The winners of the 2020 HM Awards for Hotel and Accommodation Excellence, presented by Sealy Posturepedic, have been announced at a gala black tie event in Sydney for 216 people in person and broadcast live to over 2000 across the region.
For the 18th time in 2020, the HM Awards, held on Nov 27, recognised the biggest and brightest stars in the accommodation industry across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, from individuals to properties, departments, brands and chains.
HM Awards Chief Judge and Founder, HM magazine’s Editor-In-Chief, James Wilkinson, said this year was more important than ever to recognise the hard work and dedication of so many individuals and teams.
“HM was proud to produce and present the 2020 HM Awards, particularly one that has been the most challenging in history for the Australasian accommodation industry,” he said.
“We received over 1,000 entries for the 2020 HM Awards, only slightly down on 2019, and amongst them were so many stars from this amazing industry.
“The entries this year – from chefs to housekeepers, five-star resorts and apartment hotels – were incredible and it was terrific to see so many staff and properties highlight so many achievements in challenging times,” Wilkinson said.
Winners were announced in 48 categories at the 2020 HM Awards on the night and major gongs went to Accor (Hall of Fame, New Zealand General Manager, Service to the Community, Australasian Hotel and Asia-Pacific Hotelier), InterContinental Hotels Group (Service to the Industry, Australian General Manager and Accommodation Chain),
Marriott International (South Pacific General Manager and Service to the Community), Quest Apartment Hotels (Service to the Community and Accommodation Chain), Hilton (Hotel Brand and Australasian Hotelier), Ovolo Group (Hotel Brand) and Hamilton Island (Australasian Hotel).
“Once again this year, the HM Awards recognised some of finest staff and hotels in the world and especially in 2020 they should be very proud of these amazing achievements,” Wilkinson said.
There was a panel of over 30 judges for the 2020 HM Awards, from leading travel editors to airline executives, hotel industry consultants, and for the peer-voted major awards, the leading VPs, CEOs and COOs of hotel chains across Australasia and Asia-Pacific.
On the night, guests at the event in person at Hyatt Regency Sydney and those watching live from across the Asia-Pacific region were treated to an exciting show that included not only the 48 HM Awards being handed out, but over an hour of live entertainment with stellar performances by the Boys in the Band and The Diamonds.
The 2020 HM Awards were able to proceed thanks to the support of the event’s major partners, including the presentation partner Sealy Posturepedic, co-hosts AHS, Intrust Super, Torrens University Australia and the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School, and entertainment and AV partner Foxtel Business.
Other key sponsors included Assa Abloy, Dyson and Honeybadger, while supporting companies included Accolade Wines, Gage Roads, S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, Time Out Australia, Travmedia, Vittoria, Wayfarer and Withersworldwide. Support also came from leading industry bodies the Accommodation Association and Tourism Accommodation Australia.
