The man who has worked with Caribbean and international tourism industry officials and travel and tourism writers for the past 24 years will be specially honoured by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) during the annual Adrian Awards gala in New York on February 24.
Richard S. Kahn, president of KTCpr in New York, will receive the Winthrop W. Grice Lifetime Achievement Award for public relations excellence.
Kahn was chosen as the Grice winner due to his outstanding dedication to his work and to the education of future hospitality professionals. He also joins the list of “who’s who” in public relations excellence, such as Donald Trump and Steve Wynn, who were both previously honoured with the award.
A former journalist and editor-in-chief, Kahn has worked with the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) over the past 23 years and continues to represent CHTA as well as St Maarten Tourist Bureau, Spice Island Beach Resort in Grenada, the Mango Bay Group in Barbados, Magdalena Grand Beach Resort in Tobago and Morritt’s Resort in Grand Cayman.
He also represents the Apple Leisure Group with three of the largest wholesaler companies moving vacationers to the Caribbean including Travel Impressions, Apple Vacations and CheapCaribbean.com.
A current public relations and marketing expert specializing in the hospitality, travel and tourism industries, Kahn is considered an industry veteran and sought-after speaker at conferences and seminars and an innovator who has paved the way for countless colleagues over the past 45 years.
He was a reporter, editor and publisher for the first 22 years of his career, which started when he became a newspaper and radio news broadcaster at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, in the 1960s.
Kahn, who has won numerous awards as a travel writer and was named Allied Member Of The Year by the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association, has served and continues to serve on the boards of numerous tourism-related organizations.
The Winthrop W. Grice Award was established in 1989 and named in honour of Winthrop W. “Bud” Grice, CHME, a long-time senior marketing executive with Marriott, who was the award’s first designate.
Now in its 57th year, the HSMAI Adrian Awards competition has evolved into the world’s most renowned and prestigious advertising, public relations and digital marketing competition specifically tailored for the hospitality, travel and tourism industries. (CH)
