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MKG Group honours hospitality leaders

Before an audience of nearly 700 leaders and partners of the international hotel industry, the Hospitality Awards 2007 were awarded on November 22 at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The 8th annual ceremony of the Hospitality Awards, created by MKG Group, the consulting company for the hotel and tourism industry directed by Georges Panayotis, has become the reference for rewarding innovation and excellence in the industry.

 

The Advisory Board for the Awards, a panel of international leaders in the industry which determines the categories and criteria for the selection of candidates, was this year presided by Luis Del Olmo, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Sol Mélia Hotels.

In the context of the current global explosion of development of the hotel industry, the Hospitality Awards serve to recognize the great ideas, innovations, and talents of the sector.

The international jury, presided by Clara Gaymard, President of General Electric France, chose the winners for 10 categories and decided the winners for 2 Grand Prizes: a Lifetime Achievement Award the Best Group Performance in 2007. The Grand Prize for Best Group Performance was awarded by Laurence Parisot, President of the MEDEF (Movement of the French Enterprises).

The winners for 2007 are:

Lifetime Achievement AwardGérard Brémond, president and founder of the Groupe Pierre & Vacances. Mr. Brémond began his career at the age of 24, working for the family real estate development business. He launched a new concept and form of real estate acquisition, the “New Property”, which became the basis for the creation and development of the Groupe Pierre & Vacances. Throughout the years, via strategic acquisitions and never losing control of the company, Gérard Brémond’s group moved up through the ranks to become the number one operator of tourist residences and complexes in France, then number one in Europe. He has developed partnerships with major industry leaders such as Disneyland Resorts and Accor, and now directs a group which generates more than 1.55

billion euros in revenue and welcomes more than 6.6 million clients with his brands Pierre & Vacances, Maeva, MGM, Latitudes, Center Parcs, Senioriales, Sun Parc, Adagio City Aparthotel, and soon Village Nature.

The Jury’s Grand Prize for Best Group Performance 2007 went to the Groupe Accor. Since his arrival in 2005, surrounded by a new team of leaders, the General Director, Gilles Pélisson, has attacked an ambitious development plan of 200,000 new rooms in 5 years which will boost the group’s capacity to over 650,000 rooms before 2010. Half of these new rooms will be built in developing Asian countries. The group is also restructuring its portfolio of brands, and completing it with new offers: repositioning of the brands Mercure, Novotel and Sofitel, creation of new complementary brands like All Seasons and Pullman, renovation of older concepts such as Formule 1, in general a massive and constant project for the Innovation and Design team to prepare the hotels of the future. With a strategy of selling non-strategic assets, the group has considerably reduced debt and constituted an fund of several billion euros in order to accelerate development. Accor reported an outstanding result for 2006, with more than 730 million euros in profit before tax and non recurring items.

Finalists:

  • Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts (Singapore)
  • Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts (Dubai)

 

1 – Best Advertising Campaign

Winner: Novotel “Designed for natural living” (France)

Finalists:

  • Campanile “Birds” (France)
  • Ramada “Leave the Rest to Us” (USA)

2 – Best Website

Winner: Unusual Hotels of the World (UK)

Finalists:

  • ME by Mélia (Spain)
  • Groupe Lucien Barrière (France)

3 – Best Career Development Programme

Winner: Marriott International “Train to Retain”

Finalists:

  • Hyatt Hotels & Resorts (USA)
  • InteContinental Hotels Group (UK)

4 – Best Corporate Social Responsibility Programme

Winner: Scandic Hotels (Sweden)

Finalists:

  • Baglioni Hotels (Italy)
  • Accor Morocco (Morocco)

5 – Best Innovative Concept in Luxury Hotels

Winner: Single Hotel Eden (Switzerland)

Finalists:

  • Le Méridien “Unlock Art” (USA)
  • Hôtel Fouquet’s Barrière “The Butler“ (France)

6 – Best Innovative Concept in Midscale Hotels

Winner: CitizenM (Netherlands)

Finalists:

  • Aloft by Starwood Hotels & Resorts (USA)
  • The Five Hotel Paris (France)

7 – Best Innovative Concept in Economy Hotels

Winner: All Seasons, Groupe Accor (France)

Finalists:

  • Campanile (France)
  • Motel One (Germany)

8 – Best Customer Satisfaction Programme in Luxury Hotels

Winner: Four Seasons George V (France)

Finalists:

  • One & Only Resorts (USA)
  • Corinthia Events (Malta)

9 – Best Customer Satisfaction Programme in Midscale Hotels

Winner: Solare Hotels and Resorts (Japan)

Finalists:

  • Novotel (France)
  • Goldpoints by Rezidor (Belgium)

10 – Best Hotel General Manager

Winner: Wolfgang Nitzchke – The Regent Berlin, Rezidor Hotel Group
Finalists:

  • Francesco Borello, The Regent Formosa Taipei, Four Seasons
  • Gerhard Struger, the Bosphorus Istanbul, Swissôtel

More than 150 candidates submitted entries in all categories for the Hospitality Awards 2007.

(1) Advisory Board 2007: Luis Del Olmo, Grupo Sol Mélia Hoteles; Thierry Baudier, Maison de la France; Sven Boinet, Groupe Lucien Barrière; Emmanuel Caux, Starwood Hotels; Yann Caillère, Groupe Accor; François Delahaye, Dorechester Group; Jean Faivre, Hilton International; Richard Gomel, Louvre Hotels; Bernard Lambert, Société des Bains de Mer; Didier Le Calvez, Shangri-La Hotels; Peter Norman, Hyatt International; Christopher Norton, Four Seasons; Georges Panayotis, MKG Group; Jean-Gabriel Pérès, Mövenpick Hotels; Georges Sampeur, Groupe B&B Hôtels; Alain Sebban, Eurohodip; Robin Wicks, Holiday Inn family of brands.

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