CHI Hotels and Resorts has held its annual international financial controllers conference at the five-star Corinthia Hotel, Prague. Directors of finance and senior executives from the company's head office in Malta and hotels in the Czech Republic, The Gambia, Hungary, Libya, Malta, Portugal, Russia and Tunisia attended the three-day event which had 'Bridging the difference' as its main theme.

The conference was addressed by CHI Hotels and Resorts chairman Joe Sita and chief executive officer and managing director Tony Potter, who gave details on future vision and growth plans. Issues of specific interest to finance personnel were presented by internal speakers, led by CHI's chief financial officer and administration director Paul Bugeja.

The conference discussed CHI's new role as a multi-brand hotel operator following its joint venture agreement with the US-based Wyndham Hotel Group and how this development impacts the financial protocol, policies and procedures of the company. Besides continuing to operate the luxury Corinthia Hotels brand worldwide, CHI is now also the exclusive operator of the Wyndham and Ramada Plaza brands in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Other topics on the conference agenda included corporate governance, job motivation, internal audits, cash flows, reporting processes, operation results for 2008 and business plans and targets for 2009.

Guest speaker topics included Sun accounting systems by Computime Malta, insurance by AIG Memsa of Dubai and a lecture on leadership, assertiveness, and presentation skills by Maltese management consultant Paul Gauci.