Hirst receives Lifetime Achievement Award at International Hotel Investment Forum
At the 11th annual International Hotel Investment Forum held in Berlin from the 3rd to the 5th March, Michael Hirst OBE, Consultant to CBRE Hotels and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hilton International received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.
In a career spanning 45 years, Hirst has held a number of senior positions in the hotel, hospitality, leisure and tourism industry. He started as a graduate trainee with the Forte Group in 1964 and was General Manager of London’s famous Talk Of The Town Theatre Restaurant, as well as Director for Forte’s leisure, restaurants, banqueting and outside catering interests.
Joining the Ladbroke Group in 1976, he was part of the team that built up its non-betting businesses, culminating with the acquisition of Hilton International in 1987. He was named Corporate Hotelier of the World in 1993.
Since leaving Ladbroke in 1994, Hirst has advised on hotel property investment through CB Richard Ellis and is a consultant and director for other companies in the leisure and tourism sector. In 2003 he was named Meetings and Incentive Travel Industry personality and appointed an OBE for his services to tourism in the same year.
Reflecting on his career Michael Hirst said, “I’ve been fortunate in learning many lessons from my time in this great industry. In hospitality it’s the little things that mean a lot. My early experiences in the entertainment side of the leisure business taught me that attention to detail is critical”.
“I’ve seen a massive change in how hotels are now seen as professionally managed businesses with a strong asset base underpinning them. They represent excellent investment opportunities”
“Compared with when I first started, the hotel business is now mainstream, its’ products more accessible than ever before, marketing and management is smarter and travel is an inherent part of lifestyle with many new markets emerging.
“Quality, value, skills and strong operational management remain the key to success. Whilst other products go in and out of fashion, nobody has yet found an alternative for the need to eat and sleep”.
