Dr. Ghassan A"idi Elected IH&RA President

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. October 14, 2008

PARIS, France, October 31, 2006. The International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA) is honoured to announce a new slate of IH&RA Board of Directors effective 1 November 2006, following the Association's Annual General Assembly held in Nice, France, on 28 October.

Congratulations to new IH&RA President Dr. Ghassan A"idi, President, Cham Palaces & Hotels. Dr. A"idi takes over from Mr. Dieter Huckestein, President, Yellowstone Club World, former Chairman & CEO, Conrad Hotels and former President, Hilton Global Alliance - USA.

"This is a tremendous honour," says Dr. Ghassan A"idi, "I embrace the challenge and privilege of being IH&RA President and look forward to serving IH&RA members worldwide."

Dr. Ghassan A"idi is a long-time IH&RA member and served on the IH&RA Board of Directors in the year 2006 as Vice President for Hotels. As President of Cham Palaces & Hotels and Royal Regency International Hotels, a US-based Hotels Management Company, Dr. A"idi embodies the global hospitality industry.

He maintains offices on three continents, and manages Cham Palaces & Hotels' luxury properties in USA, France, Lebanon, UAE, Syria and Jordan.

The new IH&RA Board is comprised of a distinguished group of international hotel and restaurant chain leaders, chief executives of national hotel and restaurant associations worldwide and a representative of independent hotels, with two representatives appointed to represent IH&RA Worldwide Partners.

The new Board of Directors takes office immediately and will direct the Association from now and throughout the year 2007. The new IH&RA Board of Directors includes:

The IH&RA Executive Committee:

President

-- Dr. Ghassan A"idi

President

Cham Palaces & Hotels

Past President

-- Mr. Dieter Huckestein

President & CEO

Yellowstone Club World

Vice President - Hotels

-- Mr. Yannick Rouvrais

COO & Member of the Management Board

Orbis S.A. (Accor)

Vice President - Restaurants

-- Mr. Bruce Cotton

Director Emeritus

NRA - National Restaurant Association of America

Treasurer

-- Mr. Joseph Spinnato

President

Hotel Association of New York City, Inc.

Secretary

-- Mr. Alain-Philippe Feutr'e

Vice-President

Royal Regency International Hotels

Also on the Board of Directors:

Regional Vice President: Europe

Mr. Joan Gaspart Solves

President

Grupo Husa, SPAIN

Regional Vice President Asia-Pacific

Mr. Hiran Cooray

Vice-President

Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka

Regional Vice President Middle East

Mr. Fakhri Twal

Jordan Hotel Association

Regional Vice President Latin America:

To be appointed

National Association Chief Executives Council:

-- Mr. Timur Bayindir

President

Touristic Hotels & Investors Association -TUROB - TURKEY

-- Mr. Robert Cotton OBE

Chief Executive

British Hospitality Association - UNITED KINGDOM

-- Dr. Florian Hew

Director

GastroSuisse - SWITZERLAND

-- Mr. R.K. Puri

Secretary-General

Hotel Association of India (HAI) - INDIA

-- Mr. Xi Yanping

Vice-Chairman

China Tourist Hotels Association - CHINA

Chains Council:

-- Ms. Nancy Johnson

Executive Vice-President, Full Service Hotels

Carlson Hotels Worldwide

-- Mr. Reas M. Kondraschow

SVP & Managing Director

Wyndham Hotel Group

Independent Operators Representative:

-- Mr. Mats "Ostblom

Managing Director

Hotell Liseberg Heden, Sweden

Worldwide Partners Representatives:

-- Mr. Frank I. Wolfe, CAE

Executive Vice President & CEO

Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals (HFTP)

---| Mr. Robert Grimes

Chairman & CEO

Accuvia

Also serving as a member of the Executive Committee on the IH&RA Board is Mr. Avi Rosental, who has been appointed IH&RA Director-General effective 1 November, replacing David McMillan who served in this position for the past two years (2005-2006).

The next meeting of the new IH&RA Board of Directors will be held in January, 2007. The next meeting of the Chains Council will be held in March 2007 and the next meeting, the IH&RA NACE (National Association Chief Executives Council), in June 2007. (Dates & locations to be announced shortly)