Mr. John Q. Hammons Receives Hospitality Industry’s Above & Beyond Award
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Mr. John Q. Hammons Receives Hospitality Industry’s Above & Beyond Award
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Category: Worldwide - Exclusive experiences
- Rewards
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2009-10-29
Mr. John Q. Hammons, a 51-year hospitality industry veteran, was recently honored with the prestigious Above & Beyond Award for his significant lodging industry and philanthropic endeavors. Mr. Hammons was recognized at a luncheon attended by nearly 1,100 hospitality executives as a part of The Lodging Conference 2009 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix.
Scott Tarwater, executive vice president of development for John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, accepted the Above & Beyond Award on behalf of Mr. Hammons and passed on the hospitality legend’s appreciation and wise counsel. Tarwater shared a statement from Mr. Hammons, including the comment: “Today, we’ve had a sad experience in oversupply of franchises being granted everywhere, and many developers without the right knowledge are having trouble. Remember this, you’ll never win unless you know the market first and select the best location. Otherwise, you can’t survive a mistake.”
Mr. Hammons is founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Springfield, Mo.-based John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, the nation’s leading independent builder, developer, owner and manager of upscale, full-service hotels, resorts and suites (www.jqhhotels.com). His properties continue to typically outperform their competitive set and lead the brands in quality, service and financial performance under which they operate. Over the last five decades, Mr. Hammons has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the city of Springfield and to other health, sports, education and cultural arts-related causes and organizations.
At age 90, Mr. Hammons continues to be focused on his passion of developing hotels and meeting space and has more than $1.5 billion in new construction in the pipeline, including several projects slated to open by 2010. He opened two hotels, a spa and conference center this year, bringing his career total to 208 hotels and 5.4 million gross square feet of meeting space spanning 40 states.
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