RALPH TAYLOR TAKES TOP TOURISM AWARD IN BARBADOS
For Immediate Release
Contact: Bevan Springer + 1 201 861-2056
bevanspringer@nj.rr.com
RALPH TAYLOR TAKES TOP TOURISM AWARD IN BARBADOS
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (May 29, 2006) – Counterpart International, the development organisation with programs in the Caribbean, lauded the presentation of the inaugural Minister of Tourism’s Lifetime Achievement Award to Barbadian hotelier Ralph Taylor as “right on” and a “significant challenge to other hoteliers to get serious about sustainable tourism”.
Counterpart President Lelei LeLaulu, applauding the Minister’s award said Taylor, chairman and chief executive officer of the successful Almond Resorts, is an “inspiration for sustainable tourism far beyond the Caribbean” for his attempts to ensure tourism actually improved destinations. “And the wonderful thing,” he added, “is the fact Ralph Taylor is enormously successful at what he does.”
Held for the first time this month at Ilaro Court, the official residence of the prime minister of Barbados, Taylor received the award on the eve of the grand official opening of Almond Morgan Bay in St. Lucia, the chain’s first venture outside of Barbados where it owns three properties.
LeLaulu congratulated both Taylor and the hundreds of employees who contribute each day to the success of the Almond brand. “The Almond brand comprises a team of professionals who personify excellence and who each understand that tourism enriches the Caribbean people and their communities,” said LeLaulu. “Ralph Taylor must be commended for his vision.”
Taylor is credited with introducing the all-inclusive resort concept to Barbados after establishing himself first in the area of hospitality accounting and finance, and then later as a professional hotelier.
A former deputy chairman of the Barbados Tourism Authority and past chairman of the Advisory Council of the Minister of Tourism in Barbados, Ralph Taylor
is also a former chairman of the Barbados National Tourism Marketing Committee, as well as chairman of the Caribbean Hotel Association Charitable Trust.
He was the first divisional chairman of tourism for Barbados Shipping and Trading, the sixth largest conglomerate in the Caribbean and sits as director of the company’s parent board. He has served as president of the Barbados Hotel Association and chairman of the Tourism Development Corporation.
In 1994, he was recognized in Barbados as Business Executive of the Year and elected Caribbean Hotelier of the Year the following year. He is a longstanding director of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) and held the position of CHA President from 2000 to 2002.
Ralph Taylor is an avid golfer and holds an appointment as Justice of the Peace. He is a member of the Hotel Catering Institute Management Association and holds the designation of Certified Hotel Administrator from the educational institution of the American Hotel and Motel School. He received his MBA from Bradford University in the United Kingdom.
The new Barbados Tourism Awards seek to cultivate a national awareness of global benchmarking standards in service excellence. According to its website, “it will achieve this by showcasing examples of true excellence and professionalism and would encourage consistent use of best practices and quality customer service delivery.”
Almond Resorts will co-host the fifth anniversary of Counterpart International’s Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx) at Almond Morgan Bay in St. Lucia, October 12-16, 2006. The event improves the quality of media coverage of sustainable tourism in the Caribbean. Further, it increases the input of the media in the design of sustainable tourism policies, and highlights the necessity of tourism to the economies of small island states.
ENDS