Dana Cariss is a lover of road trips.

 

For him, they serve as a natural reset button. Like his favorite vacation, where he and his family (and of course, the dog) camped their way up the northern California coast. When they arrived at their destination in Sunriver, Oregon they parked the camper on a beach and spent the days exploring.

 

Cariss loves the many elements of a road trip—the excitement leading up to it, the time spent in the car, hiking a newly discovered trail. “You get to have a lot of long conversations about things you normally wouldn't, to listen to a LOT of good music, to laugh and maybe even cry, to feel vulnerable if you are in a city you don't know,” he says. “It’s my preferred form of travel.”

 

That passion for travel and cultivating relationships is central to his role as CoralTree’s vice president of Revenue, Strategy and Distribution, in which he is responsible for maximizing revenues and profit through rate and inventory management of all market segments. Cariss takes an active role with the area and regional directors of revenue to support each hotel’s pricing as well as analyze trends, and reviews revenue and profit goals. He also takes an active role with the marketing team, working directly to support them with promotions, packages, e-commerce and each property’s digital media strategy. In addition. He recently served as San Diego chapter president of Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International.

 

Cariss actually entered the hospitality industry by accident, taking a job as a hotel valet in San Diego just to earn some extra cash. “I loved taking part in the joy and excitement  someone has that moment when they step out of their car at a hotel on vacation,” he says. “I also met a lot of celebrities,” Cariss adds, “and drove A LOT of nice cars.” The young valet was hooked, and three years later, he had worked his way to a role as bellman and was on his way to a career in the hotel business.

 

Starting in guest services at Loews, he joined San Diego’s Handlery Hotel as a revenue manager in 2004. He was recognized early on for his acumen in revenue, leading hm to Estancia La Jolla, then a Destination Hotels property, as director of revenue management. He transitioned from a regional position with Destination to regional vice president for Two Roads Hospitality. In 2019, he joined several of his ex-Two Roads and Destination colleagues to shape CoralTree, serving as vice president of revenue strategy and distribution. He is proud to join with familiar faces of an organization that empowers its team members to create an exceptional culture.