HANGZHOU, CHINA—The President of the International Hotel & Restaurant Assn. (IH&RA) Dr. Ghassan Aidi signed an agreement with the President of the China Hotel Association, Mrs. Han Ming, to organize IH&RA’s 53rd Annual Congress to be taking place at the Dragon Hotel, Hangzhou, October 13 to 15, 2017. The Dragon Hotel was the venue for the G20 Summit which took place in September 2016.
Founded in 1859 in Koblenz (Germany), the IH&RA is the only business organization representing the hospitality industry worldwide. Its members are national hotel and restaurant associations throughout the world, and international and national hotel and restaurant chains representing some 50 brands. Officially recognized by the United Nations, IH&RA monitors and lobbies all international agencies on behalf of the industry it serves.
Networking & Business Opportunities
Among the highlights of this year’s IH&RA Congress is CHA’s efforts in establishing franchising and management partnerships for thousands of its non-branded member hotels. IH&RA President Ghassan Aidi said, “This year’s Congress is an event which cannot be missed by any hotel brand or operator whether or not they are currently present in the Chinese marketplace.” In addition, the event will also provide a platform for the development of global investment partnerships with Chinese restaurants to promote Chinese gourmet food and cuisine on a global scale.
IH&RA welcomes hoteliers and restaurant professionals worldwide to attend its 53rd Annual Congress, an event which will represent a unique opportunity for high-level networking and business development within the vast Chinese hotel market.
Chinese Launch of IH&RA’s ‘Emeraude Hotel’ Initiative
IH&RA announced that the China Hotel Association (CHA), China’s leading hotel association, announced it will launch a process for certifying most of its 100,000 hotels and apply the criteria for sustainable hotel operations within IHRA’s sustainability label “THE EMERAUDE HOTEL”. The projected process of implementation will take one to two years. IH&RA welcomes the decision of the China Hospitality Association and confirmed it will open an office in Beijing or Shanghai this year to start the process of EMERAUDE certification of Chinese hotels.
The measures adopted by GSTC in 2008 where IH&RA was the only hotel association to participate with 26 other NGO’s, included 120 criteria for sustainable development. IHRA managed to reduce these criteria to 100 upon which IH&RA’s Emeraude Hotel certification was developed.
IH&RA President Ghassan Aidi said, “We plan to gain support by IH&RA’s member associations before 2020, followed by a large-scale rollout of the certification program among hotels of member associations. The Emeraude Hotel initiative will be an example and reference for other hospitality sectors worldwide. CHA’s early support of our initiative forms a major step towards improved sustainability in China’s hospitality industry, and will be a great reference for other Asian countries.”
