Hospitality champions

First of all, my congratulations to everyone who was nominated, Highly Commended and crowned victorious.

I have been uploading the nominee long-lists and shortlists for the past few weeks and watching with sheer amazement at the volume of comments that poured in from around the world.

But last night, having met the winners, it all makes sense.

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It was a genuine privilege to be sat in the same room as so many talented, remarkable and hospitable people, who had clearly touched the lives of their guests and colleagues.

A few people spoke of the economy last night, but my overriding impression was that the nominees and winners were above that.

They had faced this year’s challenges head on and proved themselves vital and important champions of their properties.

Surely this is something we should all focus on as we move into Q4 and into 2010 – are we champions of our workplaces?

Once again the awards proved you can have the glitziest, most extravagant property in the world, but it doesn’t mean anything unless you can staff it with passionate industry people.

Furthermore, the awards highlighted how every role in hospitality is vital to create the perfect customer experience.

Remove any of those positions from the hotel machine and it will quickly break down.

Just to be associated with the Middle East’s hospitality industry is truly an honour and I would like to thank everyone involved last night for the support of their peers, friends and family.

As a final thought, these awards brought people together and I would like to see people continue to interact online.

Keep leaving comments, support staff when they do well, offer your opinion when you want to get something off your chest or offer advice — together we can move forward as a community and as last night proved, a community we can all be proud of.