Luxury Hoteliers Magazine 3rd Quarter 2016 | Page 3

PRESIDENT’S LETTER Dear ILHA Members & Luxury Hoteliers, We passed two major milestones the first half of 2016, the launch of our Delivering Service Excellence Certification course and our first European Summit. The Delivering Service Excellence Course was developed in partnership with Lin & Pavelson. It is an essential course for anyone providing service to the luxury market and is recommended for hospitality students, professionals & trainers. Earning your Delivering Service Excellence® certification is one of the best ways to show potential employers and clients that you have advanced knowledge in the field of service excellence. This Delivering Service Excellence® course is designed to bring you the most up-to-date information about the service industry, including: successful employer case studies, industry best practices, product and service innovations, and the direction of the industry in the years to come. This certification is for individuals whose involvement in luxury service is both a career choice and passion. The program can also be used by hotels that do not have their own service training program and discounts are available for multiple students. The ILHA European Summit was a sold-out event held in Athens at the Athens Ledra Hotel. On behalf of the ILHA team I would like to extend a big thank you to the team there along with the Sybil and Eric Hoffman and the Alpine Center Swiss Business School for International Hotel & Tourism Management and all the speakers and participants that helped make this event a huge success. Keynote speakers included Peter Fulton, Hyatt Group President for Europe, Middle East, African and SW Asia along with Barbara Avdis, Chairman Historic Hotels of Europe, Tom Lindblom, Principal at Gensler along with other leaders in luxury hospitality. We now turn our focus to the 4th ILHA Pinnacle Summit in Washington DC, Sept 25 – 27 2016. www. luxuryhotelconference.com Discover Trends & Strategy for Growing Your Luxury Hospitality Business. This conference was created for management & executives as the premier outlet for learning the latest trends in the business of luxury hospitality. We have curated the most important topics from each facet of the industry: design, tech, HR, wellness, guest experience, revenue generation, marketing & more. Get actionable insights and proven strategies from industry experts and thought leaders to grow your business and advance your career. If you manage a hospitality business serving the affluent traveler, this is the one event you don’t want to miss. Confirmed keynotes include John Vanderslice, Global Head of Luxury & Lifestyle Brands, Hilton Worldwide, Arianna Huffington on her new book, The Sleep Revolution, Kristie Goshow, SVP Viceroy Group & Xavier Mufraggi, CEO Club Med N. America & Caribbean to name a few. For more information on the event visit: http://www.luxuryhotelconference.com For more information on the Delivering Service Excellence Course visit: https://www.luxuryhotelassociation.org/servicecertification Hope to meet you in person in September in Washington, DC. With the US elections only a few weeks away it will be buzzing with excitement. Barak Hirschowitz, President, International Luxury Hotel Association ILHA 3