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Elections were held at this Assembly and the following were elected to the new Executive Board:
Jan Edshage – Chairman (Countryside Hotels – Sweden)
Emyr Griffith – 1st Vice Chairman (Welsh Rarebits – Wales)
Martin Kuttel – 2nd Vice Chairman (Swiss Historic Hotels – Switzerland)
Barbara Avdis – Secretary General (Yades Hotels – Greece)
Manuel Duarte Fernandes – Treasurer (Hoteis Heritage Lisboa – Portugal)
The HHE is now one of the largest independent umbrella federations marketing heritage hotels and restaurants throughout Europe and is achieving a high level of recognition and acclaim for its work. Over 700 properties are represented by the HHE which also expanded its network to include the Historical Hotels of Poland organization. This brings the membership to 18 organizations throughout 18 countries in Europe.
With the current economic downturn the Historic Hotels of Europe will be providing essential marketing expertise to ensure the survival of some of Europe’s most famous heritage hotels. With its wide network covering 18 countries it is now positioned to act as the main conduit for heritage travellers in Europe. The new Board will be working actively towards achieving further official European Union recognition for its work. The new board members are all extremely successful entrepreneurs in their own countries.
Jan Edshage, the new Chairman, brings a wealth of experience in managing hotel associations. He has been on the board of Countryside Hotels of Sweden for over 10 years and has been an active lobbyist for Swedish companies dealing with the European Union.
Emyr Griffith founded the hugely successful Welsh Rarebits association over 20 years ago and also runs a very successful tour operator company, EuroWales.
Martin Kuttel is one of the founding members of the Swiss Historic Hotels association and has just launched a publication of essential reading for hoteliers
Barbara Avdis is a young entrepreneur who founded the Yades Greek Historic Hotels group some 5 years ago and has won several business awards in Greece for her work in the tourist industry.
Manuel Duarte Fernandes of Portugal is a member of the successful Fernandes family who own 5 hotels in Lisbon and he has been very instrumental in bringing many overseas tourists to Lisbon.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
