Directly responsible for booking meetings, conventions, and sporting events, Thomas Riel, Senior Vice President at the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau (goprovidence.com) gets results.
He has played a major role in the ongoing transformation of Rhode Island’s small but mighty capital into an international destination for business and leisure tourism. In fiscal 2023, his team secured 237 bookings resulting in $103.4 million in direct spend revenue for Rhode Island, boosted by several large-scale, multi-year sporting events. Last year’s total of 251 events produced $91.8 million in direct spend. With “carpe diem” as his motto, here’s how the charismatic Massachusetts native and proud New Englander has charted his career success.
Staying with big numbers, you were the youngest of five kids. Did you have to fight for every bite or were you the family darling?
Oh, I was spoiled rotten! We were a classic large 1960’s Catholic family in Worcester County, smack dab in the middle of Massachusetts. My first inkling that I should work in hospitality came from my late father. Apparently, I was always charming my many aunts, which prompted him to state that I would do well as a maître d’ at a fancy restaurant or hotel.
And thus, the seed was planted?
Ultimately, yes. My main interest growing up was competitive figure skating, which I supported with a succession of early jobs. My first, at 14, was as a bus boy at an Italian restaurant. I absolutely despised it! Every Friday was Lazy Lobster night, a New England tradition. What a mess! Better experiences were ahead though, and I have worked in hospitality ever since.
As the saying goes, everybody should work in hospitality at least once. What came next?
I cannot believe it was 40 years ago, but in April 1985, at 19, I went to Provincetown and ended up staying until November. I worked as a cocktail waiter at both the Crown & Anchor and Boatslip Resort & Beach Club, as well as a house boy at a guest house. That was my introduction to the hotel business, following which I joined Eastern Airlines as a Boston-based flight attendant. Losing my father just before I started was hard, but I loved the job. When labor-management strife arose in the late 80’s, I had to relocate. My options were Atlanta, D.C, Miami, and NYC. When I asked which was cheapest, my manager said, “Welcome to Atlanta, honey!”
The boy leaves New England!
I still loved the job. Those were different times, much more service-driven than today. We served a choice of entrees for 309 passengers on the Atlanta to Newark run! I quickly became an in-service flight cadre, responsible for training crews to deliver excellent service aboard the aircraft. Then came the end of Eastern. I remember the exact moment we got the news—10 P.M. on January 18, 1991—and it was devastating.
Been there before—unemployed and rent due. No fun.
Precisely. Thankfully, my then boyfriend was a waiter at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Atlanta and got me a job as a front desk agent. That was my first exposure to hotel-based conventions and meetings. We regularly cycled thousand-strong groups in and out. I found my way into the sales office, which I loved because we did not have to work weekends! When the department’s receptionist left on maternity leave, I begged them to fill her seat and then made myself indispensable, so they had to keep me. I stayed through the 1996 Summer Olympics, working my way up from sales assistant to entry-level sales manager. Then I got a call from the hotel’s former director of sales and marketing, who was vice president for Marriott’s south-central region. He had an opening in Colorado he thought would work for me, so off I went, selling the Vail market from a remote office in Denver for three-plus years.
Rocky Mountain time.
It was a great experience, up until 9/11. At that point, it was time to come home regardless, to support my aging mother. New England was calling. My priorities were owning a home, as I had done in Denver, and advancing my career, but I was undecided on where to live, so I rented a car and spent three weeks driving throughout the region. Portland, Maine was appealing but had no infrastructure for a successful sales career in hospitality at the time. Getting a house in the Boston area was impossible. It came down to Providence, which had an attractive convention center and hotel package. Joining the Providence Marriott in 2002, I spent a year getting acclimated and absolutely fell in love with the destination.
It is an easy city to fall in love with. When did you land at the PWCVB?
In 2003, when I took an open position selling the Chicago market. I jumped right in and spent three years as director of national accounts before another opportunity came calling. A Marriott colleague from Denver had moved to a hospitality development and management company that was preparing to transform the historic Masonic Temple in Providence into a Renaissance hotel. He wanted me to become director of sales and marketing for the project.
That was a major undertaking. The building was unfinished and had been abandoned, ransacked, and exposed to the elements for decades?
I was there when they kicked in the door. Garbage and debris stood eight feet high. I remember thinking, what am I getting myself into! And yes, the restoration effort was among the most extensive and involved in Rhode Island history, including graffiti removal. I had to say yes. This was the first Renaissance property in New England, and the opportunity to launch a regional brand was too good to pass up. Resigning from the PWCVB was hard, but I always knew I would be back.
Onward and upward.
With two other moves and several years in between. After successfully launching the Renaissance Providence Downtown Hotel, I became senior sales manager at the Sheraton Boston Hotel before returning to Marriott International as a senior account executive at the national level.
What brought you back to the PWCVB?
My friend Kristin McGrath was leaving her post as Vice President of Sales & Services at the bureau for the same position in Richmond, VA. There was no way I was letting the opening pass me by and in late 2014 I returned to the organization in the city I loved. In 2022, our President and CEO Kristen Adamo promoted me to Senior Vice President and here I sit.
Kristen is one of a kind and one of my absolute favorite people in the industry. What a great full-circle journey in a destination that has evolved so much since 2002.
In our business, every city has its big moment. The transformation of Balti more’s Inner Harbor into a tourism and entertainment destination was all the rage in the 90’s. Then it was all about Austin. Now it is Nashville. I always wanted to be in the city with the buzz. That has been my focus since day one and we are right on the verge on the group side. Years in the making, Providence has successfully shifted from a blue-collar city to a center of intellectual capital and innovation. Now entrenched in industries including biotech and renewable energy, we are attracting conventions and meetings for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), healthcare, and other sectors. It is cool to meet in Providence. I hear it directly from our customers. They want to be here.
I imagine that goes hand in glove with existing international recognition of Providence as a premier U.S. destination for culinary, cultural, artistic, and historical tourism.
Leisure and business visitation reinforce each other in the Creative Capital, as Providence is known. Our customers get big city, first-tier attractions and amenities that are more accessible and affordable. That is our competitive advantage. When I first got here, we averaged 90,000 hotel rooms a year. This year, I am on track for 160,000 rooms. As our group business continues to expand in scale and sophistication, our in-house marketing team continues to play a vital role in getting the word out about Providence. We love to brag, and the in-roads and progress speak for themselves.
Let’s talk leisure and why Providence is such a popular LGBTQ+ travel destination.
For the same reason that Providence wooed me as a safe and comfortable place to work and enjoy life. The LGBTQ+ community is woven into the tapestry of this small friendly city and beyond. I was just at a house party with 20 guys and the conversation was all about the strength and friendliness of our community, which represents a substantial part of the population relative to the size of the city. I was recently looking to do volunteer work and found a non-profit organization that provides social services for aging community members who live alone. Think Meals on Wheels with specific services for the LGBTQ+ community. We also have the all-inclusive Providence Gay Flag Football League with 300-plus members. You should see them on Saturdays—it’s a blast.
I always have an exciting time in Providence and love coming back. No two visits are the same, which speaks volumes about this small city that offers so much to locals and visitors alike.
That’s why I’ll never leave. We live 15 minutes from downtown and zipping in and out and back is a breeze. “Carpe diem” is my motto. That probably goes back to my spoiled brat days. I saw something, I grabbed it. Now that I have just turned 60, I better carpe the hell out of every diem! There is always something to do here, whether dining out, meeting friends, shopping, going on a ghost tour, attending festivals, or seeing comedy shows, concerts, theater, and more at one of our acclaimed cultural venues. I never want to be bored and that’s never an issue in Providence.
