Darline Dondl '04

Regional Revenue Manager,
Starwood Vacation Ownership

q: What do you do?

a: I'm responsible for the rental revenue for six resorts in South Florida, Myrtle Beach, SC, and Beaver Creek, CO. I have to stay competitive with pricing in each of the markets, and ensure that the consumer is aware of the value of a villa vacation.

q: What's your favorite part of the job?

a: I enjoy that no two days are the same. The decisions that I make influence consumers' buying decisions, producing nearly instant results.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

a: With vacation ownership down in this economy, I have even more of an opportunity to be creative in renting the unoccupied villas, bringing income to the resorts. The daily challenge of revenue management at timeshare resorts is that the number of rooms available to rent is constantly changing, sometimes in your favor, and sometimes creating a risk.

q: Do you stay in touch with any other UCF hospitality alums?

a: I see Jordana Stengel '05 at the Starwood Vacation Ownership offices and I work with Taryn Dorsey '07 and Ashley Mulvey '07 as a hotel partner with Expedia.

q: Outside work...you're most likely to be seen?

a: At the dog park with Winston, my dachshund, or out shopping or having coffee with friends.

q: Your biggest accomplishment since graduating, outside your career?

a: I bought a house just a few months before I graduated and it has definitely been a learning curve to balance time and finances for work, home, and enjoyment. I also completed my certification for a Certified Revenue Management Executive (CRME).

q: How did UCF prepare you for what you do?

a: The professors' real life stories from their professional past was truly what you could not learn in textbooks. The diversity of the courses provided an overview of how all segments of hospitality tie into each other. I didn’t enjoy the group projects at the time, but they gave me the opportunity to work with different venues and gain experience I wouldn't have received otherwise. I was in the inaugural HSMAI Central Florida Student Chapter and learned the importance of networking which lead me to my two jobs after graduation.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

a: Although I took a special one-time “Reservation Sales” class offered my last semester, there were no courses offered that touched the topic of Revenue Management. When I was a guest speaker in Professor Jung’s Class this past month, he said Rosen College is in the planning stages now for such a course, which will likely be added to the curriculum.

q: A UCF memory?

a: Working in the UCF Bookstore Café at Main Campus. I got to meet so many students and professors as they got their caffeine fix.

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

a: At Brio: the Artichoke-Crusted Beef Medallions.

q: On your iPod?

a: Madonna, Eminem, Dave Matthews Band, something for every mood.

q: Little known fact about you?

a: I enjoy Broadway shows. I've been a volunteer at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center for the past two seasons.