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EHMA NEWSLETTER 01-15

Dear members and friends,

EHMA 42nd annual General Meeting in Geneva from 17 to 19 April 2015 was a great success and we all congratulate the ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Klaus Kabelitz (Le Richemond), Thierry Lavalley (Grand Hotel Kempinski), Jacques Mayer (Hotel Beau-Rivage) Nicolas Meylan (Mövenpick Hotel & Casino), Marc-Olivier Raffray (Hotel des Bergues), Lars Wagner (Mandarin Oriental, Geneva), Stefan Winistörfer.(Swissôtel Metropole).

SPECIAL THANKS GO TO EHMA’S SUPPORTING PARTNERS WHO ENABLED US TO OFFER ANOTHER HIGH-CALIBRE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

From left to right: S. Winistörfer, L. Wagner, H.E. Koch, H. Lang-Louper, N. Meylan, T. Lavalley, K. Kabelitz, J. Mayer

Congratulations to Palmiro Noschese, Italy Area Manager Meliá Hotels International, winner of the “EHMA Sustainability Award by Diversey Care 2015”! (More news available under section Activities on the EHMA homepage)

Congratulations to Panos Almyrantis, General Manager Daios Cove Luxury Resort & Villas in Crete, “European Hotel Manager of the Year 2014”! (More news available under section Activities on the EHMA homepage)

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The social program started on Friday evening with a WELCOME COCKTAIL under the iconic “JET D’EAU” which reaches the impressive height of 140 meters on the lake of Geneva:

The visit to the old town Carouge and discovery of a chocolate factory as well as an introduction to watchmaking were the activities that entertained ACCOMPANYING PERSONS on Saturday:

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On Saturday, the beautiful ballroom of the GRAND HOTEL KEMPINSKI was the scenario of the COCKTAIL AND GALA

DINNER. A very fascinating alphorn player and her band entertained participants. It was a very enjoyable evening!

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The BUSINESS SESSIONS started with the GENERAL ASSEMBLY on Friday afternoon at the Mandarin Oriental, Geneva

Seventeen new EHMA members were present at a General Meeting for the first time and officially welcomed by the assembly (the present number of members has now increased to 437). Among them the lucky winners of the three PDP (Professional Development Program) courses offered by Cornell University, Ithaca, NY: Nicolino Grigio (Hotel Splendide Royal, Rome - Italy), Ivica Krizmanic (Esplanade Zagreb – Croatia) and Diego Ortega (Fontecruz Hoteles, Madrid – Spain) to whom Prof. Tom Kline of Cornell handed over the relevant course certificates.

EHMA was very pleased to welcome Susanne Kraus-Winkler, the new President of HOTREC who acquainted EHMA members with the latest news of HOTREC, the umbrella association of hotels, restaurants and cafés in Europe representing 42 national associations in 28 countries vis-à-vis the European institutions in Brussels.

During the Extraordinary General Meeting the Assembly voted on the revised version of the EHMA Statute which was unanimously approved. The “unofficial translation” of the New EHMA Statute on www.ehma.com

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THE EDUCATIONAL DAY ON SATURDAY 18TH

APRIL AT LE MANDARIN ORIENTAL was particularly rich and interesting. After the welcome address by Geneva Mayor Sami Kanaan, the morning session started with the Swedish economist “guru” Dr. Kjell Nordström, author of the book “Funky Business”. In his typical dynamic style, charismatic Nordström fascinated the audience with his out of the box vision of the future, in particular the globalization and the fast urbanization process that will transform the planet from 200 countries into 600 cities accounting for 80% of the world’s population and economic activity with important consequences for the hospitality industry. Jay Feitlinger and Jason McDonald, respectively CEO and Director of International Client Services of the American strategic digital marketing agency StringCan Interactive, spoke about ways to optimize online bookings on hotel websites, a subject close to the heart of all hoteliers. The positioning of women on the hierarchical ladder and ways to improve it in order to reach power positions was the subject of the research presented by General Manager of Radisson Blu Style Hotel Vienna, Verena Forstinger, and by Markus Conzelmann of Radisson Blu Hotel in Lucerne. Benefits to the hotels from the use of Augmented Reality were illustrated by Olaf Slater, Chief Product Officer of Trust International, a consulting company specialized in distribution and e-commerce for hotels. This web-based application allowing the visualization directly in streaming of a combination of real and virtual elements is aimed at potential customers enabling them to live the emotional experience of the hotel. Key note speaker Jean-Claude Biver, CEO and President of the Watches Division, LVMH Group, successfully outlined in his passionate and vivid style success formulas for the luxury goods world and how to integrate tradition and innovation in order to win over new generation of millionaires. Dr. Karthik Namasivayam, Associate Dean of the École Hôtelière of Lausanne, historical partner of EHMA, also spoke about new generations - students in this case. A video of the school on Global Hospitality Business was shown. Moreover EHL and LHC offered two summer courses drawn among all members. The lucky winners were Damiano De Crescenzo of Planetaria Hotels Milan, and Ivan Rivier of the Hotel Beau Rivage Geneva. The day ended with a panel discussion on Communication Revolution moderated by dynamic communicator Michael McKay. Participants were: Swisscom Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Thomas Di Giacomo; Cyril Ranque, Expedia Senior Vice President Global Management; Alexander Fritsch, expert in online reputation of Servus Tourismuspartner; Mario Jobbe, COO & Co-founder of the digital and social media marketing company Brand Karma; David Sadigh, founder of Digital Luxury Group; Mrs/Dr. Ilham Kadri President Diversey Care, Vice President & Officer Sealed Air. Issues discussed were of great importance for the hotel business. They ranged from online reputation to clients’ expectation on wi-fi and from problems inherent to OTA (Online Travel Agencies) to sustainability.

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LAST BUT NOT LEAST… On Saturday all participants met for a spectacular SWISS LUNCH AT THE FOUR SEASONS HOTEL DES BERGUES:

ALL PICTURES AND PRESENTATIONS ON WWW.EHMAGENEVA2015.COM ENJOY IT!!

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Image Take a minute to click on our new EHMA website! Your thoughts and comments are most welcome. Your help in our efforts to maintain our new homepage as a valuable channel of information to all members will be very much appreciated!

Cyprus is next

The presentation in Geneva of EHMA Cyprus 2016 by Andreas Georgiou Chairman of the Cypriot Organizing Committee was an exciting preview of what’s ahead. It will be a 3-day meeting in Limassol from 17th to 20th March on “Drivers and Trends of Luxury Hospitality”.

Thank you for your kind attention. With my very best wishes and kindest regards,

Hans E. Koch President EHMA

HMI: 10 pages dedicated to EHMA are foreseen in each publication (4 times a year). Any article on interesting issues that members would like to write and see included are most welcome. Have a look at the latest issue!

Our deep appreciation goes to International New York Times, which again printed and mailed the 2015 edition of the Membership List. Please keep the Secretariat informed of any change occurring during the year.