TORONTO — A day of learning was kicked off by an evening of fun as approximately 70 of the industry’s leading hotel CEOs and suppliers met for dinner the night before the Hotel Association of Canada’s all-day conference.
The dinner, which has become an annual HAC tradition, was held at Chop Restaurant, adjacent to the Sheraton Airport, where the HAC Conference was held on February 16th and sponsored by several of the industry’s leading suppliers, including LG, Food Buy, Serta, Above the Line Solutions and Ecolab. Though the intent of the evening was purely social in nature, bringing operators and suppliers together, invariably the discussion among the groups centered on some of the industry’s leading issues, including the potential new hotel tax looming in Toronto, increasing global competition and the impact of Donald Trump’s presidency on travel and hospitality — in both the U.S. and around the world.
Among the industry CEOs at the dinner were Brian Leon, Choice Hotels; Manlio Marescotti, Marriott Hotels & Resorts; and Sandeep Gupta and Kenny Gibson from Sunray Hotels. New HAC president Susie Grynol and incoming new chair Vito Curalli were also among the evening’s special guests.
