Carmen Hui Named Winner of IHIF Young Leader Award 2013

The International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) is delighted to announce Carmen Hui as the proud recipient of the 2013 Young Leader Award. The IHIF Young Leader Award is widely recognised and respected throughout the industry and is co-sponsored by the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC).

Hui is SVP Acquisitions, Europe at Host Hotels Ltd. Her role is to oversee Host Hotel's European Joint Venture with GIC and APG and to source and execute new deals. Notable achievements over the past eight years since joining Host Hotels include the acquisition of a $3bn Starwood portfolio in 2006 which included 33 assets and leading the acquisition process of the EU Marriott portfolio in 2012.

Hui worked on the Marriott acquisition from its inception. She lead the process which included bid stages, due diligence and eventual contract negotiation with Whitehall. After almost five years of tenacious work, the acquisition of five hotels comprising 1,733 bedrooms in two countries closed on 30th November 2012 for approximately €440 million.

James F. Risoleo, Executive Director and Managing Director, Europe for Host Hotels said of Hui; "Carmen is a hard working individual who has thrived through the early parts of her career. Everyone within the organisation and key external stakeholders show a tremendous amount of respect for her aptitude towards work and the friendly and approachable person she is."

The 2013 Young Leader Award will be presented to Hui on Monday 4th March 2013 by Andrea Belfanti, Deputy Executive Director of the ISHC in a dedicated plenary session taking place at 16.45 the InterContinental Hotel, Berlin.

Tess Pearson, Event Director, Questex Media Group commenting on the announcement said; "for the first time the IHIF Young Leader Award was thrown open to all aspiring young leaders around the world. To have been singled out from this vast talent pool is a considerable achievement and one that Carmen should rightly be very proud of."

Andrea Belfanti, Deputy Executive Director, ISHC said; "here at the ISHC, we are thrilled to be able to continue our support of the IHIF Young Leader Award through co-sponsoring. I am delighted for Carmen and feel her tireless work ethic and commitment to our industry is deservedly recognised".

Speaking exclusively to IHIF, Hui said: "I am tremendously honoured to have won the IHIF 2013 Young Leader Award. It is particularly meaningful to be nominated and recognised by my team which I have great respect for and love working with, and very special to be selected as winner by a distinguished panel of industry leaders. I look forward to celebrating this achievement with my team in Berlin."

ISHC coordinated the award screening process and the winner was selected by an independent judging panel comprised of 21 industry leaders.

Candidates eligible for nomination for the IHIF Young Leader Award must fulfil the following criteria:

• be under 35 years of age
• worked in a hospitality-related field
• completed a significant project for his or her hotel/organisation
• be recognised by leaders of his or her own hotel/organisation as an emerging leader

IHIF is known as THE place where deals get done and is Europe's largest gathering of senior-level global hotel industry leaders. For information and registration details for IHIF 2013 to be held 4-6th March 2013, visit the IHIF website. For more information about the International Society of Hospitality Consultants please visit www.ISHC.com.

About Questex Hospitality + Travel
Questex Hospitality + Travel drives demand for travel and hospitality organizations as the largest multimedia organization in the world dedicated to these related industries. It includes a dynamic collection of strategic investment and deal-making forums as well as tactical services such as powerful lead generation tools, interactive online business solutions, world-class events and industry-leading publications to help hospitality and travel organizations drive revenue, productivity and value creation. Questex Hospitality + Travel operates throughout the United States and Americas regions, EMEA and Asia/Pacific through a variety of market-leading properties and services including: International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) Berlin, North America Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference, International Hotel Investment Forum Asia Pacific. About ISHC | The International Society of Hospitality Consultants, ISHC, is a professional society of leading hospitality industry consultants. Membership is by invitation only and members are required to abide by the ISHC Code of Professional Conduct. ISHC is represented by some two hundred members who, collectively, have expertise in over 40 different specialty areas and work experience in 65 countries. A complete listing/directory of members and specialty areas of expertise represented within ISHC is available under "Consultant Search" on the ISHC web site at www.ishc.com

About Bench Events | Bench Events has a long track record of delivering, with its partners, the premier hotel investment events in Europe and the Middle East. Bench Events' Chairman, Jonathan Worsley, works in association with the highly successful International Hotel Investment Forum which is now in its sixteenth year. In 2005, he was responsible for launching the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference in Dubai; and in 2008 launched the Russia & CIS Hotel Investment Conference. In 2011 Bench Events added two events to its portfolio, co-hosting the Central Asia and Turkey Hotel Investment Conference and launching the Hotel Investment Conference Africa which in 2012 was held in Nairobi, Kenya.
www.benchevents.com.