Top international award for Corinthia Hotels manager

Roderick Micallef, acting general manager and director of finance at the CHI Hotels & Resorts-operated five-star Corinthia Hotel Lisbon in Portugal, has been named International Hotel Investment Forum Young Leader 2010.

The award, co-sponsored by IHIF and the International Society of Hospitality Consultants, was presented to Mr Micallef, 33, by Jonathan Worsley, chairman Bench Events, co-organisers of the forum, and ISCH chairman Angelos Loizou, at the 13th IHIF in Berlin earlier this month.

Now in its second year, the Young Leader Award was created by IHIF, in conjunction with ISHC, to celebrate the excellence of young emerging leaders in the hospitality industry and to reward an outstanding individual with the title of IHIF Young Leader of the Year.

The IHIF Young Leader must be under 35, currently work in a hospitality-related field, have completed a significant project for his or her hotel or organisation and be recognised by leaders of his or her own hotel or organisation as an emerging leader. He must also be based in a European country. The judging panel for the Young Leader Award 2010 included no fewer than 15 top professionals from the leading hospitality brands worldwide.

Congratulating Roderick on his achievement, commented:

"We entrusted Roderick with the dual role of acting general manager and director of finance of Lisbon's largest hotel and spa at such a tender age, because we strongly believe that he has the potential to become one of the best leaders in the industry," CHI Hotels & Resorts chief executive and managing director Tony Potter said. "With his energy, positive attitude, personality, and knowledge, Roderick is fast developing our Corinthia Hotel Lisbon into one of the world's greatest MICE and spa destinations. He has introduced innovative hotel products and marketing initiatives, while constantly focusing on customer service excellence and employee motivation."

After working at other Corinthia hotels in Malta, Mr Micallef was appointed director of finance at the Corinthia Hotel Lisbon in January 2004. In May last year, he also took on the additional job of acting general manager and has since achieved success in both assignments, maximising on revenues, strengthening brand awareness, and increasing customer loyalty.

Within the first few months of taking over general management responsibility for the hotel, Mr Micallef oversaw two major projects that have enhanced the hotel's portfolio of products: the completion of a new state-of-the-art business centre, launched with a 'Meet For Free' promotional offer, and the development of the Malo Spa - the largest spa complex in the city.

Corinthia Hotel Lisbon is one of seven five-star landmark hotels owned by International Hotel Investments plc and which has entrusted the management of its hotels to its subsidiary company CHI.

Mr Micallef said he was honoured to follow in the footsteps of last year's winner, Leslie McGibbon, senior vice president of corporate affairs for InterContinental Hotels Group.

"Corinthia Hotels is, of course, a much smaller organisation, but no less concerned with the development of its young people," he said. "I would like to dedicate this award to all the young people who work in the seven Corinthia hotels and in the wider family of hotels, which are managed by CHI Hotels & Resorts. It's often said that young people are the life-blood of an industry. Corinthia turns this saying into a reality but with respect for the contribution that all its team members bring. My message to young hoteliers is to come and join Corinthia and one day, they, too, could be standing here, holding a trophy such as this."

The International Hotel Investment Forum is a world-class three-day conference. The agenda included interviews with hoteliers, forecasts from economists, panel discussions on the latest developments, and trends and best practice in the hotel and investment industry; 140 speakers took part.