The 240-room Sonesta Fort Lauderdale has announced that Francis W. Purvey will take over as its director of sales and marketing.

Effective immediately, Purvey will assume management of the hotel's sales and marketing efforts, including the implementation of a dynamic strategic plan for 2015 and beyond. He will be working to reposition the hotel, which offers 8,000 square feet of total meeting space, as part of the Sonesta Collection.

Purvey most recently worked with The Shores Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach, where he also served as director of sales and marketing, focusing on creating demand in all markets and expanding leisure, meetings and catering revenues.

Over the last 20 years, Purvey has taken on numerous sales and marketing positions, including stints as assistant director of tourism for Bermuda and director of marketing and leisure sales at the Radisson Suite Resort (now Marriott Sand Key) in Clearwater, Fla.

He then served as director of sales and marketing for Bahia Mar Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale and also for Radisson's two Caribbean properties in St. Aruba and St. Martin.