On Saturday the 21st of May 2016, Premier Hotels and Resorts – one of the forerunners in the South African hospitality sector – held its annual gala evening at the East London International Convention Centre. Here the winners of several awards were announced. These awards recognise excellence in numerous spheres that are crucial to providing stellar service to guests and delivering on the Premier Hotels and Resorts promise of ‘where guests become friends’.
Winning the Long Service Awards were Regina Loki, Satasivan Ayasami and Nola Nassimov. The trio have been part of the Group for 25 years – as long as Premier Hotels and Resorts has been in existence. “Premier Hotels was started by one man with a dream, however I could never have achieved all of this alone,” said Premier Hotels and Resorts’ Managing Director, Samuel Nassimov.
The Managing Director’s Award for Excellence in People Management went to Sean Verdon, General Manager of Premier Hotel Pretoria. His ability to attract and retain top talent as well as to train and develop employees into an effective, efficient, productive and motivated team earned him this prestigious prize.
Sefton Cramer of Premier Hotel OR Tambo took home the Managing Director’s Award for Excellence in Customer Care. The Award recognises those properties that meet or surpass customer expectations. Cramer won the award due to his hotel receiving high ratings online and being ranked fourth out of the 24 hotels in the region on Trip Advisor.
Snapping up the Managing Director’s Award for Excellence in Environmental Practices was Premier Hotel Edwardian’s General Manager, Daniel Velayutham. This Award acknowledges the GM who has applied the most appropriate combination of environmental control measures and strategies to reduce a hotel’s carbon footprint. To this end, Velayutham was heavily involved in the formulation of the Group’s environmental policy.
The Managing Director’s Award for Excellence in Performance was won by Reinhard Walzl, General Manager of Premier Hotel Midrand. This Award recognises the individual who displays attention to detail in the quality of reports submitted, conformance to policies and procedures as well as adherence to stringent reporting timelines. The financial performance of his hotel was also noted, with the budget revenue for the financial period being achieved by 12% and year-on-year revenues growing by 51%, which were due to his tight controls on operational expenses.
Winning Sales Excellence Awards were Eddie Matsheka and Taryn Kriel. They were deemed worthy of their awards for their productivity and effectiveness.
Feroza Moosa took the Sales Person of the Year Award. “A great sales person needs to be driven and have a sense of urgency and a need to accomplish the task at hand. They need to be confident and believe in their own ability and be able to handle rejection. They need to be outgoing, funny and structured. They need to care about people and not just the sale but most importantly they need to be focused and know the final destination. Feroza embodies all of these qualities,” said Nassimov.
The highlight of the night was the announcement of the Premier Hotel of the Year, which went to Sefton Cramer of Premier Hotel OR Tambo. The Award goes to a team that has consistently achieved exceptional results in all five weighted categories – the shareholder, the financial returns, guest experience, associate wellness, compliancy related issues and training and development.
“Premier Hotels has changed and grown much over the past 25 years, but one thing that has not changed is the passion and commitment from our staff, as evidenced by the calibre of these award winners,” concluded Nassimov.
