Hospitality.  Redefined.

GEORGE GLOVER FIRST RECIPIENT OF THE KEMMONS WILSON SERVICE AWARD

TAMPA (Jan. 5, 2005) — IAHI, the 2,700-member owners’ association of InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG), has presented its first Kemmons Wilson Service Award to George Glover, chairman and CEO of Tampa’s BayStar Hotel Group.

“This is the highest honor our association bestows, and there is no one more deserving than George,” said David Shamoian, IAHI chairman. “His work in IAHI’s leadership is legendary, going back nearly a decade. George instituted new policies and initiatives that have made our organization better and stronger than when he first joined it.”

Created in honor of Holiday Inn Founder Kemmons Wilson, the special service award will be given periodically to an IAHI member or IHG executive whose contributions to the association best exemplify Wilson’s commitment to partnership among franchisees and between franchisee and franchisor. Immediate Past IAHI Chairman Leroy Lail found it fitting that the first Kemmons Wilson award would go to the man who learned at the hand of the master. Glover worked with Kemmons Wilson for 17 years, serving as president and COO of the Wilson Hotel Management Co., Inc. (WHMC) in Memphis.

The award is reserved for individuals whose work for the association has been long-term and has had significant impact. For the past nine years, Glover has held an IAHI board level or higher position, serving as Board Chairman in 2002. Among Glover’s accomplishments are organizing member support for the development and standardization of the signature Holiday Inn Express breakfast bar and driving support for Give Kids the World, a non-profit organization founded by a Holiday Inn franchisee that enables children with life-threatening diseases and their families to visit Central Florida’s best-loved attractions.

Glover started his hotel career as a bellhop in what is now the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort in Clearwater Beach, Fla. After a career with Holiday Inn and Wilson Hotel Management, he returned to the Tampa Bay area where he grew up, and co-founded BayStar Hotel Group in 2000.

IAHI evolved from an organization of Holiday Inn franchisees established by Kemmons Wilson in 1955. The organization was the first association of owners in the hotel industry, and today comprises nearly 2,700 members in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Canada, Mexico and Latin America. IAHI members own and operate InterContinental Hotel Group brand hotels worldwide, including Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express and Suites, Holiday Inn Select, Holiday Inn SunSpree Resorts, Staybridge Suites, and Candlewood Suites hotels.

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