HICAP is pleased to announce that Ho Kwon Ping is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings and Laguna Resorts and Hotels, and Executive Chairman of Thai Wah Public Company, will be awarded the HICAP Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Ho will be presented with the award at the 30th annual HICAP being held 23-25 October 2019 at the Kerry Hotel Hong Kong.
The HICAP Lifetime Achievement Award honors exceptional individuals who have distinguished themselves through their accomplishments and contributions to expanding, enhancing and advancing the hotel industry in the Asia Pacific region and the world.
Mr. Ho’s accomplishments expand far beyond his professional endeavors in the hospitality world. He is the founding and current Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Singapore Management University, Chairman of The Singapore Summit and a non-executive Director of Diageo, the UK-listed spirits company. Educated in Tunghai University, Taiwan; Stanford University, California and the University of Singapore, he was the Economics Editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review in Hong Kong before joining the Thai Wah family business and then starting his own companies.
Among various awards, Mr. Ho has received the London Business School Entrepreneurship Award; CEO of the Year at the Singapore Corporate Awards; CNBC Travel Business Leader Award; Distinguished Alumnus Award from the National University of Singapore; as well as several achievement awards from conferences. For his services to the country he has been decorated with the Meritorious Service Medal and the Distinguished Service Order by the Singapore Government. Mr. Ho has also been conferred honorary doctorates by Johnson & Wales University and from Hong Kong Poly University.
He is the author of two books: “Asking Why” reflects his journey in journalism and entrepreneurship over a period of forty years, and includes articles commissioned by The Straits Times; while “The Ocean in a Drop: Singapore in the next Fifty Years” is a compilation of public lectures he gave as the Inaugural Fellow of the SR Nathan Lecture Series, named after the Sixth President of Singapore.
Mr. Ho is married to Claire Chiang, Senior Vice President, Banyan Tree Holdings. They have three children – two sons and a daughter and three grandchildren.
Adding to its special nature, the Award is not given out every year. Prior recipients of the HICAP Lifetime Achievement Award include: Anil Thadani, Chairman of Symphony Asia; Larry M.K. Tchou, Senior Advisor – Greater China for Hyatt Hotels & Resorts; William Heinecke, Founder & Chairman, Minor Group; Kwek Leng Beng, Executive Chairman, Hong Leong Group of Companies; Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman, Carlson; The Honorable Sir Michael Kadoorie, Chairman, The Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels, Limited; Stephen F. Bollenbach, Co-Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Hilton Hotels Corporation; Kurt J. Wachtveitl, General Manager, Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, Thailand; P.R.S. Oberoi, Chairman & CEO, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts; and Paul Dubrule, Co-Chairman and Founder, Accor.
For additional information on HICAP or the Lifetime Achievement Award, visit the website at www.HICAPconference.com.