Etihad Airways is the official airline sponsor for WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017

Source: WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 website. Youth at work.

Etihad Airways has is the official airline sponsor of WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 - the biggest vocational education and skills excellence event in the world. The event will bring more than 3,000 competitors and industry experts from up to 75 countries to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from 14 to 17 October 2017.

WorldSkills covers a wide range of industries including construction, creative arts and fashion, information and communication technology, manufacturing and engineering, social and personal services and transport. The 44th edition of the competition will represent the first time that the event has been held in the Middle East and will be the largest and most complex event to be sited at the ADNEC in the lead up to Expo 2020 Dubai.

WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017, which will be hosted by the Abu Dhabi Center for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ACTVET), aims to increase the prestige of vocational careers by challenging young people to become the best in the skill of their choice. The competition is a major coup for Abu Dhabi as the emirate continues to transition into a diversified knowledge-based economy in line with the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030.

HE Mubarak Saeed Al Shamsi, Director General of ACTVET and official delegate of the UAE to WorldSkills, said: “WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 represents our strong commitment to vocational and technological education and training for the young people of the UAE today, helping them build a thriving and diverse economy for the generations of tomorrow. We look forward to working with Etihad Airways to ensure the competition is a resounding success.”

The WorldSkills participants represent the best of their peers and are selected from skill competitions in member countries and regions across the globe. Almost 2,300 participants and experts took part in the 2015 edition of the competition which was held in Sao Paolo, Brazil, whilst thousands more visited the six-day event.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ CEO said: “It is a great honour to be named as an official partner of such a prestigious competition. Abu Dhabi is a thoroughly modern city which is fast becoming one of the world’s most exciting commercial and tourism hubs. The event will provide the perfect opportunity for those attending to experience the very best of Arabian hospitality whilst enjoying state of the art facilities and modern infrastructure in a thriving and cosmopolitan city.”

Hala Abu Dhabi, the destination management division of Etihad Airways, has been named as the competition’s customer service management provider. Hala will develop and deliver packages for all those attending the event as well as offer on-ground customer services including staffing, transport and excursions.

Mohammed Al Bulooki, Etihad Airways’ Vice President – UAE Commercial, said: “The competition will provide a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase everything that Abu Dhabi has to offer to leisure and business travellers alike. Abu Dhabi, as a city dedicated to continued investment in the workforce of tomorrow, is the perfect location for the renowned competition: Hala Abu Dhabi looks forward to welcoming participants from across the world to our home city and working with ACTVET and WorldSkills to ensure that the event is a resounding success.”

Six Accor hotels in Australia enter TripAdvisor Hall of Fame

In addition to the many Accor hotels across Australia recognised by TripAdvisor for their outstanding performance from businesses within the tourism and hospitality industry, several Accor hotels and resorts were acknowledged for achieving the honour five years in a row, earning a TripAdvisor Hall of Fame award.

Six Accor hotels in total were admitted into the Hall of Fame this year:

The Sebel Melbourne Flinders Lane
Quay West Suites Melbourne
The Sebel Maroochydore
Pullman Palm Cove Sea Temple Resort and Spa
Pullman Cairns International
The Sebel Mandurah

Chief Operating Officer of Accor Hotels Australia, Simon McGrath, said the number of hotels and range of brands and destinations represented by Accor in TripAdvisor‟s Hall of Fame roll call for 2015 reflected the high calibre of hotels and resort's the group represent across the nation.

“Maintaining a focus on guest experience, and a commitment to anticipating needs are essential to any hotel's ongoing success, and the honest feedback provided by customers via TripAdvisor is highly valued by Accor.

“It‟s particularly impressive to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as this award relies on having consistently positive online reviews for five years in a row – a difficult achievement by any measure,” he said.

TripAdvisor is a travel community site allowing travellers to create and read reviews from hotels, restaurants attractions and more all over the world. The site has 340 million unique visitors each month and is home to more than 225 million reviews.

Now entering its fifth year, the Certificate of Excellence is awarded to establishments which have continuously earned positive online reviews on TripAdvisor. A handful of Accor properties have been initiated into the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame – an accolade reserved for hotels which have won the Certificate of Excellence five years in a row.

posted from Bloggeroid

Frost presents Thailand Excellence Awards

Frost & Sullivan has presented 28 Thailand Excellence Awards to companies demonstrating outstanding achievements and superior performance.

"The 2015 award recipients have clearly demonstrated outstanding commitment to their clients," Koh Eng Lok, Country Head, Thailand at Frost & Sullivan, said, adding that the award categories offered each year were carefully reviewed to reflect the current market landscape and include new and emerging segments of the ICT, automotive, energy & power, healthcare, building technologies, chemicals and palm oil. "Hopefully, the awards will spur companies to achieve greater heights in their business."

Recipients include:

2015 Thailand Infrastructure as a Service Provider of the Year
Iris Cloud

2015 Thailand Unified Communications Vendor of the Year
NEC

2015 Southeast Asia Air Quality Control System Integrator of the Year
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems

2015 Thailand Facilities Management Company of the Year
Property Care Services Thailand 

2015 Thailand Facilities Management Customer Service Leadership Award
ISS Facility Services Company

2015 Thailand Bottled Water Company of the Year
Boon Rawd Brewery Company

2015 Thailand Backup Power Price/Performance Value Leadership Award
Victron UPS Thailand 

2015 Thailand Biogas Entrepreneurial Company of the Year
Sindicatum Sustainable Resources

2015 Thailand Biomass Company of the Year
DP Cleantech

2015 Thailand Pick-Up Truck of the Year
Ford Thailand for Ford RANGER

2015 Thailand Debut Car of The Year
Ford Thailand for Ford ECOSPORT

2015 Thailand Paints & Coatings Product Line Strategy Leadership Award
TOA PAINT Thailand 

2015 Thailand Oleochemicals Company of the Year
THAI OLEOCHEMICALS CO.

2015 Thailand Palm Oil Plantation Company of the Year
UNIVANICH PALM OIL

2015 Thailand Stem Cell Company of the Year
CRYOVIVA

2015 Thailand Hospital Service Provider of the Year
BANGKOK HOSPITAL GROUP

2015 Thailand Outsourced Contact Center Vendor of the Year
ONE TO ONE CONTACTS

2015 Thailand Contact Center Applications Vendor of the Year
AVAYA

2015 Thailand Contact Center Applications System Integrator of the Year
CHEVALIER NETWORK SOLUTIONS Thailand 

2015 Thailand Unified Communications System Integrator of the Year
DIMENSION DATA Thailand 

2015 Thailand Managed Security Service Provider of the Year
I-Secure

2015 Thailand Data Communications Service Provider of the Year
True Universal Convergence Company

2015 Thailand Data Center Service Provider of the Year
True IDC

2015 Thailand Mobile Data Service Provider of the Year
Advanced Info Service (AIS)

2015 Thailand Fixed Broadband Service Provider of the Year
True Internet Company

2015 Thailand Mobile Service Provider of the Year
Advanced Info Service (AIS)

2015 Thailand Telecom Service Provider of the Year
Advanced Info Service (AIS)

2015 Excellence in Leadership
William E Heinecke, Minor Group

CHKLC announces 2014 winners of HK Corporate Governance Excellence Awards

The winners of the Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards 2014 were recently announced by the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies (CHKLC), the organisers of the annual awards programme. According to the CHKLC, corporate governance represents respect of shareholder rights and values, board and management integrity and degree of transparency and accountability. 

Dr Eddy Fong, Chairman of the Judging Panel, said that the winners have tailored their governance polices and principles to tackle the risks and challenges facing their organisations or industries rather than just following the standard code of practice.

"In addition, winning companies recognise (that) sustainability is an integral part of sound corporate governance and is closely linked to the long term development and prosperity of a company; they have therefore made much efforts in that area," he said.

The winners of the 2014 Awards are Hang Lung Properties and Lenovo Group in the Category for Hang Seng Index Constituents; plus AAC Technologies Holdings and China Pacific Insurance (Group) Company in the Category for Hang Seng Composite Index Constituents. The Lenovo Group won again in the Sustainability category, with VTech Holdings being the other winner.

Patrick Sun, Chairman of CHKLC noted that more companies have been willing to step up to share their experience. "The winners come from very different industry backgrounds and differ in size which shows good corporate governance is not exclusive to large companies with huge resources," he said.

"We are much encouraged to see sustainability measures are receiving wholehearted attention from companies. They are fully integrated into the business operations and treated as part of the risk management process, and are closely linked to the long term prosperity of the companies themselves."