Carlson Recognizes Top Performers at Asia Pacific GM Conference

Carlson recognized the performance of its Asia Pacific hotels and employees at an Awards Dinner, which was part of Carlson’s annual Asia Pacific General Manager Conference held recently at Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi Paschim Vihar.

Nine top performers were honored in front of 150 senior executives, general managers and hotel executives including Carlson’s global president and chief executive officer, Hubert Joly and Asia Pacific president, Simon Barlow.

Simon C. Barlow, president, Carlson Hotels, Asia Pacific, said, “My heartiest congratulations to this year’s award winners who have demonstrated that dedication, commitment and capability is a winning combination. These hotels and employees are living the Carlson credo and show our guests why our brands lead in their segments and why investors should choose Carlson as their partner.”

The conference was held in India, a testimony of the importance of India to Carlson’s growth where it is the largest international hotel operator. The conference theme was “Building Capability for Profitable Growth” and it focused on the key priorities of building the team’s operating capability and revenue generation. During the two days of the conference, hotel general managers and executives attended plenary sessions and workshops which provided practical tools and best practices to ensure the success of their hotels.

The 2011 Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific Award winners were selected for their outstanding performance in the following award categories:

• President’s Award: Brent Bailey, general manager, Radisson Hotel Narita. Brent’s exemplary leadership and commitment to his guests, employees and the business during Japan’s recent triple disaster earned him the award as the hotel continued operating in spite of the severe resource constraints. He showed a rare fortitude throughout the crisis, ensured the safety and well being of his guests and staff, and has demonstrated what true hospitality is all about.

• Hotel of the Year: Radisson Blu Hotel Pudong Century Park. The hotel demonstrated strong financial performance having exceeded its targets and improved its profitability. In addition, it successfully managed to maintain its RevPAR and improve F&B revenue over the last year despite the dip in occupancy experienced by hotels in Shanghai. The hotel was also one of the top scorers of Carlson Hotels’ Quality Performance Review and it was Earth Check Silver certified this year.

• Hotel of the Year (Country Inns & Suites by Carlson): Country Inns & Suites Ahmedabad. This new award was won by Country Inns & Suites Ahmedabad for innovative revenue generation practices as well as for being a true advocate of responsible business. The hotel, managed by CDMS, produced solid year-on-year growth with its dedication to sales and marketing efforts and creative food festivals to drive dining revenue.

• Employee of the Year: Yanisa Wutthipaphapirom, room attendant, Park Plaza Sukhumvit Bangkok. Yanisa showed great passion in her work and constantly went beyond the call of duty to delight her guests. Her willingness to try new things and take on new responsibilities made her an inspiring role model and an asset to the team.

• Director of Sales & Marketing of the Year: Shashita Devi Nand, Radisson Blu Resort Fiji Denarau Island. Shashita scooped the award by demonstrating her strong work ethic and a genuine passion for the business. She successfully drove substantial revenue growth and achieved higher yields through strategic promotions and excellent relationship building with key clients.

• Golden Rose Award: Rupinder Garg, director of finance, Carlson Hotels, South Asia. The Golden Rose Award recognizes a regional office employee who lives Carlson’s values and demonstrates an exceptional work ethic. Rupinder has been a mentor to hotels’ financial controllers and was responsible for successfully rolling out new standards of financial reporting to the hotels. He also went beyond his responsibilities to contribute to the development and legal aspects of the business

• Rising Star of the Year: Radisson Blu Hotel Ranchi. Radisson Blu Hotel Ranchi was the Rising Star of the Year for having exceeded its key performance indicators including occupancy rate, RevPAR and guest satisfaction, within the first three months of operations. The award is given to a newly opened hotel and Radisson Blu Hotel Ranchi outperformed 15 others. The hotel attributed its win to its team’s camaraderie.

• Responsible Business Hotel of the Year: Radisson Blu Hotel Shanghai New World. Having made significant reductions in all key environmental indicators, cutting waste, carbon emissions, as well as water and energy usage by as much as 36%, the hotel was also awarded the EarthCheck Silver-certified status. The hotel is actively involved in local community initiatives.

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