Chairman of Langham Hotels International named Asia Pacific Hotelier of 2004

Dr. Lo Ka Shui, GBS JP, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Great Eagle Holdings and Chairman of the Langham Hotels International Group was presented with the Asia Pacific Hotelier of 2004 award at the 8th Asia Pacific Hotel Investment Conference held at the Ritz Carlton Millenia Singapore.

The prestigious award is a tribute to Dr. Lo's dedication, commitment and achievement to the hotel industry in the region and particularly Hong Kong. As one of Hong Kong's leading property and hotel companies, Langham Hotel International is a dynamic, modern international hospitality ownership and management company which has become a real success story for an Asian home grown brand. 

Langham Hotels International (LHI) is wholly owned by Hong Kong based Great Eagle Holdings Limited which is one of Hong Kong's leading property and hotel companies, developing, investing in and managing high quality office, retail, residential and hotel properties in Hong Kong, North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The group's extensive international hotel portfolio currently comprises eight properties with over 4,760 rooms in six gateway cities across the four continents, namely, London, Boston, Hong Kong, Toronto, Melbourne and Auckland.

In the fourth quarter of 2004, the Group opened Langham Place, a 1.8 million square feet complex in the prime shopping district of Mongkok, Hong Kong. It consists of a 600,000 square feet shopping mall, a 770,000 square feet intelligent office tower and the five-star Langham Place Hotel, Mongkok, Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, LHI owns, manages and operates the luxury 490-room Langham Hotel, Hong Kong, the all new 665-room five-star Langham Place Hotel, Mongkok, Hong Kong, and the newly refurbished four-star 468-room Eaton Hotel Hong Kong. Internationally, it owns and operates four luxury hotels, including the 429-room Langham Hotel, London, the 325-room Langham Hotel, Boston, the 387-room Langham Hotel, Melbourne, the 410-room Langham Hotel, Auckland. In Canada, LHI owns and asset manages the four-star 1,590-room Delta Chelsea Hotel, Toronto.

A cardiologist by training, Dr Lo, graduated in 1970 from McGill University in Canada, with B.Sc. in Biophysics, and in 1974 graduated from Cornell University with M.D.. On his return to Hong Kong, Dr. Lo joined the Board of Great Eagle Holdings in 1980.

Each year, the Asia Pacific Hotel Investment Conference honours an Asia Pacific Hotelier who has had the greatest impact on the region's hospitality industry. The Hotelier of the Year award was first presented at the 3rd Asia Pacific Hotel Investment Conference in 2000. Past recipients were Mr. Kwek Leng Beng, Executive Chairman of Hong Leong Group, Dr Hari Harilela, Chairman of The Harilela Group, Mr. Richard Hartman, Managing Director of InterContinental Hotels Groups, Mr. Gwee Liang Kheng, President and Chief Executive Officer of publicly listed company Hotel Plaza Limited, and also President and CEO of United Overseas Land and Mr. David Baffsky, Chairman of ACCOR Asia Pacific.

This year's award a signature limited edition lead cristal piece entitled "The World is My Playground" depicts a pair of Chinese Dragon Fish, or Lungyu swimming through the waves. The Lungyu, symbolizes power and excellence, valiancy and boldness, heroism and perseverance, nobility and divinity. A mythical creature that overcomes obstacles until success is his, very apt words to describe this year's award recipient.

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