Atlantis Paradise Island President and Managing Director George Markantonis has been named hotelier of the year by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA).
The honour, which is CHTA’s highest, was presented to Mr. Markantonis during the opening festivities for the Caribbean Travel Marketplace held in Montego Bay, Jamaica over the weekend.
The hotelier, however, was modest about his honour, saying that it was all thanks to the staff at Atlantis.
“It makes me feel good for our country and for the 8,000 colleagues that work with me at Atlantis,” he said during a news conference at Atlantis.
“There is no one genius that makes sure that Atlantis is the top resort in the Caribbean. Really I am one cog in a big master plan. But somebody has to be recognised and I am particularly proud that is someone from The Bahamas and I am doubly proud that it’s myself from Atlantis but I really see it for recognition for our group.”
Mr. Markantonis also spoke about why he believes Atlantis was chosen for the prestigious award.
“Perhaps it’s the fact that we weathered the financial storm that we try every day as a team to come up with new ways to draw customers here; the fact that we offer innovative tourism products such as the Battle for Atlantis, sports, the concert series, Miss Universe and everything else,” he said.
“And perhaps it’s the non-stop marketing campaign that we have. We spend $18 million a year just on print media. We blanket our core markets. We are very strategic on how we market The Bahamas as a whole and Atlantis in particular.”
Mr. Markantonis is not the only hotelier from The Bahamas to receive the honour.
He joins the rankings of George Myers, who was awarded in 1980 and Stephen Sawyer in 1997.
Mr. Sawyer now serves as Atlantis’ senior vice president and general manager of Royal Towers at Atlantis Paradise Island.
Atlantis has hosted the Caribbean Travel Marketplace three times.
Last year’s Travel Marketplace, which was held at the Paradise Island property saw 12,700 meetings with delegates from some 22 countries.
