Susann Behrendt

If dictionaries included more photographs, if you looked up the word “competitor” you would see a picture of Susann Behrendt. That’s because IVI Destination Management’s director of corporate business development lives in a highly competitive world, and she is very much at home in this demanding arena.

Susann manages all sales activities for IVI in the company’s 18 locations in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic.

She is in charge of new business for the entire company and also serves as a specialist in financial and insurance markets. Susann manages a team of account executives, and also is in charge of strengthening cross-selling relationships between all IVI offices.

Ms. Behrendt began her career in the travel and tourism industry in her native Germany, going to school and working at the same time at the Delta Park Hotel in Mannheim. She graduated with excellence with a degree in hotel and tourism management from the Hotel school Villingen Schwenningen. She then began building her professional credentials with several hotels in Germany and in Cape Town, South Africa.

She joined IVI Destination Management in1999 and after learning the ropes in the company’s operations, planning and sales departments was chosen to head sales for IVI Cancun office. After six years of success, Ms. Behrendt was put in charge of all sales activities for new clients and corporations.

Susann is a member of several professional organizations within the MICE industry, and is a strong believer in constantly adding to her knowledge base with continuing education courses conducted by FICP, MPI, SITE and the ISO 9000 quality standards organization.
Her formula for success in the DMC business is a mixture of passion mixed with hard work, and the ability to have fun while you’re doing it.

Ms. Behrendt is a small woman but she has an enormous amount of energy and competitive drive. She has competed in many different sports since childhood, including playing soccer, running cross country, and participating in heptathlon competitions.

Although she basically is a workaholic and has an energetic 7-year old three lingual daughter who owns most of her free minutes, she manages to find some leisure time to enjoy playing squash, golf, salsa dancing, visiting great beaches, and wine-tasting.