Orlando, Florida, April 2015 – The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) has awarded the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association (CFHLA) the designation of Certified Guest Service Partner. To earn the designation, all of the association’s staff members completed AHLEI’s Guest Service Gold® training and earned the Certified Guest Service Professional (CGSP®) designation.

CFHLA is the first hospitality trade association in Florida to receive this prestigious designation. They join Visit Orlando as the second membership-based organization to do so in the greater Orlando area.

“The staff of the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association is proud of the continued commitment to quality and customer service. The honor of each CFHLA staff person receiving the Certified Guest Service Professional designation demonstrates to the industry that service starts with your trade association,” stated Richard J. Maladecki, CAE, CGSP, CFHLA’s president and CEO.

Maladecki (pictured above right, with AHLEI sales manager Jennifer Bonilla and CFHLA staff members Erin Walsh, CGSP; Heather Keyes, CGSP; and Lee Johnson, CGSP) received the association’s Certified Guest Service Partner plaque during a board meeting on March 31.

“We congratulate the staff of CFHLA for setting the standard of exceptional guest service for the hotel industry here in Central Florida,” said Robert L. Steele III, CHA, AHLEI’s president and COO. “The CGSP® designation is recognized worldwide in more than 45 countries. As the number-one most visited city in the United Sates, it is important that the Orlando hospitality community go above and beyond to offer guest service training that is meaningful to travelers in both the United States and abroad.”

For more information on Guest Service Gold® and becoming a Certified Guest Service Property or Partner, visit www.ahlei.org.