Four Kiwi Choice Hotels Champions Celebrated at Annual Awards

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, September 14, 2012 (Press-News.org) Four outstanding New Zealand employees within Choice hotels were celebrated with highly coveted awards at the tenth Choice Hotels Australasia annual conference in Melbourne this week.

The 2012 Champions of Choice Award recipients from New Zealand were: Olivier Lacoua, General Manager at Quality Hotel Wellington; Carlyn McClintock, Sales and Marketing Manager for Clarion Suites Highview; Wayne Darbyshire, General Manager for Quality Hotel Barrycourt; and Hammond Cardon, General Manager at Quality Hotel Lincoln Green. The winners were chosen from the 270 properties throughout Australasia including over 20 hotels in New Zealand ranging from Hotels in Rotorua and accommodation in Dunedin to Invercargill accommodation.

Quality Hotel Wellington continued its star performance, being the only New Zealand property to win a Gold Award in this year's awards. The property also picked up a Gold Award along with the prestigious Quality Hotel Franchisee of the Year award in 2011.

A Choice Hotels Gold Award recognises excellence in such business areas as branding, marketing, customer relations, franchisor relations and training and development.

The Champions of Choice Awards acknowledge the contribution of key individuals from Choice Hotels' 270 properties across Australasia who consistently work to a high level and achieve outstanding results for their property.

Choice Hotels Australasia CEO, Trent Fraser, said; "Champions of Choice Award winners are true ambassadors for Choice Hotels and we are very proud to celebrate their success at our annual awards presentation."

"From a large pool of people at our 270 properties across Australasia, just 22 highly coveted Champions of Choice Awards are given to outstanding hotel employees each year."

"We must also pay special mention to Olivier and his team at Quality Hotel Wellington who take home not only their second Gold Award in two years but the additional 2012 Champions of Choice accolade. It's a real testament to the hard work and dedication to service the team continues to deliver each and every day," added Fraser.

All Gold Award winners were also in the running for a Franchisee of Year Award, which were presented to four Australian hotels at the gala dinner held at Melbourne waterfront venue Carousel on Wednesday evening [29 August].

Three of the four 'Franchisee of the Year' winners were from Queensland and one from Victoria. They were Econo Lodge Park Lane (Bundaberg), Quality Hotel Wangaratta Gateway (Wangaratta), Clarion Hotel Mackay Marina (Mackay) and Comfort Inn & Suites Robertson Gardens (Brisbane).

As a special treat, gala dinner attendees were treated to a surprise performance by Chris Sebastian from popular TV show The Voice Australia.

All award-winning hotels were nominated and judged by an executive panel of members from Choice Hotels' Senior Management and Franchise Services Team.

For further information on Choice Hotels visit http://www.choicehotels.co.nz.

About Choice Hotels
Choice Hotels International, Inc. franchises approximately 6,200 hotels, representing more than 495,000 rooms, in the United States and more than 30 other countries and territories. As of June 30, 2012, more than 375 hotels were under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in the United States, representing more than 30,000 rooms, and 75 hotels, representing approximately 6,700 rooms, were under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in 15 other countries and territories. The company's Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn brands serve guests worldwide. In addition, via its Ascend Collection membership program, travelers have upscale lodging options at historic, boutique and unique hotels.