| Monday, 7 June 2004 - President Régis Bulot and his Board
of Directors have just appointed:
Jacques-Olivier Chauvin, Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Since 1999 Jacques-Olivier Chauvin has been Deputy Director General
in charge of marketing and communication. Aged 36, he takes over fom Jean-Louis
Bottigliero, who recently became the new owner of Hostellerie de Levernois,
a Relais & Châteaux in Beaune ( Burgundy ). Jacques-Olivier Chauvin
will continue to be in charge of the following departments: marketing,
promotion, communication, guide, coordination of the international offices
and international sales.
He started his professional career as a Deputy Sales Manager with Air
France for the United Kingdom. From 1992 to 1996 he worked the Taillevent
Group as Deputy Director General in charge of the commercial development
of the brand in France, Japan and the United States. From the end of 1996
to 1999 he was sales manager of the Louis Vuitton Malletier store on Avenue
Montaigne in Paris, and then of the new Global Store on the Champs-Elysées.
Frédéric Laroche, Deputy Director General
Since 1999 Frédéric Laroche has been with the Association
as Director of Administrative and Financial Affairs. Aged 43, he is directly
responsible for administration, human resources, legal affairs, brand management,
new technologies, financial affairs and the management of the Association
and its subsidiaries.
Before joining the Association he was a member of the Board of Management
of Unilog, one of the largest IT service providers, for 13 years. As a
project manager he helped several companies to revamp their information
systems.
In order to consolidate the international commercial development of
the Association, the Board of Directors also decided to create two new
positions with recruitments starting immediately:
-
A Director of International Commercial Affairs in charge of the worldwide
activities relating to gift certificates and Lys offers as well as the
central information and reservation system of the Association. Sales revenues
2003 gift certificates and special offers: EUR 13. 2 million (+ 15 %).
Sales revenues 2003 central reservation system: EUR 28 million (+ 43 %).
-
A manager in charge of the international promotion offices ( Berlin,
Barcelona, London, New York and Tokyo ) as well as the coordination of
the 18 national and regional delegations around the world.
| �18 months before the election of
a new Board of Directors and my resignation as President after 18 years
at the helm of the Association, this reorganisation draws on experienced
and competent professionals who have an in-depth knowledge of our Association,
its values and its priorities�, said Régis Bulot.
The priorities of the new executive management will be support of the
brand and its international promotion, with a particular focus on marketing
and commercial developments through major |
Régis Bulot |
projects such as:
-
Consolidation of the competitive edge of the Association in the field of
high technologies (new website, development of a new online reservation
engine).
-
Opening of new subsidiaries on the 10 key markets of Relais & Châteaux
around the world
-
Opening of new outlets under the label Maison des Relais & Châteaux.
After the success of Maison des Relais & Châteaux in Paris, the
Board of Directors has decided to take the next step and has approved the
opening of a Maison des Relais & Châteaux in New York at the
end of 2004. Further openings of Maisons des Relais & Châteaux
in European capitals are envisaged in the months and years to come.
�These projects open up major opportunities for all the Relais &
Châteaux and Relais Gourmands properties around the world. Our ambition
is to continue the development of the Relais & Châteaux brand
which is synonymous with prestige, exclusiveness and French art de vivre
exported today around the world�, stresses Jacques-Olivier Chauvin.
History of Relais & Châteaux
1954
Marcel et Nelly TILLOY (Hostellerie La Cardinale à Baix) created
the "Relais de Campagne": 8 properties situated along the Paris-Nice route
joined forces. This was the Route du Bonheur.
1960
15 European members joined the Association. The brochure became the
first tourist guide in colour.
1962
Creation of the "Châteaux-Hôtels", a rival chain of the
Relais de Campagne.
1971
Joseph OLIVEREAU, General Manager of the Domaine de la Tortinière
(Montbazon), took over from Marcel TILLOY as the head of the Relais de
Campagne.
1972
Joseph OLIVEREAU created the "Relais Gourmands", highly renowned gourmet
temples. He asked Pierre TROISGROS to become its President.
1974/75
Merger of the Relais de Campagne, Relais Gourmands and Châteaux-Hôtels
in 1974 leading to the establishment of the Relais & Châteaux
- Relais Gourmands label on 1 January 1975.
1987
Régis BULOT, owner of the Moulin de l'Abbaye in Brantôme
(Périgord) and member of the Board of Directors of the Association,
was elected as the International President of Relais & Châteaux.
1989
The Relais & Châteaux Association was voted the "Finest Association
in the World" by its guests. It now numbered some 375 members in 36 countries
on five continents.
1993
Relais & Châteaux put an official stamp on its internationalisation:
the 411 properties around the world (153 in France and 258 outside France)
were given equal voting rights.
1995
The Association opened its central information and reservation system
and turned its attention to the new media by creating its own Internet
site.
1997
The exclusive membership of a hotel/restaurant in Relais & Châteaux
was officially recognised by the Commission of the European Community (Brussels).
2000
Creation of the Luxury Alliance between Relais & Châteaux
and The Leading Hotels of the World.
2002
Opening of the Maison des Relais & Châteaux (33, boulevard
Malesherbes - 75008 Paris).
2004
The Relais & Châteaux Association celebrates its 50 th anniversary.
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