The acquisition enables ALHI, a leading luxury global sales organization, to offer a full suite of marketing services to its select membership of more than 250 luxury properties worldwide. The marketing agency, which will operate as 62ABOVE Powered by ALHI, is based in San Diego, and has extensive experience in travel and hospitality. Terms were not disclosed.
“When ALHI was looking at potential companies, 62ABOVE stood out from a culture perspective,” said Michael Dominguez, President and CEO of ALHI. “Just as when we look for new team members to join, we do a cultural evaluation first as the talent and capabilities really don’t matter if you don’t fit the ALHI culture. Knowing that 62ABOVE was a people-first organization made them the group we wanted to learn about as an organization.
“For our classic ‘independent’ hotels, we want to be an organization that continues to fill the gaps for their needs knowing we have an award-winning company that can assist with creative, digital, public relations and video needs. We feel that we are becoming the resource needed by our Member hotels.”
The newly acquired company, founded in 2020, has 26 employees. It provides a wide range of marketing services including creative, design, strategy, media planning and buying, PR, social media and digital solutions.
The company’s current clients include Visit Carlsbad, Love Catalina, Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association, See Monterey and more. The organization will continue to serve its current clients while growing its business and offering services to ALHI’s Members and clients.
“The transition will be seamless for our clients,” said 62ABOVE President and COO Greg Carson, “and we’re thrilled to work under the aegis of ALHI to bring its research and insights to new and existing clients.”
The agency’s roots began in 1995 when Jon Bailey, current Chief Relationships Officer, and Indra Gardiner Bowers, current Chief Communications Officer, founded PR agency Bailey/Gardiner. The agency continued to grow and rebranded as i.d.e.a. in 2012. Seven years later, Carson joined as president and in 2020, the team launched 62ABOVE, a tip of the hat to its home base of San Diego, which sits 62 feet above sea level.
The organization has received numerous awards over the years, most recently multiple HSMAI Gold Awards, along with honors from the Visit California Poppy Awards and The San Diego One Club for Creativity.
Carson, who spent more than two decades with MeringCarson after starting there as a copy intern in 1993, has previously worked on campaigns for the NFL, The Walt Disney Company, Visit California, San Diego Tourism Authority, Tahiti Tourisme and more.
Bailey has more than 30 years of experience working on national campaigns in both the public relations and advertising disciplines. He also has worked as a travel writer for msn.com, The Points Guy, San Diego Magazine and other media outlets, as well as managing his own influencer platform 2DadsWithBaggage.com.
Bowers oversees the agency’s public relations and social media department, providing strategic counsel and creative thinking. She has worked across many fields including tech, nonprofit and public affairs. She has a deep background in hospitality and tourism having worked in-house for Marriott for six years before moving agency side where she has managed public relations and social media for many hotel flags including W Hotels, Kimpton, Hilton, Sheraton and more. Her destination experience includes Coronado Island and the state of Baja Norte. Bowers is a PRSA Silver Anvil winner and former chair of PRSA’s Counselors Academy.
“There was an extraordinary synergy and warmth when we met with the ALHI team,” Bowers said. “From culture to a love of the hospitality industry, we felt aligned. We related to the small but mighty culture of ALHI. And, of course, Mike. Mike’s energy and enthusiasm is just infectious".
She said her organization had been having parallel conversations about growth and the need for a “stronger operations backbone,” and believes 62ABOVE will bring additional high-level creative and strategic thinking to ALHI Members and clients. ALHI’s depth of knowledge, trends, and insights, particularly in the meetings space, will benefit 62ABOVE’s clients.
With ALHI managing the business from an operations standpoint, it will enable the 62ABOVE team to focus on clients and new business, especially as marketing strategies become more critical for Member and client growth.
“We’re the unicorn ALHI was looking for in terms of services married with category experience that will benefit your Members,” Bowers said. “It all starts with strategy. A start and stop approach to marketing doesn’t cut it anymore. We start with a deep dive into our client’s business and their challenges. Out of that we create a strategic approach and communications plan that identifies opportunities, channels and KPIs. We know investing in marketing can be expensive and that all work needs to be measured for success.”
The agency joins an ALHI team that serves as a global sales organization for its exclusive membership of the world’s most distinguished, independently operated or owned hotels and resorts, cruise ships and destination management companies within the meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition (MICE) marketplace. ALHI has nearly 80 professionals located among 26 offices across North America and Europe.
“We have many clients that will benefit from these resources,” Dominguez said. “We will begin to gather their needs and intelligence to create the appropriate products and offerings that continue to position us as a valued resource and solution provider,” Dominguez said.
