During the Gala dinner of the Annual General Meeting of HOTREC, the umbrella association of national trade associations representing hotels, restaurants and cafés in Europe and which acts as the representative of the hospitality businesses vis-à-vis the EU institutions, which took place in Limassol Cyprus on April 25th, Costakis Loizou, Louis Group Executive Chairman was awarded the prestigious European Hospitality Foundation “EHF Award”. The EHF Award is presented annually to the personality which has significantly contributed for a number of years to the tourism development of the host country. The AGM of HOTREC takes place every year in the country that presides over the European Union during the 2nd half of the year.

Mr. Loizou was proposed unanimously by the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Hoteliers Association whose decision was endorsed by all the members of the Board of Directors of HOTREC and the GASPART BONET FOUNDATION, the two co-founders of the European Hospitality Foundation.

This significant and Pan-European honour, which recognizes Mr. Loizou’s vast contribution to the Cyprus hospitality industry, was largely dedicated by the Louis Group Executive Chairman to his colleagues and business partners.

More specifically, in his acceptance speech, Costakis Loizou noted: “But I must say that this honour is not simply personal, but reflects on the efforts of my fellow Louis Executives as well as the thousands of dedicated Louis staff members who have supported our hotel chain and the Louis Group in general for the last seventy-seven years”. Furthermore, Mr. Loizou sincerely thanked the Cyprus Hoteliers Association, HOTREC and the Gaspart Bonet Foundation for this great honour and stated that: “There’s no greater personal satisfaction than being acknowledged by one’s colleagues, and for that I am deeply grateful to you all”.

HOTREC’s President Mr. Mr. Kent Nyström, stated that he was particularly moved to be in Cyprus and also to be awarding this to Costakis Loizou, someone he met and had the pleasure to work with during his first professional steps in the tourism industry back in 1972 when he started his career as Fritidsresor’s representative in Famagusta, Cyprus.

Louis Group, www.louishotels.com, www.louiscruises.com, and www.mykonostheoxenia.com