February 2005 > View From the Top Mr. Mark Lettenbichler, IH&RA Regional Vice President - Asia Pacific; Hong Kong Hotels Association Chairman; The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, Vice President & Area General Manager The catastrophic events in South Asia were unprecedented and countries around the world rallied to offer substantial amounts of donations and different forms of aid to help victims of these affected countries and areas recover from their misfortunes and return to normal life. Hong Kong Hotels Association and International Hotel & Restaurant Association were at the forefront of giving them support and in Hong Kong, we organized cash donations and immediately airlifted materials, ranging from clothes, blankets, linen, mattresses, food, to medicines to the most affected areas. We also worked with charitable organizations to help them meet their enormous needs for relief to be brought to the people affected by Tsunami. It has already been a month after the catastrophe struck but our support efforts have not stopped. Our collection of cash donations continues and we have designated January 23 to be the day when 5% of our total hotel room revenue from participating member hotels will be donated to the South Asia Relief Fund. Furthermore, for the period from 15 January to 15 February, our hotel guests will be invited to participate in a donation drive of US$1 per room for every night of stay. The response has been very encouraging and we would like to thank our member hotels, hotel staff and hotel guests for their generosity. The travel, tourism and hospitality industry in Hong Kong initiated a "We Care for South Asia" Campaign. By using the favorable experience we had during SARS to gather community support for a common cause, the Campaign aims to encourage more people to visit the affected countries and areas, as soon as they are fit for travel. We gathered airlines and travel agents to offer their best prices for travel groups to these countries and areas with the objective of helping their local people rebuild their tourism business and continue with employment in the tourism industry. With memories being short and the sufferings of the affected countries and areas in need of continuous help and support from their markets, we as an industry strongly believe that we have a duty to provide them with our best support and we are in memory of those who had lost their lives, some known to us both as business associates and friends. We call on our friends and colleagues from the industry around the world to continue to support Asia, especially those countries and areas that had been affected by Tsunami. Our global industry is closely connected and we would like to express our gratitude for the co-operation and support we received when collecting our donations from the hotel industry. We are also particularly grateful to the letters and messages we received from members, regional vice presidents, the Chairman and Chief Executive of International Hotel & Restaurant Association, during the past month and it is with this comradeship and solidarity of the industry that we look forward to a most promising year of 2005. Mr. Mark Lettenbichler, Regional Vice President - Asia Pacific Copyright 2003 International Hotel & Restaurant Association. All rights reserved. International Hotel & Restaurant Association 51 rue Jean Jacques Rousseau 75001 Paris France Tel: 33 (0) 1 44 88 92 20 Fax: 33 (0) 1 44 88 92 30 www.ih-ra.com