At a press conference held during the congress, the IH&RA joined FEDHASA and the Southern African Hospitality Association (SAHA - representing Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Botswana) to announce a joint private-sector initiative in the fight against AIDS in the region.  Under the initiative, copies of a recent IH&RA publication,  The Challenge of HIV/AIDS in the Workplace: A Guide for the Hospitality Industry, co-produced with UNAIDS, will be made widely available to FEDHASA and SAHA members.  It is designed to encourage the development of policies, practices and education to deal with the disease, and its implications for hospitality managers and staff.  The project - an industry first - attracted widespread media coverage in South Africa.

Additional announcements to the press included the presentation of FEDHASA�s first ever �Lifetime Achievement Award� to international tycoon and hotel developer, Sol Kerzner, considered by many to have made the single biggest individual contribution to South Africa�s hotel industry.  The congress was also the occasion for an announcement of the entry of Radisson SAS Hotels Worldwide into South Africa.

Another �local lad� - Brett Dungan, general manager of Cayley Lodge in Winterton, Natal, took the �Young Hotelier of the World� award, alongside Winston Zahra, director of operations at the Radisson SAS Bay Point Resort in Malta. Picking up �Young Restaurateur of the World� award were Claire Menck, F&B manager of the Radisson�s Hotel Mayfair in Milwaukee, USA and Nishan Silva, manager of the Emperor�s Wok restaurant at the Colombo Hilton in Sri Lanka. Trophies were collected from sponsors Hotels magazine.

Harinakshi Desai, Environment Officer at the Orchid Hotel in Mumbai, part of Kamat Hotels India Ltd. and Richard Evanson, MD of Turtle Island in Fiji shared this year�s IH&RA Environmental Awards, in the corporate and independent category respectively. The judge, Karen Fletcher, director of the International Hotels Environment Initiative, lauded the record-breaking 82 entries as evidence that high levels of environmental performance are becoming the industry norm.

Two highly respected hospitality professionals joined the ranks of the IH&RA�s prestigious �hall of fame�, the Confrerie des Amis de l�Hôtellerie et de la Restauration Internationales: Michael Peceri, past president of the association and a former vice chairman of South Seas Resorts Company (USA) and Antonio Gomez, ex-president of FEHGRA, the Argentinian hotel association, and president of Charcas SA.

In a series of elections to IH&RA posts, Dr Osmane Aïdi, chairman of the Cham Palace hotel chain (Syria) was elected to serve a further one-year term as IH&RA president.  Vice-president is Alain-Philippe Feutré of the Syndicat Français de l�Hôtlellerie (France).  Regional vice-presidents are Ichigo Umehara, president of Pan-Pacific Hotels & Resorts (Asia-Pacific), Alfredo Tinajero of the Mexican Association of Hotels & Motels (North America), and Fakhri Twal, general manager of the Jordan Hotel Association (Middle East).

John Bell, executive vice-president of the Caribbean Hotel Association joins Anthony Pollard, president of the Hotel Association of Canada to represent member national association chief executives.  Chain hoteliers continue to be represented in 2000 by John Shingler, vice-president worldwide conferences at Bass Hotels & Resorts and Rajiv Gujral, vice-president, international operations and development at the Taj Hotels Group.

Paul Handlery of US-based Handlery Hotels re-joins the Board as the representative for independent hoteliers alongside Myrna Bustani, a hotelier from the Lebanon.  Allied representative Dries de Vaal, partner at Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group will serve a record third term together with newly elected Geoff Percy, senior vice-president of DiverseyLever.  Florian Hew, director of GastroSuisse remains as representative of national restaurant associations, with Hugo Reinprecht of the Austrian Verband der Konzertlokalbesitzer as his counterpart for independent restaurateurs.

On the conference side, an educational session entitled  "Trends, Challenges and Opportunities in the Restaurant Industry" was the setting for the presentation of a brand new report by the IH&RA, The Restaurant Revolution: Growth, Change and Strategy in the International Foodservice Industry, authored by Professor Michael Olsen, IH&RA�s director of research.

The IH&RA Foundation for the Future raised over $19,000 to fund scholarships for budding management talent through a Silent Auction.

And with thoughts already turned to the year 2000, the British Hospitality Association organised a special evening to give delegates a foretaste of next year�s Annual Congress, to be held in London from 16-20 November, under the theme "Leading Hospitality into the Age of
Excellence."

The International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA) is a global network representing over 750,000 hospitality operators, associations and suppliers in more than 150 countries.