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Caribbean Hotelier of the Year |
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| SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (August 2, 2004) - The past winners of the Caribbean
Hotel Association's (CHA) Caribbean Hotelier of the Year Award have named
veteran industry leader Jim Pepperdine, Honorary Caribbean Hotelier of
the Year. Pepperdine created the Caribbean Hotelier of the Year Award
in 1977 to honor excellence in hotel operations, as well as leadership
and achievement in fostering the goals of the entire Caribbean hospitality
industry. At a gala dinner held in Miami last week, it was Pepperdine's
turn to be recognized for his contributions to the Caribbean travel and
tourism industry for more than 30 years.
In line with tradition, Pepperdine was presented the Golden Conch Award, so named because the actual award is a gilded conch shell mounted on a mahogany pedestal. Upon receiving this Award as Honorary Hotelier of the Year, Pepperdine said, "I consider the creation and presentation of the Hotelier of the Year Award as the highlight of my career in the Caribbean. I will forever treasure and appreciate that the past winners have selected me as an honorary member of this prestigious award." Jim Pepperdine's sterling career includes a term as President of CHA, from 1972 to 1974, and as Executive Director of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, from 1974 to 1976. In 1977, he and Peter Yesawich formed an agency, which in its present form is Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown and Russell (YPBR), a leading marketing, advertising and public relations agency, serving travel, leisure and lifestyle clients worldwide. Every year for twenty-five years, he produced a video highlighting the achievements of the year's Caribbean Hotelier of the Year and personally presented the award and video at CHA'S annual Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference (CHIC), until his retirement from YPBR in 2002. Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown and Russell have sponsored this Award from the naming of the first Hotelier of the Year in 1978 to the present. During the past two years, American Express has been a co-sponsor. Jim Pepperdine joins the ranks of those outstanding executives whose accomplishments and leadership have created a new standard in hospitality in the Caribbean.
Recipients of the 'Hotelier of the Year Award' are: Ike Cohen, Aruba (1978);The Caribbean Hotel Association is dedicated to excellence in hospitality, leadership in marketing, and sustainable growth in tourism, to the benefit of its membership and that of the wider Caribbean community. It aims to be a regional forum that will advance the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry. The members of CHA represent the entire spectrum of hospitality industry's private sector, from 835 member hotels representing some 127,000 hotel rooms in 36 national hotel associations to allied members - airlines, tour operators, travel agents, trade and consumer press, hotel and restaurant suppliers, among many others - which account for 520 members. CHA is headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and maintains a promotion and marketing office in Miami, Florida. |
| Contact:
Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA)
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