|
October 16, 2006
Industry Innovator Mr. John Q. Hammons Receives Prestigious IAHI Kemmons Wilson Service Award
ATLANTA, [October 16, 2006] - Hotel industry veteran Mr. John Q. Hammons was presented with the 2006 IAHI Kemmons Wilson Service Award during the 2006 InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Americas Investors & Leadership Conference held October 4-6 in Toronto.
IAHI, the Owners' Association of IHG, bestows the award annually in honor of the late Mr. Kemmons Wilson, the hospitality industry pioneer who created the Holiday Inn brand in 1952 and launched the IAH to represent his franchisees in 1955. The award is presented to a hospitality leader who serves their community and embodies the standards and beliefs set forward by Mr. Wilson. Mr. Hammons is founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Springfield, Mo.-based John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, LLC.
Mr. Hammons, a leading industry innovator for nearly half of a century, heads the nation's leading independent builder, developer, owner, and manager of upscale, full-service hotels, resorts and suites. The company's 70 hotels are situated near major demand generators such as office parks, airports and universities. Among the various hotel flags, Mr. Hammons' company owns 12 Holiday Inn properties.
"Mr. Hammons' foresight, dedication to his employees and guests, and years of nurturing and supporting worthwhile causes make him the perfect individual to receive this honor," says IAHI Chairman Michael Hoffman, president of Turf Hotels, Inc. in Albany, NY.
Mr. Hammons entered the hotel industry in 1958 and joined Mr. Roy E. Winegardner to purchase the first 10 Holiday Inn franchises from Mr. Kemmons Wilson. Winegardner & Hammons Incorporated (WHI) of Cincinnati, a hotel development company, was formed in 1961. By the late 1960s, WHI had constructed nearly three-dozen Holiday Inn hotels. Mr. Hammons formed John Q. Hammons Hotels in 1969.
Mr. Hammons has been recognized over the years not only for his work as an hotelier, but for his philanthropic efforts and initiatives. The Missouri native has donated more than $100 million to the city of Springfield and other organizations over the last 50 years. Some of his most notable efforts include funding the Hammons Heart Institute and Hammons Life Line helicopter for St. John's Regional Health Center in Springfield; the Hammons Student Center, Hammons Fountains, and Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts at Missouri State University; the Hammons School of Architecture at Drury University; and Hammons Field, home to the St. Louis Cardinals' Double-A Minor League team, the Springfield Cardinals.
Hammons is the third recipient of the IAHI Kemmons Wilson Service Award.
Note to editors:
About John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, LLC:
Springfield, Mo.-based John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, LLC is the nation's leading independent builder, developer, owner and manager of upscale, full-service hotels, resorts and suites, including: Embassy Suites Hotels, Renaissance, Marriott, Radisson, Residence Inn, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Holiday Inn and Courtyard by Marriott brands. With 70 hotels strategically located near demand generators, such as state capitals, universities, airports, corporate headquarters or office parks in secondary and tertiary markets, John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts' properties are dominant in their markets. Over the course of his impressive career in the hotel business, Mr. Hammons has developed 175 hotels. For more information about John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, LLC, please visit the company's Web site at
www.jqhhotels.com.
About the IAHI:
IAHI members own and operate InterContinental Hotels Group brand hotels worldwide, including Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express , Holiday Inn SunSpree Resorts, Holiday Inn Select , Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites hotels. Established in 1955, the IAHI was the first association of owners in the hotel industry, and today comprises nearly 2,700 members in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Canada, Mexico and Latin America.
The IAHI represents its membership in working together with InterContinental Hotels Group for the purpose of maintaining the highest professional hospitality standards for its brands.
For the latest news from the IAHI, visit our online Newsroom at
www.iahi.org.
| 
