotel in the United States and the No. 2 best hotel in South Carolina.

Vacation Home and Villa Rentals

Additionally, Munro was involved in the vacation home and villa rental business. He maintained effective communication with the property management department and rental property owners. Through property recruitment and enrollment, he helped in business development.

Resort Marketing

John Munro was actively invested in the marketing and advertisement of the resort. Effectively utilizing an annual marketing budget of over $2 million, he collaborated with multiple digital marketing agencies and PR firms. Additionally, Munro developed a resort-wide comprehensive strategy and marketing program. With his strategic thinking and understanding of the industry, he developed strong social media campaigns.

Beyond social media campaigns, Munro took the help of offshore staffing and built a fully integrated custom in-house engine for over 400 home and villa vacation rentals and three golf courses. Both booking engines helped in revenue growth. He developed all internal resort collateral for all departments. 

Group Sales and Conference Services

Including various departments, he managed the group sales department as its director. Munro managed several conference facilities with over 10,000 square feet of conference space. Similarly, he generated and managed nearly 100 weddings in a year with up to $250,000 per wedding.

Reservations Sales Department 

Responsible for leisure call center sales for all vacation rentals, Inn and Club room reservations, and golf tee times, with over a dozen employees generating over $ 50 million in sales a year.

All sales personnel are trained extensively, and professionally hired firms provide reinforcement programs, such as mystery shopping and on-on-one sales coaching.  All sales personnel were measured, including conversion rates, average sales, average length of call, abandon rates, log times, and more, to achieve optimal results.

Thanks to his brilliant work, The Sea Pines Resort’s revenue grew significantly by a million annually with an increase in NOI (net operating income).

Throughout his extensive career in leadership, operations, marketing, management, and communications, he worked in various resorts. He excelled at managing the tasks assigned and creating an impact.

Early Career

Players Club, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Munro started his career soon after graduation. He joined Players Club—a boutique hotel that offers 192 rooms, meeting rooms, a large destination restaurant, an expansive fitness center, pools, and much more. Munro worked there for 5 years, and throughout his tenure, he managed the front office, reservations, housekeeping, and maintenance.

The Club Group, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Following his service at the Players Club, Munro joined The Club Group. He was specifically responsible for managing all the operations of the private club with residents. During his 9-year tenure, he oversaw everything from reservations, food, and beverages to maintenance and housekeeping. 

Additionally, he built a rental vacation business where he personally enrolled over 150 new rental homes and villas in the program. Moreover, he managed other operational divisions, including property management, front office, housekeeping, reservations, and maintenance.

Reward, Recognition, and Association

Due to his excellent leadership, marketing, and sales, the South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association honored him with the South Carolina Hotelier of the Year award. John Munro has been associated with various hotel associations and societies. He is a board member of the American Hotel and Lodging Association. He is a committee member of the South Carolina Tourism Expenditure Review Committee, the Hilton Head Island Accommodations Tax Committee, and the Hilton Head Visitor and Convention Bureau.

Beyond his professional life in the hospitality industry, his personal life includes his wife, Michele, and daughter, Haley. He met his wife on Hilton Head Island after completing college. They have been married for 35 years. Their daughter completed her Hospitality and Tourism Management degree at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. Currently, she is employed by Omni Resorts.