INTERNATIONAL REPORT—Whether it’s celebrating an anniversary, receiving an award, earning a certification, debuting a new product or expanding the business, hotel companies and vendors achieve new milestones on a daily basis. Here’s a look at recent accomplishments:
Midas Hospitality Wins Eight Industry Awards
Midas Hospitality, a hotel development, management and investment firm recently won eight Marriott awards for its properties located in Kentucky, Missouri and North Carolina. These awards represent commitment to exceptional guest service and highest overall quality for Marriott franchise partners.
Midas Hospitality’s Residence Inn Charlotte, NC Airport property received a Diamond Circle award, which is given to hotels in the top 5% of the brand in overall guest satisfaction. Hotel manager Randy Rushakoff earned the Diamond General Manager of the Year as one of the brand’s top GMs for his leadership at the Charlotte property. The hotel also was honored with the RevPAR Index Improvement award for the highest year-over-year revenue increase.
Silver Circle awards were given to Midas Hospitality for its Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Paducah, KY; Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Wentzville, MO; and Fairfield Inn & Suites-Airport property in Charlotte, NC. The Silver Circle award is presented to hotels in the top 20% of the brand in overall guest satisfaction.
Fairfield Inn & Suites St. Louis-Westport’s Breakfast Manager Diane Chandley received the Breakfast Ambassador of the Year award for exemplary service and guest experience consistently demonstrated throughout 2018. With General Manager John Kudla at the helm, Residence Inn St. Louis-Westport was awarded the Opening Hotel of the Year.
Hilton Grand Vacations Wins 12 ARDA Awards
Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. was honored with 12 awards at the annual American Resort Development Association (ARDA) conference in Orlando, FL. In addition, HGV attained a company record with 50 team members, departments and projects selected as award finalists. The ARDA Awards program celebrates excellence in the vacation ownership industry in categories including resort operations, marketing and sales, management and administration, advertising and product design.
A full list of HGV’s ARDA Awards winners:
- Marketing Team—Parc Soleil In-House Marketing Team
- Salesperson—Traditional Line: Yosuke Tanio
- Sales Team—Japan Sales Team
- Business Administration Team: Finance & Accounting—Asset Backed Securities Team
- Business Administration Team Member: Finance & Accounting—Kelly Mabolo
- Inventory Revenue Management Program Manager/Team—Kimberly Russell
- Crisis Management Team or Team Member—Myrtle Beach Crisis Management Team
- Human Resources Team—@ Your Service
- Technology Project or Team—Customer Relationship Management Team
- Technology Project at Resort or Corporate Office—Internationalization Program: Phase 1 Odawara
- Refurbishment: Unit—Bay Forest Odawara Cottage Project
- Sales Center Design—Bay Forest Odawara Sales Center
This year’s ARDA Awards winners are selected by both industry experts and judges outside of the industry. In past years, HGV has earned recognition in categories such as Resort General Manager and Owner/Customer Relations Manager/Team, as well as ARDA’s top honor, the ARDA Circle of Excellence (ACE) Award for its community service.
RCI Wins Five Awards at ARDA Timeshare Industry Conference
RCI, part of Wyndham Destinations, won five awards at the 2019 American Resort Development Association (ARDA) World Conference. RCI earned the inaugural ProPartners Networker Award, recognizing its commitment to the growth of ARDA through the referral of new member organizations. Kelly Deardorff, RCI’s VP of project management and resort operations, was honored with the ARDA WINspiration Award for outstanding leadership and contributions to empower women and advocate for diverse future industry leaders.
RCI also garnered the following 2019 ARDA Awards:
- Inventory Revenue Management Program: Inventory Analytics Advisory
- Communications/Public Relations/Reputation Management Professional: Aruna Jathar
- Digital Products: RCI WeChat
Caesars Wins CSO50 Award for Transformational Cybersecurity Risk Assessment
Caesars Entertainment Corporation in partnership with Protiviti, was honored with IDG’s 2019 CSO50 Award for its transformational cybersecurity risk assessment. Every year, 50 organizations are recognized with the award for their security projects or initiatives that demonstrate outstanding business value and thought leadership. Caesars now uses an enhanced approach to reduce risk and prioritize program resources and budgets. These changes have not only matured the cyber security team but reaffirmed Caesars Entertainment as an industry leader in cybersecurity. Protiviti, a global consulting firm, evaluated Caesars’ data processes and transactions using a proprietary approach that combined two types of risk assessment:
- U.S. Commerce Department National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-30, the standard risk assessment model that provides general guidance for establishing controls for high-risk areas of a business
- The NIST Cybersecurity Framework, which adds guidance on control settings and the maturity of the controls