Property magnate Kwek Leng Beng (pictured) has won the title of “Best Travel Entrepreneur of the Year” at the TTG Travel Awards 2014, held earlier this month in Bangkok, Thailand.
The chairman of London-listed Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) was honoured for setting new standards for his organisation’s brand and for contributing to areas in the travel industry such as sustainability, training and education.
“I am very proud to be conferred the prestigious TTG Travel Entrepreneur of the Year. This honour would not have been possible without the support of many capable people who work with me as a team,” said Kwek.
He added: “An an entrepreneur, I am determined to continue to acquire and build hotels that meet the latest needs and trends of our guests.”
This achievement is the latest in a number of hospitality-related awards picked up by Kwek over the years. Other accolades include “Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year” and “Outstanding Contributor to Tourism” by the Singapore Tourism Board in 1997, and the “Asian Hotelier of the Decade” in 2000 by JLL Hotels and Arthur Andersen.
Mr Kwek expanded the M&C brand from just one hotel in the early 1970s to one of the largest hotel owners and operators in the world. The company now has more than 120 hotels.
M&C is a subsidiary of property giant CDL. Both M&C and CDL are members of Hong Leong Group Singapore.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Singapore Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
