
These two major personalities in the French hospitality industry received the 'Lifetime Achievement' award at the 17th edition of the Worldwide Hospitality Awards ceremony, an honor that recognizes an exemplary career within the hotel profession.
President of Central Hotel, Alain Jacquier is head of a family-run group with 18 properties. Since the creation of the brand Mercure in 1975, he has held many positions such as regional president of Umih, member of the Board of Administration at Maison de la France, vice-president of the Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de Dijon, and President of the Commission at the CCI in Dijon. Knight of the French National Order of Merit and Officer of the Legion of Honor, this model entrepreneur and man of commitment now stands out as co-winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Worldwide Hospitality Awards.
He shares this award with François Branellec, a passionate Breton entrepreneur who proved himself first in the agro-food sector before selling his first business to open a Novotel property in Brest in 1974. Still active in the food and airline sector with Brit Air, he decided to dedicated himself to the hotel industry in the 1980s with the purchase of the Hôtel Moderne de Brest, renamed Sofitel Oceania Brest. The head of the Breton firm created the Oceania brand a few years later: the portfolio now has 28 hotels. A pioneer in the economy hotel industry, it opened the first two B&B hotels in Brest and Saint-Malo in 1990 before selling the group in 2003. The last great entrepreneurial adventure was the launch of the environmentally responsible brand Nomad Hotels: the latter inaugurated its first two properties in 2014 and 2015.
Georges Sampeur handing the 'Lifetime Achievement' Award over to François Branellec and Alain Jacquier. #WHA16 pic.twitter.com/i6oH9YCeTX
— Hospitality Awards (@whawards) 14 novembre 2016