Industry Leaders gather in Paris for 12th Annual Worldwide Hospitality Awards

Leaders of the world's largest hotel groups, their operational teams, and their spouses will attend the ceremony on 21 November in Paris. The presence of the French Ministers of Education and Tourism bear testimony to the importance of this event that celebrates the initiatives taken by hotel companies on a national level. An exciting evening is on the menu thanks to the musical numbers provided by the Moulin Rouge and other artists.

MKG Group, host of The 12th annual Worldwide Hospitality Awards, would like to highlight the fact that the evening will take place under the hospices of Frédéric Lefebvre, the French Secretary of State for Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises, Tourism, Services, Liberal professions and Consumption; and Luc Chatel, the French Minister of National Education, Youth, and Voluntary. They will both provide testimony of the importance of the trophies that represent excellence in the tourism industry as well as in hospitality training.

The 800-person ceremony, will take place on 21 November at the InterContinental Hotel Paris Le Grand in the French capital. Rakesh Sarna, COO of International Operation of the American group Hyatt Hotels Corporation, will be the President of the Ceremony. The President states, "I am very happy to be part of this even that honors excellence and the people who strive to reach it, two values that are essential for the Hyatt Group".

The ceremony will also take place before the President of the event's 2011 Advisory Board, Mariano Pérez Claver, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of the Spanish Group NH Hoteles. Mr. Pérez Claver states, "I am proud and happy to be able to represent the hotel industry from Southern Europe in this event that has taken a wonderful international dimension. The leaders of many hotel groups have already confirmed their presence, such as Gerald Lawless, President of Jumeirah Hotel Group; Eva Ziegler, Global Brand President of Le Méridien & W; Denis Hennequin, Chief Executive Officer of Accor as well as Yann Caillère, Deputy CEO of Accor; Jean Gabriel Pérès, Chief Executive Officer of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts; Kurt Ritter, President & CEO of The Rezidor Hotel Group; Pierre Frédéric Roulot, President of Louvre Hotels Group; Georges Sampeur, Chief Executive Officer of B&B Hotels, Jean Faivre, President of Western and Southern Europe, Hilton Worldwide….

Jury members Thomas Kunz, President of Danone Waters; Olivier Perruchot, General Director of Piaget SA; and Carole Rousseau, journalist from TF1 are naturally participating in the evening which promises also to be entertaining, with musical numbers from the Moulin Rouge and jazz guitarists Boulu & Elios Férré. The Masters of Ceremony will be Genie Godula, anchorwoman from France 24; Florence Klein, journalist from France 3; and Nikos Aliagas, TV-show host from the French network, TF1.

Furthermore, a major innovation has been introduced in this year's ceremony: the audience will participate in the selection of the winners by voting live for their favourite candidate via a hand-held electronic device. Their vote will be tabulated along with the jury's to designate a final winner. To entice the taste buds, the entire kitchen of the InterContinental Paris Le Grand, headed by Christophe Raoux, will receive an exceptional hand-on visit from Christopher Hache, Head Chef of the Hôtel de Crillon, Paris. Georges Panayotis, President of MKG Group, stated, "It's quite a unique occasion to see many families within the hospitality industry come together as a single community to celebrate the best of what our industry has to offer. I'm very happy to see our teams come together in what promises to be the industry's most important rendezvous."

Discover the finalists and candidates : http://hospitality-on.com/Discover-...

Michael Komodromou
Market Development & Research Manager
+357 22 255 669
Hospitality ON