Corporate Director of Operations
Candace Collins grew up in East Tennessee, surrounded by the beauty of the Smoky Mountains. Ms. Collins studied business and management at the University of Tennessee. During college, she was recruited and hired by Radisson Hotels. Upon graduation with a Bachelor of Science honors degree in Business Administration; she then started her hotel career at the Radisson Hotel Atlanta, a 300-room property with 80,000 sf of meeting space, as Sales Manager, embarking on a hospitality career that would span 34 years to date.
After 4 years and several promotions, she was recruited for The Holiday Inn Atlanta Decatur Conference Plaza, an IHG property, as Sales Manager, then promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing. At this hotel, she would meet and work under Deborah Cannon, at the inception of CUSA until 2000. Ms. Collins was promoted to Corporate Director of Sales and Development for CUSA with responsibilities of securing management contracts, hotel transitions, operations and sales. She also worked as General Manager, promoted from Director of Sales at The Holiday Inn Atlanta Northlake, an IHG property, which was managed by Sunway Hotel Group.
After 14 years in Atlanta, Ms. Collins returned to Knoxville, accepting a position initially as Director of Sales for The Holiday Inn World’s Fair Park, owned and operated by Franklin Haney. Ms. Collins was promoted to General Manager and oversaw a multi-million dollar renovation and increased hotel revenues to the highest ever in the history of the hotel. This 300 room property was connected to the Knoxville Convention and Exhibition Center with 45,000 sf of space. Five years later, Ms. Collins accepted the General Manager position with Gibson Hotel Management Inc. for the brand-new Hilton Garden Inn Knoxville. Ms. Collins received the Ramp Up Award, due to the exceptional revenue streams and customer service levels achieved during the first year of operation.
After 3 years, Ms. Collins was promoted to the GHMI corporate office as Vice President of Operations, Sales and Marketing. Until 2020, Ms. Collins worked in the following positions- Area Director, Corporate Director, Vice President and Executive Vice President. Ms. Collins had oversight for Operations and Sales and Marketing for select hotels and LLC groups with brands that include Hilton, IHG, Marriott, Choice and Wyndham in a portfolio of 20 hotels with separate LLCs.
Ms. Collins has received the Affiliate Broker license for commercial and residential real estate in Tennessee, representing Berkshire Hathaway and now CUSA. Ms. Collins has been affiliated with many professional associations, serving as a longstanding member and President of the Knoxville Tourism Alliance for 3 years. Ms. Collins was also a board member for the Tennessee Hospitality Association for 4 years.
Ms. Collins enjoys spending time with her daughters, Jordan and Lauren, family, attending UT Football games (Go Vols) and a pup named Tuxx.
Ms. Collins is so excited to once again be part of the CUSA team.