IH&RA Press Release
Interlaken, Switzerland, 18 March 2014
At the close of its 51st Congress, IH&RA acknowledges Hospitality Industry Pioneers
In a memorable evening at the Versailles Room of the Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa in Interlaken, the IH&RA held a Gala Dinner closing its 51st Annual Congress.
“It gives me great pleasure to thank all our guests, participants, sponsors, IH&RA staff and my colleague executive committee and board members for making this congress a success”, said Casimir Platzer, IH&RA President in his dinner opening speech.
He added: “There are people with us today who have had their fingerprints and are still generously contributing to the development of the industry”, said Platzer as he presented the IH&RA Award for Legendary Leadership to Mr. Kurt Ritter and the IH&RA Lifetime Award to Mr. Emanuel Berger.
Mr. Emanuel Berger was the General Manager of the Victoria-Jungfrau Hotel for 37 years, one of the flagships of the Swiss hospitality sector, while Mr. Kurt Ritter was President and CEO of the Rezidor Hotel Group. Under his leadership Rezidor grew to more than 430 hotels with 95’000 rooms. Both gentlemen are acknowledged as hospitality industry pioneers.
“This award honours me a lot. I will support IH&RA in its mission to unite the hospitality industry worldwide. Associations, brands and chains have to join forces to fight for their interests”, said Mr. Ritter.
Interlaken, Switzerland / Madrid, Spain, 12 March 2014
UNWTO and IH&RA sign Memorandum of Understanding
‘UNWTO and the International Hotel and Restaurant Association (IH&RA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, consolidating their partnership in matters related to hospitality (Interlaken, Switzerland, 10 March 2014).
The MOU aims to enhance the cooperation between UNWTO and IH&RA, a UNWTO Affiliate Member, in a number of initiatives related to the hospitality industry, including the Nearly Zero-Energy Hotels (NEZEH) Project, supporting hotels in improving their energy efficiency and reaching nearly zero energy levels.
The MOU was signed by UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai and IH&RA’s President Casimir Platzer, on the sidelines of IH&RA’s 51st Annual Congress, coinciding with the 1st World Hospitality Day.
“The hospitality industry is a fundamental part of the global tourism sector and a key vehicle for economic growth and job creation around the world. IH&RA has long been a strategic partner to UNWTO and this MOU will allow us to cooperate even closer towards our common goal of driving positive changes in tourism.” said Mr. Rifai.
“This partnership agreement marks a new milestone for IH&RA and will serve as the umbrella for the potential joint cooperation between both the private and public sectors for the best interest of the hospitality industry. Our role as the world’s hospitality association is further strengthened by this UNWTO endorsement.” said Casimir Platzer.
Interlaken, Switzerland, 12 March 2014
HOTREC joins IH&RA
HOTREC, the business association representing the European hospitality industry, joins as full member IH&RA, the International Hotel and Restaurant Association.
‘’There are number of possible areas of cooperation between IH&RA and HOTREC”, said Kent Nyström, President of HOTREC. ‘’We shall speak with one voice in representing and defending the hospitality industry’s interests especially in the areas of mutual concern such as standardisation, private accommodation, Online Travel Agents, employment and social affairs, sustainability and Tourism and UNWTO convention on tourism protection’’, added President Nyström.
‘’We are very pleased that HOTREC is now on board’’, said Casimir Platzer, President of IH&RA. ‘’We believe that uniting with HOTREC will only result in a stronger position of the hospitality industry and our members. IH&RA has recently introduced a number of actions aimed at enhancing better representation of the hospitality industry world-wide’’, commented President Platzer.
Hotelier Summit India partners with International Hotel & Restaurant Association to support the Design and Procurement Segments of the Indian Hospitality Industry
The much awaited hospitality event, The Hotelier Summit India returns with the support from the International Hotel & Restaurant Association to overcome the hurdles in the Procurement arena for Hotels. The three day initiative in conjunction with the 2nd Annual Hospitality Leaders Golf Challenge will be held in Bangalore on the 3rd, 4th & 5th April 2014
27 February 2014- With India’s travel and tourism industry reaching new heights, the WTO (World Travel Organisation) predicts that India will receive 25 million tourists by year 2015. India currently has over 200,000 hotel rooms spread across hotel categories and guest-houses and is still facing a shortfall of over 100,000 rooms (source: FHRAI). Timely project delivery becomes crucial in this scenario and there is greater emphasis on competition driven through hotel design and branding for long term returns and success. The 2nd Annual Hotelier Summit India 2014 organised by the events industry leader in India –IDE, aims at fulfilling the needs of the Hospitality Industry design and sourcing challenges in India.
The IH&RA (International Hotel & Restaurant Association), the only international trade association exclusively devoted to promoting and defending the interests of the hotel and restaurant industry worldwide, has officially extended its keen support for the Hospitality Industry’s most exclusive design and procurement focussed initiative, Hotelier Summit India.
The 2nd Annual Hotelier Summit India 2014 to be held in Bangalore, India from 3rd -5th April, 2014 will bring together over 200 qualified decision makers, specifiers and influencers from the hospitality industry for face to face interactions, live product demos, vital knowledge sharing and establishing powerful connections. IDE, a leader in B2B sales and marketing, has developed its unique DSI pre-scheduled meeting model wherein each of the pre-qualified projects participating in the event will be represented by the Decision Maker (Hotel Owner/Developer/ Operator), Specifier (Architect/Interior designer) and the Influencer (Contractor/Consultant).
After the success in 2013, Hotelier Summit India will bring back the 2nd Annual Hospitality Leaders Golf Challenge being held on the 5th of April 2014 at the luxurious Prestige Golf Shire, Bangalore. This time around hospitality professionals will battle it out on the turf for the number one spot. In addition, a Golf Clinic will be conducted alongside the Tournament to encourage those who are looking to take up the sport in the near future.
Commenting on the partnership Mr Casimir Platzer, IH&RA President said “The International Hotel and Restaurant Association IH&RA is very pleased to support the 2nd Annual Hotelier Summit India 2014 as an association partner. Events like this offer the industry a great source for up to date information on different issues and also a perfect opportunity to build up the own network and liaise with colleagues, partners and industry leaders. IH&RA is the only international trade association exclusively devoted to promoting and defending the interests of the hotel and restaurant industry worldwide. Officially recognized by the United Nations, IH&RA monitors and lobbies all international agencies on behalf of this industry.”
The summit will also feature a very special agenda themed as ‘the UnConference’. The UnConference agenda has been designed so as to ensure every attendee has complete control in shaping and including session topics where they can share their experiential views in a participatory manner and obtain the real answers they seek.
Mr Ganesh Babu, Director- IDE commented “India’s hospitality sector has a large number of procurement and design centric decision makers, specifiers and influencers, but these groups require more platforms to be connected more frequently for ideas to translate into action. This necessitates a need to increase the ‘Collision Frequency’. When this is plugged in with our unique one-to-one meeting model, it translates into much hope for accelerating the delivery of projects by perfectly match-making buyer’s requirements with solution providers. Business networking with golf is now increasingly a preferred tool for professionals to boost business opportunities while fostering elements of trust and ethics.”
About Hotelier Summit India organised by IDE- 2nd Annual Hotelier Summit India 2014 will be committed to gather over 200 industry leaders from leading hotel developers, owners, operators, architects, interior designers, government officials, consultants, service providers to discuss the hot spot issues of India hospitality industry. The Summit provides a premium podium for the elite from the world-leading Hoteliers and the Indian Sub-continents pre-qualified project seekers/ project Holders. The Summit is committed to initiate project flow and familiarizing leading delegates with the paramount international and regional project opportunities.
For more info about the event and registration & Media Partnership visit www.hoteliersummit.com
Or contact
Mr. Guruprasad Nayak
Marketing Communications Manager
IDE-Global
Phone: +91-80-49396999
Email: I Website: www.ide-global.com
Lausanne, Switzerland, 28 January 2014
51st IH&RA Annual Congress in Interlaken / Switzerland
Preparations for the 51st annual congress of the International Hotel and Restaurant Association IH&RA from 10 to 12 March 2014, which will be held in Interlaken Switzerland, are in full swing.
About 300 industry leaders from all around the world together with guests from politics and economy will gather for an outstanding event. This will be the great rendezvous of the international hospitality industry.
The official opening will begin on Monday 10 March 2014 at 5 pm., where Mr Adolf Ogi, previous President of Switzerland and UN Ambassador, will hold the opening message. He will be followed by Mr Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organisation UNWTO. UNWTO and IH&RA have agreed to sign an agreement for strategic partnership at the end of the opening ceremony – one of the highlights of the congress.
Tuseday 11 March 2014 will be a “working day” with several presentations and panels on sustainability, online distribution and distribution technology. Numerous prominent speakers, executives from OTA’s and representatives of IT companies have already signed on.
On Wednesday 12 March 2014 all delegates will make an excursion to the Jungfrau – Top of Europe.
Swiss International Airlines offer up to 20% discount on flights to and from Switzerland and the Swiss Railway System offers free 1st class train tickets from any Swiss airport to Interlaken.
Don’t miss to participate in this great event and register before 15 February 2014.
Registrations can be done on the IH&RA website: ih-ra.com.
Lausanne, Switzerland, 20 January 2014
IH&RA launches new website
In a step complementing the overall change witnessed under the new board of directors, the International Hotel and Restaurant Association (IH&RA) launched a new website highlighting the association’s proposed changes to its statutes, membership fees and other steady measures towards a stronger IH&RA role.
“The new website is built to constantly make “room” available for all the hospitality industry players to interact with the IH&RA and communicate issues that need heads up to ensure a smooth flow of this vital business and maximise its contribution to national economies” said Casimir Platzer, IH&RA President. He added: “Realising the importance of unifying efforts with hotel and restaurant associations and chains worldwide triggered the changes we, as board of directors, are undertaking. These include, beside the new website, an attractive membership fees scheme allowing more associations and organizations to become IH&RA members and hence have a stronger influence on how their business is shaped. This and other changes shall be announced in our upcoming General Assembly meeting next March”.
The IH&RA General Assembly will be held in Interlaken, Switzerland, during the annual congress from 10 to 12 March 2014, where a number of issues will be subject to panel discussions. These include mainly online distribution and sustainability.