Thirty-three year-old Roderick Micallef, acting general manager and director of finance at the CHI Hotels & Resorts (CHI)-operated five-star Corinthia Hotel Lisbon in Portugal, was proclaimed winner of the prestigious International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) Young Leader Award 2010. The award, co-sponsored by IHIF and the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC), was presented to Mr Micallef by Jonathan Worsley, chairman of Bench Events, co-organisers of the Forum, and ISCH chairman Angelos Loizou, during a special plenary session of the 13th IHIF that was held in Berlin, Germany, 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 years of age, 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 leading hospitality brands worldwide.

An elated Mr Micallef thanked the co-sponsors for the unexpected recognition. “I feel honoured to be following in the steps of last year’s winner, Leslie McGibbon, senior vice president of corporate affairs for InterContinental Hotels Group. Corinthia Hotels, for whom I work and without whom I would not be here, is of course a much smaller organisation, but no less concerned with the development of its young people. So I’d like to dedicate this award to all the young people who work in the seven Corinthia hotels, and in the wider family of hotels 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. Any number of hotel companies could have helped me grow into a competent hotelier, but Corinthia trained me to become an expert in hospitality, which means much, much more. Corinthia is constantly on the look-out for those young men and women who take pride in their own ability to go beyond what is strictly necessary to achieve a true masterpiece of hospitality service. My message to young hoteliers is to come and join Corinthia and one day, they too could be standing here, holding a trophy like this.”