The HICAP Lifetime Achievement Award honors exceptional individuals who have distinguished themselves through their accomplishments and contributions to expanding, enhancing and advancing the hotel industry in the Asia Pacific region and the world. Mr. Kwek entered the hospitality industry with a single hotel in Singapore in 1971, and has since transformed the Group into a global hospitality player. The Hong Leong Group currently owns/operates more than 36,000 rooms in over 150 hotels across 24 countries.
In addition to his role as Executive Chairman at the Hong Leong Group of Companies in Singapore, Mr. Kwek is the Executive Chairman of City Developments Limited, Chairman and Managing Director of Hong Leong Finance Limited, and Chairman of Hong Leong Asia Ltd, City e-Solutions Limited and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc. He currently heads a staff of over 40,000 in property investment and development, hotel ownership and management, financial services, and industrial enterprises across Asia Pacific, China, the Middle East, Europe, and North America.
Mr. Kwek has received numerous accolades for his contributions to the hotel industry. He was awarded “Outstanding Contributor to Tourism” and “Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year” by Singapore Tourism Board in 1997; crowned “Asia Pacific Hotelier of the Decade” in 2000 by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels and Arthur Andersen; and named “Best Travel Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2014 at the TTG Travel Awards. Other honors include “Businessman of the Year” in 1996 by Singapore Business Awards and SG50 Outstanding Chinese Business Pioneers Award in 2015.
“We are very honored to able to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr. Kwek,” said Jim Burba, president of BHN and co-host of HICAP. “His significant business accomplishments have positively influenced the growth of tourism throughout Asia and indeed the world,” Burba added.
Adding to its special nature, the Award is not given out every year and prior recipients of the HICAP Lifetime Achievement Award include: 2011, Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman, Carlson; 2009, The Honorable Sir Michael Kadoorie, Chairman, The Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels, Limited; 2007, Stephen F. Bollenbach, Co-Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Hilton Hotels Corporation; 2006, Kurt J. Wachtveitl, General Manager, Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, Thailand; 2005, P.R.S. Oberoi, Chairman & CEO, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts; and 2003, Paul Dubrule, Co-Chairman and Founder, Accor.
For additional information on HICAP or the Lifetime Achievement Award, visit the website atwww.HICAPconference.com.