As the Senior Director of Sports Sales for the Rhode Island Sports Commission, I spend a lot of time talking about the great things Providence has to offer in terms of competition venues and hotel space. I always mention the sense of community made possible by Rhode Island's small size, but every now and then, we get to see it in action. Recently, I had the opportunity to demonstrate that tight-knit community to a visiting tournament housing partner.
During the site visit, we started our day at the Providence Marriott Downtown. Unbeknownst to us, the hotel was hosting Enzo's Escorts, a statewide initiative in which area police and fire departments offer children a VIP escort on their last day of cancer treatment. We had the honor of being present for a young boy named Jordan's red-carpet send-off that morning.
The Providence Marriott Downtown has worked with Enzo’s Escorts on multiple occasions. The program was inspired by the escort provided for 8-year-old Lorenzo, who triumphed in his two-year battle with leukemia in April 2020. Lorenzo’s parents, David and Rebekah Neri, a Cranston firefighter and police officer, wanted to make their son's final day of treatment a memorable occasion. Their departments agreed to organize a special escort for Lorenzo on that significant day. This escort made such an impact on Lorenzo’s parents that they decided every child deserved this one-of-a-kind experience.
The ceremony was kicked off with the entire hotel staff, along with many of Jordan’s friends and family members, gathering around a red carpet that stretched across the hotel’s lobby leading out to the front doors. Jordan and his family were waiting in the hotel’s Marriott M Club Lounge before they strutted down the red carpet in front of the cheering audience. It was a true red-carpet moment. Waiting outside the hotel’s revolving doors was a celebratory congregation of police, fire and emergency vehicles that nearly filled the parking lot. The flashing lights and sirens from the police and fire trucks created a truly memorable scene.
As we continued our tour of the hotel, the tournament housing representative was impressed by the display of community pride and connectedness. She praised the camaraderie and teamwork among the hotel staff, which was evident in their coordination and execution of a red-carpet event held in the lobby during one of the busiest times of the day, specifically around breakfast service and check-out.es operate as a community.
During the remainder of our site visit, which included touring nearly a dozen hotel properties and three competition venues across the state, we frequently heard about the sense of community and connectivity among the hotels. The staff members we met throughout the day were not only knowledgeable about their individual properties and venues but also had a solid understanding of the sports tourism market and the destination as a whole. They spoke highly of their fellow hotels, expressed a willingness to collaborate, and emphasized that the hotel and hospitality industry in Rhode Island truly does operate as a community.
