During the annual congress of the Hotel and Restaurant Association, IH&RA, President Ghassan AIDI presented the two new hospitality awards, the Emeraude Hotelier of the Year, and the Hotelier of the Century, which will be offered each year, starting in 2008. Both awards seek to highlight the ongoing work of hotel establishments and their professionals. This year's winners were Richard Duvauchelle, general manager of the Hotel Palais Stephanie in Cannes, France and Joseph Giacoponello of The Leading Hotels of the World.The Emeraude Hotelier of the Year award will be assigned to that hotel that meets most of the criteria of energy saving management, strategies and approaches, environmentally friendly operation, hygienic and healthy management of food services, water saving policies and use of locally manufactured products. This award is considered a recognition for any independent hotel or for a hotel chain for its commitment to exceed expectations in the protection of the environment and the reduction of CO2 consumption.
Richard Duvauchelle, general manager of Hotel Palais Stephanie in Cannes, France, has been working hard to achieve the criteria of sustainable development at the hotel and will serve as an example for his colleagues and other hotels.
The second award, Emeraude Hotelier of the Year, presented to Joseph Giacoponello, seeks to honor a personality from the hospitality business world, who has served the industry for at least 25 years. The award will be presented to a person who dedicates his life and career to the improvement of the hospitality sector.
Giacoponello has worked for 27 years with HRI, which is now known as The Leading Hotels of the World. During his presidency the company went from having 65 member hotels throughout Europe, to having more than 300 luxury hotels in 72 countries around the world.
The Leading Hotels of the World has a plant of 400 employees and 17 offices in different nations.
